Al Qaeda Remains a Global Threat, U.N. Report Says

nytimes.com ^ | June 26, 2003 | TIMOTHY L. O'BRIEN

[Destro]

Al Qaeda Remains a Global Threat, U.N. Report Says

U.N. Report: definitive evidence of Al Qaeda activity in Chechnya via ties to operatives in Bosnia

By TIMOTHY L. O'BRIEN

UNITED NATIONS, June 26 — Despite "marked successes" in the fight against the Al Qaeda network, a new generation of Al Qaeda-trained terrorists as well as veterans of the Islamic extremist group continue to threaten the global community, according to a report released here today by a United Nations monitoring group.

The report praises the capture of several senior Al Qaeda operatives and successful efforts to block the group's access to traditional financial channels, such as the international banking system, but said that recent bombings in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and elsewhere suggest that Al Qaeda "and its associated groups still pose a significant threat to international peace and security."

Michael Chandler, chairman of the monitoring group appointed by the Security Council to track Al Qaeda and efforts to stamp out the group, told reporters here that his five-member team has found no evidence linking Al Qaeda to Saddam Hussein's former regime in Iraq.

"That doesn't mean to say it doesn't exist," said Mr. Chandler, but simply that his team hasn't uncovered evidence indicating such a link. The team relies on data contained in 51 reports submitted by United Nations member states, its own research trips abroad, consultation with law enforcement authorities around the world and information gleaned from public records.

During Security Council testimony in February, before the United States-led war with Iraq, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell alleged that Al Qaeda training camps existed in northeastern Iraq. Mr. Chandler did not contest Mr. Powell's findings directly, but reasserted that his team had found no such evidence. He said that the camps Mr. Powell referred to may have been destroyed during the war.

The report raised alarms about Al Qaeda's potential access to nuclear and chemical weapons and its ongoing ability to finance its activities through the Afghani drug trade. "There is evidence, from al-Qaida training manuals and other intelligence, that al-Qaida has investigated the ways and means of developing" weapons of mass destruction, the report stated.

And the report painted an ominous picture of a new generation of Al Qaeda operatives, who apparently first surfaced in the recent bombings in Casablanca, Morocco. While previous Al Qaeda attacks have been carried out by terrorists trained in Afghanistan, officials here said that evidence suggests that the Casablanca attack was carried out by new operatives who had not been trained in Afghanistan. The reason for Al Qaeda's resilience, the report said, is its religious zeal.

"They retain strong appeal among Islamic extremist elements around the world and are able to draw on a substantial number of cadre trained in Afghanistan or in other training centres associated with the al-Qaida network," the report stated. "There are also indications that the al-Qaida network has been able to reconstitute its levels of support."

The report bemoans the fact that the United Nation's list of Al Qaeda operatives and associates of Osama bin Laden is relatively small, a problem it attributes to the unwillingness of some countries to provide names to the monitoring group. Most of the names thus far, officials here said, have come from the United States.

The most recent addition to the list, which to date includes 125 names, is Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, the former president of Chechnya. The Russian delegation to the United Nations requested that Mr. Yandarbiev's name be added. Mr. Yandarbiev, 50, is the first Chechen to be placed on the list. Mr. Yandarbiyev resides in Doha, Qatar, and Russian authorities have unsuccessfully tried to have him extradited for nearly two years.

Russia conducted a bitter, brutal war with Chechen separatists between 1994 and 1996 and Russian authorities suspect Mr. Yandarbiev of orchestrating an attack on a Moscow theater last October that resulted in the deaths of a number of Russian hostages.

Mr. Chandler said his monitoring group has found definitive evidence of Al Qaeda activity in Chechnya via ties to operatives in Bosnia.

[Destro]

In this far sighted post such links were described several years ago. The news picture of the long beared Muslim Bosnians marching in solidarity for Chechnya in this link is no longer up: The Balkan Branches of the Terror Network "in search of blond Moslems"

9/11 can only be explained and understood in full via understanding the events that happened in Yugoslavia.

[Destro]

What took them so long--Karadzic laughs at the UN. Karadzic told the world this years ago: Following are excerpts from an interview with the Dutch publication, De Standaard on 16 October 1995 by Axel Buyse in Banja Luca:

"The West will not remain proud of what it has done to the Serbs. Certainly now that you are heading for serious problems with Islamic terrorists. We will no longer protect Europe against Islamic terrorism. Let them go, to Europe [the Bosnian Muslims]. They look like Europeans. And they take pride in the fact that with their European appearance they are exceptionally efficient terrorists. Europe wanted an Islamic country here. Let them have it!"

And "let them have it," we did! Bosnia has become al-Qaeda's and Bin Laden's corridor into Europe.

[Destro]

bump

[ohmage]

And here's a no one will ever convince me that the impeached one didn't know exactly what he was doing when he unleashed the KLA bump

[Destro]

That's what makes The Great Stain Maker's administration evil.

[RussianConservative]

But why then US still in Balkans protecting jihaders?

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[JustPiper]

Interesting connection, thanx Destro!

[Admin Moderator]

Don't change article titles. Thank you.

[Destro]

I still liked mine better

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Tie the IRA into the group, too. It is amazing to me that the left mock the plain language of our President. They say his speech isn't eloquent. That is because he speaks the truth. Axis of Evil, truly exists. Long War on Terror, most definitely. A global war against terrorists, for as long as it takes. Sometimes the Left and Old Europe chose not to see the forest for the trees.

[Destro]

Tell old golden tongue not to protect those Bosnian and Chechen Muslims his administration courted....I am not impressed.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Oh, heck. Why don't we just start a true global war, since that would appear to be his intention, right? Bush's golden tongue is still a step above Clinton's blind eye.

[Destro]

Listen-since I have been watching this pre 9/11 I saw Bush use the power of his office to support the Bosnian and Chechens.....I can forgive but not forget. This dims my enthusiasim for Bush, who I voted for and may vote for again (if no one more conservative comes along).

I encourage you on the other hand to rah! rah! at every opportunity. We need cute cheerleaders...

[Pan_Yans Wife]

My point only was, if there is a global threat, then why does it always appear that the press or the UN for that matter are puzzled and concerned, like they are going to fix it? As for being a cheerleader, I don't claim to be a Bushie. I just don't know what other benefits can come about by widening the focus today.

If Bush had stated right after 9-11, like he knew, that Iraq was the next target, the public would have cried "Foul!". He knew the people were not ready to think further than the Taliban, let alone Afghanistan. But, he knew that Iraq would be next, and the sooner the better.

Now, you want him to take up a new tanget, after that of Africa which is the latest one, to deal with the Bosnian and Chechen problem? What purpose does this serve, at this date? Do you think it is possible at some point that the administration would be spreading themselves too thin?

[Destro]

The purpose my dear is that 9/11 was carried out via the Bosnian and Chechen cells. Yet these Muslims we protect....

[Destro]

The Balkans is why 9/11 was able to happen

[Pan_Yans Wife]

The cells are assisted by the Bosnians and Chechyns, the cells are assisted by the Saudis, the cells are assisted by Iraq, the cells are assisted by Iran, the cells are assisted...

I understand your frustration. However, couldn't it simply be a case of targeting those that are on the radar at the moment? By the same logic, shouldn't we be targeting Hamas and Hezbollah, today?

And, lastly, do you want the president to put all of the cards on the table, give the American public the full picture, all at once? Do you think the majority of Americans would be able to grasp the significance? Most Americans do not want to think about Iraqi agents within our country, let alone Iraq or al Qaeda helping in the OKC Bombing. Most Americans can only understand what is put forward at any given time.

Do you really think that by not supporting Bush's war on terror, that the likes of Kerry or Dean will pick up the responsibility, and clean up the messes of Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43, etc? What alternative do you have, at the moment?

[Destro]

Yup, Bush is the best we can hope for.....

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Why don't you do something about it, if you think there has been a terrible injustice done? Isn't that your right and duty, as an American? Or, do you really believe that any resistance would be futile?