Sniper-Related Warrants Issued In Alabama

nbc13.com ^ | 10/23/02

[ds2000]

Sniper-Related Warrants Issued In Alabama
Authorities Search Suspected Terrorist Training Camp

POSTED: 10:05 p.m. CDT October 23, 2002
UPDATED: 10:18 p.m. CDT October 23, 2002

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Search warrants related to the D.C.-area sniper case were served Wednesday in various parts of the country, including the state of Alabama.

Sources told NBC13 that federal authorities from Montgomery were in the city of Marion in Perry County Wednesday night, armed with a warrant, and were searching property.

The search warrants are reportedly for a terror camp called "Ground Zero," which is located in Marion. The camp was discovered earlier this year following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York.

At the time, authorities thought militants from overseas trained at Ground Zero. There has been no official connection between the camp and the al-Qaida terror network. The owner of the camp said it was a training area for police officers.

NBC13 spoke with camp owner Mark Yates, of Tuscaloosa, who says he knows nothing of any investigation into his camp. Perry County Sheriff James Hood also told NBC13 federal authorities have not contacted him.

The Alabama search warrants were issued hours after authorities started searching a property in Tacoma, Wash. NBC13 has also learned that an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent from Alabama is assisting in the investigation in Tacoma.

Sources are describing the issuance of Wednesday's warrants both in Washington state and in Alabama as attempts to follow up on "solid leads."

Developments in this story are unfolding. NBC13 News and NBC13.com will have the latest details on the sniper search and the possible Alabama connection as they become available.

[fone]

Camp ground zero eh? Interesting.

Glad to see they've been making some damn progress in this case.

[The KG9 Kid]

Senator: There's a better link to the "Ground Zero" training camp in the FR archives than the report from PRAVDA. I recall that a UK newspaper did a much more in-depth write-up on it, and there was a direct warning from Scotland Yard.

Can you find it? I reached a dead end.

You're the FR Archive master.

[Mariner]

This story is getting interesting now........

[sinkspur]

Officials say Alabama camp not training terrorists

Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Osama bin Laden is not running a training camp in Alabama, officials say.

An investigation has uncovered no evidence that a camp near Marion was used as a terrorist training facility.

ABC News reported Thursday night that the camp could have possible ties to bin Laden's terror network.

The Marion Camp, called Ground Zero USA is operated by a Tuscaloosa man.

Marion Police Chief Tony Buford said he was misquoted. Buford said the camp is used by police officers from Alabama and Louisiana for training that includes target practice.

A spokesman for Gov. Don Siegelman and Department of Public Safety officials said they are aware of the reports. But after conducting background investigations of the site they found no reason to be concerned.

[TankerKC]

Pravda Article.

[Rocksalt]

This whole story just keeps getting stranger.This might be the first inklings of any visible ties with Al Queda to the sniper.At least that we have heard about.I'm wondering what other information will be released tonight as things progress in the investigation.

[TankerKC]

ABC News Story.

MSNBC.

[Paul Atreides]

They came here, thinking it was pronounced Allah Bama.

[Howlin]

Preparing for Jihad … in Alabama

Islamic Militant Training Camp Allegedly Operating in Alabama

By Brian Ross

July 25 — A training camp linked to Islamic militants has been operating in Alabama, and European law enforcement officials believe Muslim extremists were using it to prepare for a holy war.

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British authorities also thought that militants from overseas were training in the United States to take advantage of America's gun laws, sources told ABCNEWS. The looming question for law enforcement is whether there is a connection between the camp and the al Qaeda terror network.

An investigation by Britain's Scotland Yard led to the discovery of the camp in Marion, Ala. The facility is called "Ground Zero USA."

Bullet-riddled police cars and a school bus with mannequin targets are scattered around the property. Inside a huge shed is an equally macabre scene — shot-up mannequins, male and female, in domestic settings, some with red, blood-like stains on them.

Ground Zero's operators promised state-of-the-art, world-class training in automatic weapons, urban warfare, SWAT tactics and martial arts, supposedly to fight terror attacks.

Marion Police Chief Tony Buford said he became suspicious of the use of police cars and buses as targets.

"It was rumored that the camp here was used as training site for possible people that were sent here to do bodily harm to Americans," Buford told ABCNEWS.

Web Site Provides Terror Link

The suspected terror ties of the Alabama camp were unknown until after Sept. 11, when officials in London arrested an accused al Qaeda supporter, Zain-ul-Albidin

He is charged with operation of a Web site, under the name of Sakina Security, allegedly recruiting Muslims for an Islamic jihad or holy war. He is now on trial in London.

The site, since taken down by British authorities, described what seemed to be the Alabama camp, including live-fire exercises at a state-of-the-art shooting range in the United States — something that would not be legal in Britain.

"In the United States, it is not illegal for anyone to receive military training, high-grade military training," said Rohan Gunaratna, author of Inside Al Qaeda.

The actual owners of camp, who are also British, say it was used primarily to train law enforcement personnel. Officials consider them unwitting accomplices. The camp owners declined to talk to ABCNEWS.

Scale of Secret Camps Unknown

It is not known how many holy war recruits came through the camp or when. But the FBI is now investigating a number of suspected training camps around the country.

"We know of a number of cases where Islamic terrorists came and training in this country in the early 1990s. It is likely that this scale of training is still continuing," Gunaratna said.

The most radical and belligerent of London's Islamic clerics, Abu Hamza, told ABCNEWS in a phone call that America's laws make such paramilitary training easy, "like a picnic."

British intelligence officials told ABCNEWS they are closely examining alleged ties between Hamza, who is said to have recruited alleged "20th hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui, and Zain-ul-Albidin.

[The KG9 Kid]

Thanks, you two.

Sounds like if this pans out, Marion Police Chief Tony Buford should be driven from office -- with sticks, if necessary.

[Southack]

The fact may be that some police officers do practice at Camp Ground Zero, but the more ominous sign is that SOMEONE there used police cars and mannequins dressed as civilians for target practice.

Oh, did I mention that Camp Ground Zero was the home to the "Jihad Challenge"?

Scotland Yard tracked several British-linked Islamic terrorists to this site in Alabama back in July...

[cyberaxe]

Scotland Yard tracked several British-linked Islamic terrorists to this site in Alabama back in July...

.....look here.....

[who knows what evil?]

At least that we have heard about.I'm wondering what other information will be released tonight as things progress in the investigation.

I'd worry a lot more about the information that is being changed, neglected, or outright ignored. Why are the media protecting terrorists?

[M. T. Cicero II]

This blows my mind. I feel that I need to be "humble" when I'm in 'Bama, cause I'm a Yankee from Michigan! How the hell can Islamic millitants operate there?

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

Does this have anything to do with the Nuaubians? I note their most famous member is none other than Wesley... Snipes...

[ds2000]

No.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Rumors have been circulating for awhile about Marion's librarian. She's been known to keep company with those of questionable reputations and provide subversive literature to juveniles(Chaucer, Rabelais, Balzac). Late evening meetings at the library with men engaged in ritualistic dancing. Was thought to be a sadder but wiser girl. Possible connection to Gary, Indiana.

We've got trouble, right here in Alabama.

[hole_n_one]

[hoosierskypilot]

Cause once southerners accepted the inevitability of Yankees moving in, it was no big step for Islaminazis to move in, also. They's all outsiders.