Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

'Dirty Bomb' Suspect Not Cooperating, Wolfowitz Says
Reuters via Yahoo! ^ | 6/11/2002

Posted on 06/11/2002 7:06:16 AM PDT by MississippiMan

'Dirty Bomb' Suspect Not Cooperating, Wolfowitz Says
Tue Jun 11, 8:39 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A suspected American al Qaeda operative accused of plotting a radioactive "dirty bomb" attack on the United States has not yet given authorities information on his associates, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said on Tuesday.

Photos

Reuters Photo
Slideshows
Audio/Video
(Reuters)
Wolfowitz also said Abdullah al Muhajir, a U.S. citizen of Puerto Rican descent, and his accomplices had additional al Qaeda-directed plans to harm Americans.

"He came into this country with the intention, by various means, not just the dirty bomb idea, of killing hundreds and maybe thousands of Americans," he said on CBS' "The Early Show."

Detained by the FBI ( news - web sites) in Chicago on May 8, al Muhajir was declared an "enemy combatant" by President Bush ( news - web sites) over the weekend and transferred to a naval brig in South Carolina.

But Wolfowitz said the former gang member had not provided information to investigators.

"To the best of my knowledge he hasn't cooperated at all so far," Wolfowitz said on NBC's "Today Show."

"He clearly had associates and one of the things we want to ask him about is who those associates were and how we can track them down," he added on CBS.

Wolfowitz said it was clear to investigators, however, that al Muhajir had had "a great deal of contact" with the al Qaeda network of Saudi exile Osama bin Laden ( news - web sites), and that "he was clearly taking a great deal of instruction."

Authorities said on Monday al Muhajir had trained with al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan ( news - web sites) and was in the planning stages of launching a so-called dirty bomb attack, which combines a conventional bomb with radioactive material, somewhere in the United States.

Washington blames bin Laden's network for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington that killed about 3,000 people.

Wolfowitz said al Muhajir apparently planned to get radioactive material for the bomb from somewhere within the United States.

"This man actually thought he could get them from places like university labs," he said. "I have no idea how difficult that would be but there is nuclear material around in a lot places."

The New York-born Jose Padilla, 31. who changed his name to Abdullah al Muhajir, was being held by the Defense Department as an "enemy combatant," which under the rules of war allows him to be held until the end of the conflict and questioned without an attorney present.

Civil rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union ( news - web sites) have criticized the detention and said he should be tried in U.S. court.

"What we're about here is preventing," Wolfowitz said. "Preventing him from doing further acts, preventing those about whom he may have knowledge from doing further acts."

If authorities decide to prosecute al Muhajir he will be transferred back to civil courts, Wolfowitz said.

Yaser Esam Hamdi, an American-born Saudi national detained in Afghanistan, is a second U.S. citizen known to be held by the Defense Department.

John Walker Lindh, another American captured while fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan, is facing trail in a federal court in Virginia. He is in the custody of the Justice Department ( news - web sites).

Wolfowitz spoke from a spot outside the Pentagon ( news - web sites) where one of the hijacked airliners crashed Sept. 11, to note that workers had almost completed reconstruction efforts.

Poised to lay the final piece of limestone, he said officials planned to also place a time capsule to honor those killed in the attack.

"It's also a way of honoring the incredible determination and resolve of the workers who put this building back together so quickly," he said on CBS.

"I think its symbolic of the resolve of the American people to prevail over people like Abdullah al Muhajir."


TOPICS: Breaking News; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: dirtybombplot; padilla; wolfowitz
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 221-227 next last
To: Mat_Helm
I hope somebody investigates if this person had any links or connections to Timmothy Mcveigh or the muslim groups in and around Oklahoma because he just looks to much like John Doe #2 composite pictures. It is just to close a match and makes my hair stand up when I see both pictures.
61 posted on 06/11/2002 8:42:54 AM PDT by Mat_Helm
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

Comment #62 Removed by Moderator

To: MississippiMan
Chemical Interview definately in order on this one!
63 posted on 06/11/2002 8:44:58 AM PDT by RISU
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Eva
My Lord. Those pics are the same man!!!! Or twins. Wonder where he was for OKC,,wonder if he had been let out of jail. This is amazing.
64 posted on 06/11/2002 8:45:05 AM PDT by cajungirl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: MississippiMan
He'll talk. Just bring on Oprah, Jerry or Jenny! He's a full blooded American, isn't he?!

"If the bomb is filthy,
You most vote not guilty!"

65 posted on 06/11/2002 8:47:16 AM PDT by Revolting cat!
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cajungirl
If you read the thread, you will see that he was indeed out of jail and that he had already converted to Islam, having been provided with visits by a Muslim cleric while in prison in Florida. He was probably recruited at that time, also. I mean this guy had so much pent up anger that he was a perfect candidate for a terrorist recruit.
66 posted on 06/11/2002 8:47:55 AM PDT by Eva
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: The Ghost of Richard Nixon
Sounds like a plan. Fill the planes up with the Islamics just visiting with their one way ticket. Use the oldest and dirtiest planes available. Escort them from here to there.

Then on the return trip, go to like Russia and pick up a plane load of captured terrorists for a oneway trip back Florida. Then load them on a pig hauling boat for a one way trip to Gitmo!

67 posted on 06/11/2002 8:49:41 AM PDT by Grampa Dave
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: You are here
"part of the enemy's plan is to force us to turn into a repressive society. They want to get us to use our own strengths against ourselves."

This has been repeated so much that it's taken as fact. I'm not aware of it being anything more than our imagination. If I were bin Laden, I don't think that changing American society to become a police state would be a concern, except maybe for the propaganda value.

For what it's worth, I recall reading here about an interview with an al-Queda leader in which he was asked if that was their intent, turning us into a closed society. He said that if we believed that, we really don't understand them at all.

68 posted on 06/11/2002 8:50:55 AM PDT by elfman2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: MississippiMan
The very last thing the gov't needs to do is tip off the helpers if he was cooperating.
69 posted on 06/11/2002 8:52:28 AM PDT by VRWC_minion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Carlucci
why didn't they just tail the heck out of him to find out where he goes and who he talks to?

Who says they didn't. Maybe the tails were spotted by accomplices. At that point there is no point in letting him continue to roam around.

70 posted on 06/11/2002 8:55:29 AM PDT by VRWC_minion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: daiuy
Maybe we can export the Big Libertarians who have no problem with more Americans killed so they won't be bothered re their life styles. One posted last night if we lose another 1 to 10% more Americans to the terrorists, that was no big deal as enhanced security should not impinge on his liberties.

Do you agree with that poster that another 1 to 10 % loss of innocent Americans is no big deal?

How many innocent Americans do you want to be killed in your suicidal intrepretation of the constitution?

The constitution is not a mass suicide pact for the rest of us!

Did you cheer on 9/11!

71 posted on 06/11/2002 8:57:46 AM PDT by Grampa Dave
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]

To: Eva
Not only was this guy a pefect recruit for the OK City bombing, but if he was involved in OK City, he was also more likely to be recruited to do the dirty bomb attack. I mean he would have had plenty of experience.
72 posted on 06/11/2002 8:58:44 AM PDT by Eva
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: MississippiMan
Kill him and flush ashes down you know where.......
73 posted on 06/11/2002 9:00:29 AM PDT by geege
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: elfman2
And RICO only targets organized crime.
74 posted on 06/11/2002 9:05:31 AM PDT by El Sordo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Northpaw
Tell Abdullah that if he doesn't cooperate that we will send in Hillary Clinton to do a nude interpretive dance to Rod Stewart's "Do you think I'm sexy".

Now that's beyond the pall!! I was thinking along the lines of electric current applied directly to his genitals, but you sir, you are inhuman! What cruel and inhuman punishement.

75 posted on 06/11/2002 9:06:17 AM PDT by pgkdan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: KissOfTheSith
you or me. You or me already happened during the Clinton administration. While those people (citizens) are not in jail, they might as well be since they can't travel outside the country. So in essence they are being held prisioner in the USA and they are not accused of any crime, but the government keeps them here.
76 posted on 06/11/2002 9:07:19 AM PDT by Holding Our Breath
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: RedBloodedAmerican
Where's the ACLU to cut him free?
They are currently in a meeting with Rev Al and Rev Jesse trying to figure out how to spin the information racialy
77 posted on 06/11/2002 9:09:16 AM PDT by Moleman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: That Subliminal Kid
"I am surprised people are objecting to his classification as a war combatant."

Maybe I would stop complaining of his status if the President would sign a directive allowing the Military to try all scum like this, instead of playing politics. Why is Linh and Moussaoui being treated differently? They all should be tried by the military. But its not PC to sign an order trying Americans who are nothing more than terrorist. Are we at war? Or are we playing war?

78 posted on 06/11/2002 9:21:26 AM PDT by PoppingSmoke
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: MississippiMan
"He clearly had associates and one of the things we want to ask him about is who those associates were and how we can track them down," he added on CBS.

Oh well then, by all means, let's not have a trial. He's guilty by association. And he's not cooperating? Further proof that he is guilty.

This prosecution is based solely on this man's speech apparently and it doesn't bother anyone.

79 posted on 06/11/2002 9:21:32 AM PDT by Demidog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Demidog
What makes you think we are being told everything the feds have on this guy?
80 posted on 06/11/2002 9:24:01 AM PDT by xvb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 79 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 221-227 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson