Sept 11 "brain" linked to anti-Pope cell

Reuters | 3/02/03 | Ruben Alabastro

[kattracks]

MANILA (Reuters) - The suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks now in U.S. custody was part of a cell of Islamic militants accused of plotting to kill Pope John Paul in the Philippines in 1995, intelligence officials have said.

Officials in Manila described Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as the architect of another plot designed to crash a plane packed with explosives into the headquarters of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Virginia.

That plot, dubbed Bojinka, also called for the blowing up of U.S. passenger planes flying across the Pacific, they said.

"He was a part of the cell of Ramzi Yousef," one official said, referring to an Islamic militant whom Manila accuses of plotting to kill the Pope during his visit to the largely Roman Catholic country in January 1995.

Yousef is now serving a life term in a U.S. prison for masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York which killed six people and wounded 1,000.

The officials said they did not know whether Mohammed, a Kuwaiti who spent time in Manila in 1994-95, was involved in the plan to send a suicide bomber to assassinate the Pope.

Police uncovered the conspiracy and arrested one member of the group when the room the plotters were occupying in Manila's Josefa Apartments accidentally caught fire.

Mohammed and Yousef, his nephew, fled to Pakistan via Bangkok after the plot was foiled, the officials said.

U.S. officials hailed the arrest of Mohammed by Pakistani security agents in the city of Rawalpindi on Saturday as the biggest catch so far in the global war on terror.

Washington branded Mohammed as one of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's most senior lieutenants and "the mastermind of the September 11 attacks" in 2001 on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon that killed about 3,000 people.

Philippine government officials declined to comment on the arrest of Mohammed.

"We just note it," National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said.

The Philippines is battling four radical groups seeking an Islamic state in the south of the country. Washington has linked one of the groups, Abu Sayyaf, to al Qaeda.

Mohammed used many aliases in the Philippines.

"He was the architect of Bojinka," one official said. "We did not know at the time that he was a big man because the focus of our investigation was on Yousef."

Mohammed wooed a Filipina dentist, flying a chartered helicopter over her house while chatting to her on his mobile telephone, the officials said.

"He was apparently trying to impress her. We don't know if he won her over," a senior intelligence officer told reporters. "He lived in extravagance while in Manila, meeting with associates in five-star hotels."

[nickcarraway]

ping

[The Great Satan]

Mohammed wooed a Filipina dentist, flying a chartered helicopter over her house while chatting to her on his mobile telephone, the officials said. "He was apparently trying to impress her. We don't know if he won her over," a senior intelligence officer told reporters. "He lived in extravagance while in Manila, meeting with associates in five-star hotels."

And the money for all these hijinks came from where?

[ChemistCat]

Can someone explain to me in words of six syllables or less why the Pope would be a special target for these people? The Pope has been one of the leading peaceniks advocating escalating the appeasement of the Islamicists. (Don't say I'm Catholic-bashing, darn it--what I just said is true.)

[Mr. Thorne]

Crusades?

El Cid?

C'mon, Saddam thinks he's the new Saladin, why wouldn't the rest of these nutjobs have similar delusions?

Six syllables or less; every word.

[elephantlips]

Visibility and the anger it would cause amongst Catholics. By the way, this is the same Pope who is against the pending war.

[Fitzcarraldo]

The Pope has been one of the leading peaceniks advocating escalating the appeasement of the Islamicists.

Absolutely. If Al Queda and militant Islam closed shop today, chances are Islam will dominate the Earth in short order, simply via demographic forces.

[Salvation]

BTTT!

I heard this yesterday of FoxNews too!

[Siobhan]

PINGING: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed behind anti-Papal al-Qaeda cell.

[Gophack]

The Pope is the Vicar of Christ, a symbol (for lack of a better word) of Christianity throughout the world; there are more than 1 billion Catholics ... about 17% of the world population. Muslems deny Jesus Christ is the son of God, and they deny the NT. The Catholic Church, as the oldest and largest Christian church, as steadfastedly spread the gospel to all ends of the earth. Assassinating the Pope would be symbolic for them, and devastating for Christians everywhere (even non-Catholic Christians); would cause massive political and religious upheaval world-wide. But remember, the terrorists like symbolic acts ... that's why we read today in the Wash Times about them planning to attack Pearl Harbor, why they attacked the WTC, etc.

I know that's not six words or less, and I don't think you're Catholic-bashing. But do understand that it is the role of Christians to pray for peace; sometimes, it takes war to bring about peace.

In 6 words:

Pope is Leader for Christianity worldwide.

God bless.

[Askel5]

I don't wish to trivialize the latest in the sudden unfolding of knowledge that -- one suspects -- should have been sufficient to nab many of these folks years ago ... but

the headline alone reads like something out of not-so-distant DNA-deterministic universe. I had to laugh.

[Siobhan]

It does doesn't it......

[Aquinasfan]

Six syllables or less; every word.

< clap, clap, clap> < /clap>

[Mr. Thorne]

Thank you, thank you. Be sure to tip your waitress...

[ZULU]

The Muslims know their objectives - only the CHristian west seems blissfully ignorant of their intended goals of world domination.

Is what is going on today in the west the same thing that happened in Ancient Rome as the Goths and Vandals approached??? I wonder.

[ninenot]

And the money for all these hijinks came from where?

I'd LOVE to say Iraq, but we know it's Saudi Arabia.

[ninenot]

Same as the WTC. Highly visible, symbol of the West. Other logical targets include Big Ben, Eiffel Tower, Sears Tower, St Peter's/Rome, Westminster...not to mention Bush and Blair.

What is unmentioned in the article (and is usually NEVER a part of a news story) is the amount of G-2 the Pope's Swiss Guard collect and use. (NOT the guys in the funny suits...)The "invisible" SwGd guys are highly sophisticated, and have sources which are literally EVERYWHERE.

[The Great Satan]

I'd LOVE to say Iraq, but we know it's Saudi Arabia.

Yeah, and Saudi Arabia supplied the anthrax too. Please, the whole "al-Qaeda" thing is such a joke. It's a myth, like bin Laden's James Bond hideout. This has always been about one country, Iraq, and one man, Saddam Hussein. The focus on second and third tier players like bin Laden and the Taliban was merely a convenience of Phase I of the war: they were soft targets who couldn't hit back. But, hey, you bought it, just like you were supposed to. Like the man said, nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

[ninenot]

If you are insinuating that I am unschooled in the Byzantine rites of war, you are partially correct. If you are simply being insulting, then find another forum.

If on the other hand you are suggesting that SadHus financed AlQuaeda, I agree. If you suggest that SadHus is using a variety of intermediaries to take out TW800, and helped with the OKC bombing, and threw some intelligence and financial resources into the WTC bombing, the Cole, and the various embassy bombings, I agree.

But if GWB has a solid paper trail, he hasn't shown it to us, or the Pope, or anybody else with the possible exception of Tony Blair.

Of course, we use Israel as an intermediary, too. And there's no paper trail there, either...

[Coleus]

Pray for the Pope.