Project Bojinka - US Knew Of Bin Laden Philippine-Based Airliner Crash Plots in 1995

A terrorist plot similar to this week's attack in New York and Washington was first uncovered in Manila in 1995, Philippine police said today.

The statement came amid a warning by the senate's vice chair for national defence that Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in Tuesday's attacks in the US, could try to slip into the southern Philippines where he maintains contacts with Muslim separatist rebels.

Chief Superintendent Avelino Razon said a plot called "Project Bojinka" was uncovered by Philippine police in 1995 after arresting terrorist Abdul Hakim Murad in a Manila apartment where he was plotting to assassinate visiting Pope John Paul II.

Murad "is part of a terrorist cell established by Ramzi Yousef under the direction of Osama bin Laden," Razon said. Both Murad and Yousef were then wanted by US authorities for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

"In the course of the investigation, we found out through a laptop computer confiscated from Murad that they were also going to implement a terrorist plot called Project Bojinka," Razon, formerly Manila's police chief, said.

The plot called for the hijacking of US commercial airliners, bombing them or crashing them into several targets including the Central Intelligence Agency.

"Murad admitted that when he was being questioned that he was being trained for a suicide mission. We were able to find out that they had some targets already," Razon said. Murad was later extradited to the United States, where he and Yousef were later convicted for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center with the help of Philippine police who testified.

Razon said Project Bojinka had been in the planning stage as early as 1994, when the terrorists carried out a test mission by exploding a bomb on board a Japan-bound Philippine Airlines jet, killing one passenger. Razon said US federal officials were aware of Project Bojinka and that the Philippines' crack terrorist team was continuing to work closely with them.

He said there could be no doubt that the attacks on the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon were carried out by bin Laden's men.

"I remember that after the first World Trade Center bombing Osama bin Laden made a statement that on the second attempt they would be successful," Razon stressed. He said they could have chosen to carry out the attack on September 11, to mark the anniversary of Yousef's conviction for the first attack several years ago.

Meanwhile, Senator Rodolfo Biazon, a former military armed forces chief, warned that bin Laden could try to slip into the country if forced out of Afghanistan and other Middle East countries amid US pressure.

He said bin Laden was known to have direct contacts with the Abu Sayyaf Muslim group, now holding two US and 16 Filipino hostages in the south.

If the Saudi dissident is expelled by his hosts, "the possibility of Osama bin Laden seeking refuge among his allies the Abu Sayyaf exists." For "fair use" - education and discussion purposes only.

There was also an extensive feature on this in today's Washington Post, not reproduced here to avoid lawsuits. It's on the Washington Post's website at http://www.washingtonpost.com free for the next 2 weeks. The US Government had plenty of warning time.

And of course Middle Eastern students are STILL being allowed to go to flight schools in the US without restriction. And they can train on full-motion flight simulators, which are still not subject to export controls, without restriction.

Where's the "homeland security", Governor Ridge? Seems like everyone's asleep, and has been for a long time.

There's more on "Bojinka" on this site, someplace. That's not the ONLY item the FBI and CIA ignored--and my vague memory of the posting indicates that, yes indeed, it was the CLINTON regime which stiffarmed any investigations/intelligence/findings on 'Bojinka.'

Treason? Johnny Bin Walker had a role model, whose name was William Jefferson (Bubba/Billzebub) Clinton. Only difference: the level of assignment. Bill was at the top--and won't be tried. Johnny Bin Walker was at the bottom, and will be shot at dawn, some day soon.

Good point about Clinton. That can't be emphasized enough.

Also good thread link. The link mentioned is great, with a tremendous amount of information and links. I've had a hard time locating anything searchable about Bojinka, so this provides a quick link to that good thread.

I'm highlighting one item out of that grand link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10840-2001Sep22.html

- an item about the ongoing problem with the flight schools. If full-motion flight simulators were export controlled and required an export license, it'd be a lot harder for Middle Eastern terrorists to gain access to these, and they'd be subject to much more screening, even to access training and simulators in the US. But for some reason this simple and easy-to-implement legal tool isn't being put into place. See http://www.bxa.doc.gov.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.