Three of the so-called Portland Six--(from left to right) Patrice Lumumba Ford, Jeffrey Leon Battle, and Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal--were closer to Afghanistan than authorities have so far disclosed
Posted on 10/21/2002 3:12:44 PM PDT by Utah Girl
Three of the so-called Portland Six--(from left to right) Patrice Lumumba Ford, Jeffrey Leon Battle, and Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal--were closer to Afghanistan than authorities have so far disclosed
The seven muscular men would have stood out in any hotel. All heavily bearded, they hung around the lobby, doing chin-ups from the rafters and sparring in the courtyard of the Chini Bagh Hotel in Kashgar, China, where I saw them in late October 2001, about 185 miles from the Afghan border.
THIS MONTH THREE of them were named as part of the so-called Portland Six, which U.S. authorities allege is a group of Qaeda supporters who desperately tried to reach Afghanistan to join Osama bin Laden's men. Indeed, Jeffrey Leon Battle, 32, Patrice Lumumba Ford, 31, and Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal, 24-one half of the Portland Six-and four companions were closer to Afghanistan than authorities have so far disclosed.
They appeared more like bumbling holy-warrior wanna-bes than professional terrorists. They made little effort to fit in. Aside from Bilal and a white man in his early 20s named Ibrahim, the Kashgar Seven were all burly black men, such a rarity in China that their every move through the local markets-where they queried Pakistani traders about transport to Afghanistan-attracted crowds of gawkers. More important, their stories just didn't add up. Ibrahim, from Oakland, Calif., talked hopefully of visiting Afghanistan. Yet his traveling companion, Battle, professed surprise at hearing the country's border was so near. "You mean where the fighting is? You're kidding," he said. "I had no idea we were anywhere near there." Ford said they had all been touring China for two or three weeks after passing through Hong Kong. Separately, Battle insisted he had never been in Hong Kong. None of them had visited China previously, they all said. Yet Ford was later heard talking on a hotel phone in fluent Mandarin. When confronted, he confessed, "Actually, I lived for a while in Beijing."
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.com ...
Very intelligent, if not wise. AmericaninTokyo found the chinese connection, and here we have a witness to their appearance in Tibet! Ford also was an intern or something for Portland mayor Vera Katz.
Here's a thread from October 5
PORTLAND TERRORIST CONNECTION TO ELITE U.S. UNIVERSITY AND CHINA
'Course, I've said the same thing to ten other people here.. so don't listen to me...
Don't know, but it was reported earlier that Ms. October was phoned by her ex Mr. Battle to send him money so that he could return to America.
However when the sniper news first broke I stated on another thread that this had something to do with these Portland terrorist.
But are these guys dense? If they wanted to get to Afghanistan from China, they'd most liekly have to go through northern Afghanistan, which was controlled by the Northern Alliance, unless they went the long way through Pakistan.
I wonder if Ford has any links with Chinese terror groups.
From the quotes in the article, none of Ford's companions sound too bright, so its possible they didn't think this one through much further than, "Hey, Ford, you speak Chinese, don't you? Lets go to Afghanistan through China!"
That or a big part of this story is missing.
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.