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FBI accuses BBC of wrecking operation to infiltrate al-Qaida
JPost ^ | Aug 16, 2003 | DOUGLAS DAVIS

Posted on 08/16/2003 4:20:35 AM PDT by veronica

The FBI has accused the BBC of wrecking an elaborate operation that was designed to infiltrate al-Qaida.

The BBC, regarded by some as institutionally anti-American, is said to have aborted the operation by broadcasting an "exclusive" report about the arrest of a British arms dealer last Tuesday.

The arms dealer was allegedly attempting to purchase ground-to-air missiles for terrorist clients who were seeking to shoot down civilian airliners in the United States.

But what 68-year-old Hemant Lakhani did not know was that he was the subject of an elaborate, 18-month-long sting operation that involved Russian intelligence "suppliers" and FBI "customers."

Lakhani was arrested when he arrived in Washington last week to take delivery of the missiles, which had been disabled before leaving Russia.

First news of the arrest came in the BBC "exclusive," which led the network's main evening news program.

Senior US government officials told Newsweek magazine that the ultimate aim of the sting was to arrest Lakhani and then turn him into an informant who might lead them to terrorists trying to buy weapons.

This, however, was no longer possible after the BBC broke the story of Lakhani's arrest as the lead item in its main evening news program on Wednesday.

Newsweek said sources at the US Justice Department were "fuming" that the BBC "may have blown a rare opportunity to penetrate al-Qaida's arms buying network."

A BBC spokesperson said the network had not received any complaint from any US authority about the story. "All the interested parties were alerted to the report before transmission and at no time registered their concerns," said the spokesperson.

The BBC report was broadcast on the same day it was facing a moment of acute embarrassment over one of the most spectacular scandals in modern British politics.

The disclosure of Lakhani's arrest coincided with evidence by its correspondent Andrew Gilligan at the Hutton inquiry, which is investigating the circumstances surrounding the suicide of British Defense Ministry scientist Dr David Kelly.

Before his death, Kelly had denied telling Gilligan that the government deliberately "sexed up" intelligence material on Saddam Hussein's weapons capability to justify British participation in military action to topple Saddam.

The story of the Lakhani's arrest pushed the Gilligan story into second place in the program's running order.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; andrewgilligan; armssmugglers; armssmuggling; bbc; davidkelly; fbi; gilligan; hemantlakhani; huttoninquiry; informant; intelligence; leak; missiles; missilesmugglers; missilesmuggling; mole; moles; sabotage; smuggling; sting
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To: veronica
Freedom of the Press, doncha know.... the all-important "scoop" is more important than delaying the story and saving some lives :-(
21 posted on 08/16/2003 8:40:13 AM PDT by Tamzee (I was a vegetarian until I started leaning toward the sunlight...... Rita Rudner)
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To: aristeides; Betty Jo
Think it might be connected to the Saudi intel agent recently expelled from the UK?
22 posted on 08/16/2003 10:45:26 AM PDT by swarthyguy
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To: mewzilla; Fred Mertz; Peach; Shermy; swarthyguy; Cindy; nopardons
Thank you mewzilla!

ABC is saying this mess is less than meets the eye.

There is such conflicting stuff,have you read the other threads here about the perps?

Is Lakhani a Muslim or a Hindu?

Why is Yahuda owning a brand new store in Saudia Arabia, in the Jeddah Sheraton Hotel?

Who and what is "Jackie Abraham"?

All good stuff!
23 posted on 08/16/2003 10:57:15 AM PDT by Betty Jo
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To: veronica
bump
24 posted on 08/16/2003 11:04:33 AM PDT by VOA
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To: Betty Jo
Lakhani is a name that could be either.

His first name is confusing; I've heard Hemant (prolly Hindus), Hamid(Muslim).

His wife's name is Kusum, which is prolly Hindu but there's a slim chance of it being muslim . Could be a mixed marriage. FWIW>

Either way, arms dealers aren't much into ideologies, just cash.

And it's too bad this became public because now Lakhani won't be used as bait to grab jihadis.
25 posted on 08/16/2003 11:06:42 AM PDT by swarthyguy
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To: swarthyguy; Peach; Shermy; Fred Mertz; aristeides
I dont know, but I at this stage,am ready to believe BUSH leaked it to give diversion.

There are thousands of these kinds and other kinds of missiles all over.

We bought and gave them to the Binny Jihadist in Afghanistan to kill the RUSSKIES.

Is Lakhani just a bankrupt textile import/exporter,or a bad dude with a real history of arms dealing:

Is Yahuda just an old Jewish diamond dealer who dosn't trust banks,or is he a Jew who is helping Islamic terrorists kill his relatives?

Or, is he a Jew who is helping a Hindu kill Muslims?

Is this Lakhani related to another Lakhani that stole jewels in NYC a while back ?
26 posted on 08/16/2003 11:07:58 AM PDT by Betty Jo
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To: veronica
But who told BBC?
27 posted on 08/16/2003 11:10:35 AM PDT by ex-snook (American jobs need BALANCED Trade. We buy from you. You buy from us.)
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To: aristeides
I think the whole thing is a BUSH stratedic,er stratadgy,uh,well you know what I mean!
28 posted on 08/16/2003 11:10:40 AM PDT by Betty Jo
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To: veronica
A once great organization falls bump...
29 posted on 08/16/2003 11:11:34 AM PDT by GOPJ
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To: Clara Lou
Now, I know why only one man was arrested.

There was more than one man arrested:

INSIDE THE PLOT TO SELL A MISSILE (serial numbers on dollar bills key to prosecution)

Excerpt:

Not long after his arrest, agents entered Abraham's offices in New York. There, they arrested Abraham and Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, an Indian-born Malaysian who had entered the country in recent days.

30 posted on 08/16/2003 1:27:48 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: windchime
Thanks for the ping, windchime. I would like 5 minutes with the press corps right now. Better yet, let the troops demand answers from the press - individually, don't let the press work as a pack. Let each reporter stare into the faces of those risking their lives for the reporter's freedom - and let each reporter answer to the troops. Allow the troops this voice, hold the reporters accountable - at least once a week. Give the press something other than their daily anti-war-America-freedom talking points to meditate on.

Good Brit blog:  *http://www.biased-bbc.blogspot.com/

31 posted on 08/16/2003 1:40:50 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl (SUPPORT OUR TROOPS RALLY* MELBOURNE, FL*8/17: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/964625/posts)
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To: Allan
Batchelor & Alexander ping.
32 posted on 08/16/2003 2:40:29 PM PDT by Mitchell
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
You're welcome.  Thanks for the biased-bbc blogspot.

"The BBC, always impartial, would not wish to 'take sides'. In Beeb-land the FBI and al Qaeda are morally equivalent."

They've 'taken sides' all right.  The wrong side!

 

".........let the troops demand answers from the press - individually, don't let the press work as a pack. Let each reporter stare into the faces of those risking their lives for the reporter's freedom - and let each reporter answer to the troops."

Great idea, but there would probably be a lot of 'no comments'.

33 posted on 08/16/2003 8:17:44 PM PDT by windchime
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To: Sacajaweau
Do you all believe that Kelly committed suicide??

Yes, because although Gilligan exaggerated and hyped Kelly's commentsto him and misrepresented the credentials of his source, Kelly did in fact say some of what formed the basis of the anti-goverment/anti-war/anti-Blair BBC assault.

Kelly did wrong, BBC made it worse. Both bad, and Kelly was not somebody's victim.

34 posted on 08/17/2003 8:21:07 AM PDT by cyncooper
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