THE REAL TERROR MASTERS Terrorism embraces ethnic 'diversity'

Antiwar.com ^ | 8/15/2003 | Justin Raimondo

[Burkeman1]

In the terrorism business, it seems, diversity is all the rage. What Hemant Lakhani, an international arms dealer of British nationality and Indian ethnicity, Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, a Muslim from Malaysia, and Yehuda Abraham, a Jewish-American gem dealer who works out of New York City's diamond district, have in common is that they are all being held in connection with a plot to purchase surface-to-air missiles on behalf of terrorists. Except that the alleged terrorists they were dealing with were really FBI agents and informants, who had been tracking them for over a year in an effort to smoke out the rest of Osama bin Laden's worldwide network.

A leak to the media, however, forced the feds to go public before the trap could be fully sprung, at least according to Newsweek's Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball.

Several aspects of this case are extremely odd, starting with the ethnic "diversity" of the players.

Hemant Lakhani, a.k.a. Hemad, a.k.a. Hekyat – Beginning with his exact name, we get conflicting accounts of just who and what this guy is. By some accounts he's an "international arms dealer," yet his neighbors described him as "Mr. Average" and were shocked when the cops beat down the doors of the Lakhanis' home in the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Hendon, a north London suburb. The Guardian and others characterize the 68-year-old Indian-born British national as an amateur in the arms trade, whose last known profession was as a garment trader and the manager of a West End clothing store. Julian Borger disdains him as "a blusterer, rather too anxious to impress on his contact that he is a 'serious businessman' capable of getting hold of 'high-class stuff.'"

Yet in the same newspaper we read:

"A source close to British intelligence yesterday described Mr. Lakhani as a 'known arms dealer' who was thought to conduct most of his business offshore. He put 'feelers' out and 'clearly knew who he was selling the missile to,' the source added, making the point that Mr. Lakhani would not have been involved in a 'blind deal.'"

The internet turns up sparse evidence of Lakhani or what he does for a living.

[dighton]

[Justin Raimondo]

Anyone who wants to read a (relatively) coherent thread on this subject should go here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/963515/posts?q=1&&page=51