AUCKLAND - In a persisting diplomatic nightmare, the South Pacific kingdom of Tonga is being linked to the world's most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden. The nation of just 109,000 people has acquired notoriety for get-rich-quick schemes, but this time it runs the risk of incurring the wrath of the United States.
The Washington Post on Tuesday quoted US intelligence officials as saying Osama's Al-Qaeda terrorist network was moving operatives around the Mediterranean on a shipping fleet flagged in Tonga. Quoting US and Greek officials, it said the shipping firm - which is called Nova and is incorporated in Delaware and Romania - has for years engaged in smuggling illegal immigrants. The Post said US intelligence officials had identified about 15 cargo freighters around the world that they believed were controlled by the Al-Qaeda or could be used by the terror network to ferry operatives, bombs, money or commodities over the high seas.
Tonga's role goes back to 2000 and the arrival in its capital, Nuku'alofa, of Mr Peli Papadopoulos, who said he represented Axion Services Ltd in Piraeus, Greece. He persuaded the authorities to allow him to run Tonga International Registry of Ships (TIRS) out of Athens. The deal was signed in a small ceremony. But the flag operation unsurprisingly turned sour.
In January last year, Israeli commandos seized Karine A, a Tonga-flagged ship, in the Red Sea and found it was carrying 50 tonnes of mainly Iranian weapons allegedly meant to be given to the Palestinians. Tongan Police Minister Clive Edwards said then that police were investigating the case.
Last February, eight Pakistani men jumped off the Tongan ship Twillinger at the Italian port of Trieste after a trip from Cairo. The Post said US officials had since determined that Al-Qaeda had sent the men.
In June last year, a Tongan government statement said TIRS was to be closed down. 'The TIRS had also not lived up to commercial expectations,' the chairman of a Cabinet committee, Mr Noble Fielakepa, said. 'International terrorism and an increase in people smuggling and asylum seekers were clearly key factors. Even our own region has felt the impact of these problems,' he said.He said the government did not want Tonga's image to be further hurt by events beyond its control.
In September, Italian officials intercepted another Tongan ship, Sara. They claimed it had landed 15 Pakistanis said to belong to Al-Qaeda.
In October, Croatian police seized the Tongan-registered ship Boka Star that they claimed was smuggling military explosives to Iraq.
Just prior to that, Mr Edwards told the Tongan Parliament that police were trying to close down the registry, adding that the kingdom had not only made no money on the deal, but had actually lost about US$300,000 (S$520,000) in the scheme. --AFP
***NEWS.INDEPENDENT.co.uk: "TRINIDADIAN ISLAMIC GROUP THREATENS TO USE CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS" by Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The reporters for the Trinidad Express talked to a man who said he was a chemical engineer who had received explosives training in the United States. They were shown various materials and told they could be used to manufacture a form of nerve gas as well as toxins strong enough to poison the island's water supply. An expert from the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute watched video footage of the reporting trip and said the man in the lab "sounded as though he knows what he is talking about and what he intends to do". It is not clear who the Islamic group is, although it is likely to be related to Jamaat al-Muslimeen, a radical sect that launched an unsuccessful coup attempt in Trinidad and Tobago in 1990. The group told the Trinidad Express it sympathised with Osama bin Laden and the Bali bombers, and harboured ambitions to stage an Islamic revolution on the island, even though Muslims make up only 6 per cent of the local population.") (January 30, 2003)
TRINIDAD EXPRESS.com: "MIRROR UNDER SIEGE" (ARTICLE SNIPPETS: "Police and soldiers yesterday stormed the Barataria offices of the Mirror newspaper after four members of the Waajihatal Islamiyyah held staff members hostage while demanding a retraction for a front page story. The incident occurred at 3.15 p.m. after the men entered the newsroom having told the security guard that they wanted to speak to the editor. The four were led by Umar Abdullah, the man identified as a "terrorist" in reports by foreign intelligence." ... "Abdullah shot into the headlines last December when the Sunday Express reported that US and British intelligence reports had identified him as a terrorist. It said that his group has amassed weapons and was involved in secret military training in several locations in the country. He was described as a South-based radical Muslim who wants to establish an Islamic state here. Abdullah also publishes a monthly newsletter condemning US and British activities in the Middle East, Afghanistan and other parts of the Muslim world.") (February 7, 2003)
stepping back in time...An Interesting Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding a BBC article dated July 28, 2002: "CARIBBEAN COUP ATTEMPT REMEMBERED" (BBC ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The crisis began with the blowing up of the police headquarters building in the capital, Port of Spain. After that, groups of young Muslimeen, armed with AK47's, swarmed into the parliament building, known as the Red House, and Trinidad and Tobago Television, TTT. Muslimeen leader, Yasin Abu Bakr, a former Trinidadian policeman, called for public support. Instead Trinidadians stayed home and watched as the six-day drama was reported on local and regional radio and then picked up by the international media.") (August 29, 2002)
stepping back in time...GASandOIL.com - ALEXANDER'S GAS & OIL CONNECTIONS: "ARREST OF TRINIDADIAN MAN UNCOVERS POSSIBLE PLOT FOR COUP ATTEMPT" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "23-06-01 The arrest of a Trinidadian man by federal agents has uncovered a possible plot to overthrow the government of Trinidad and Tobago using weapons purchased in South Florida, according to US authorities and Trinidadian officials. Keith Andre Glaude was arrested in a sting operation three weeks ago in Broward County after he allegedly tried to buy high-powered weapons for use by a militant Muslim group in Trinidad, leading agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to believe he was part of a potential plot to provoke an insurrection. "These are not hunting-type rifles," said Eduardo Halley, a spokesman for the ATF. "These are not weapons you buy for sport." Glaude's cas "is a matter of national security," said Hylton Guy, the islands' police commissioner. The case evolved over a year of cat-and-mouse manoeuvres between Glaude and his contacts in Trinidad, on the one hand, and an ATF agent in South Florida. It culminated three weeks ago in a sting operation, as Glaude was about to drive off with 70 submachine guns and 10 silencers in the back of his van.") (July 31, 2001)
WHITEHOUSE.gov: "STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH" (SPEECH SNIPPET: "Tonight I have a message for the men and women who will keep the peace, members of the American Armed Forces: Many of you are assembling in or near the Middle East, and some crucial hours may lay ahead. In those hours, the success of our cause will depend on you. Your training has prepared you. Your honor will guide you. You believe in America, and America believes in you. Sending Americans into battle is the most profound decision a President can make. The technologies of war have changed; the risks and suffering of war have not. For the brave Americans who bear the risk, no victory is free from sorrow. This nation fights reluctantly, because we know the cost and we dread the days of mourning that always come. We seek peace. We strive for peace. And sometimes peace must be defended. A future lived at the mercy of terrible threats is no peace at all. If war is forced upon us, we will fight in a just cause and by just means -- sparing, in every way we can, the innocent. And if war is forced upon us, we will fight with the full force and might of the United States military -- and we will prevail.") (January 28, 2003)
FOX NEWS.com: "POWELL: 'SADDAM SHOULD TELL THE TRUTH -- NOW'" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "DAVOS, Switzerland -- There is a relationship between Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and terrorism, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday, warning that without strong international action, Iraq could use its lethal weapons or share its technology with terrorists.") (January 26, 2003)
***NewsMax.com: "CLINTON AND CHINA ARMED IRAQ" by Charles R. Smith (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Thanks to Bill Clinton and his Defense Secretary William Perry, the Chinese army's Electronics Design Bureau modified the American fiber-optic communication system, changing it into the Tiger Song secure air-defense system. The Chinese army then exported the newly modified system to Iraq. Today, Tiger Song stands ready to kill U.S. pilots. Thank you, Bill Clinton and William Perry, for your services to the Chinese People's Liberation Army and to the Iraqi armed forces that now protect Saddam Hussein.") (013003)
***FOX NEWS.com (AP): "FBI SEARCHES FOR IRAQI SPIES, TERROR CELLS IN U.S." (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON - The FBI is questioning as many as 50,000 Iraqis living in the United States in a search for potential terrorist cells, spies or people who might provide information helpful to a U.S. war effort.") (012403)
***BBC NEWS: "FBI 'SEEKS 3,000 MISSING IRAQIS' (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "It is feared some could be connected with extremist groups or be agents of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, unnamed officials told the newspaper. "We don't really know how big the problem is or how big the threat might be, but the possibility is real," a senior US counter-terrorism official said. Those missing are among 50,000 Iraqi immigrants the FBI wants to interview as the US threatens military action against Baghdad.") (012703)
NY POST.com: "IRAQ ADMITS IT'S ON THE BRINK OF CREATING NUKES" by Vincent Morris (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "A top adviser to Saddam Hussein admitted yesterday that Iraq is on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. "We have the complete documentation, from design to all the other things," Lt. Gen. Amir al-Saadi told reporters in Baghdad. "We haven't reached the final assembly of a bomb nor tested it."") (120902) *Note: Url has expired.
***BBC NEWS: "NEW IRAQ DOCUMENT FIND ALARMS UN" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The head of the United Nations atomic agency has voiced concern about documents apparently relating to nuclear technology which were found in an Iraqi scientist's home. The documents, numbering 3,000 pages, appear to focus on laser enrichment - a way to modify uranium for use in nuclear weapons - and were taken from the home of physicist Faleh Hassan on Thursday.") (011803)