Al-Qaeda blueprint exposed (Found out before they got us!)

The Mercury ^ | December 29, 2003 | Ben English, Ian Gallagher and Jef Sommerfield

[EsclavoDeCristo]

Al-Qaeda blueprint exposed By Ben English, Ian Gallagher and Jef Sommerfield 29dec03

AL-QAEDA has turned its terror sights to the sea, targeting luxury cruise liners in an expansion of its "jihad" against the West.

Owners of the recently launched $1.3 billion Queen Mary 2 yesterday confirmed threats of terror hang over its maiden voyage early next year. The Osama bin-Laden terrorist group is also adopting new tactics to destroy commercial aircraft.

British MP Patrick Mercer has revealed Saudi authorities arrested two Islamic suicide pilots. He said the pilots were preparing to crash two light aircraft into a packed British Airways passenger jet while it was still on the tarmac at the airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

Both light planes had been crammed with explosives. And Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he had received reliable intelligence of a Christmas Day plan to assassinate the Pope and destroy the Vatican by flying a hijacked plane into it.

News of the terror plots emerged after US authorities upgraded their national terror alert status before Christmas.

US intelligence officials also found evidence Al-Qaeda was planning to attack the British aircraft carrier Ark Royal as it passed through the Gibraltar Straits en route to the Gulf War earlier this year.

Plans for the attack emerged after a US spy plane discovered scores of acoustic sea-mines had disappeared from a naval base in North Korea.

US intelligence services believe the mines could be aboard 28 "terror ships" Osama bin Laden has assembled in the past year. The capture of Al-Qaeda's chief of naval operations, Ahmad Belai al-Neshari, has helped to reveal the extent of the organisation's maritime ambitions.

Al-Neshari was found carrying a 180-page dossier that listed "targets of opportunity". These included large cruise liners sailing from Western ports.

Anti-terrorism expert and former Sydney Olympics security chief Neil Fergus said yesterday that he was not convinced Al-Qaeda could launch sea attacks.

"I don't know where Al-Qaeda would have got the armada. The Tamil Tigers (separatist fighters in Sri Lanka) have a fleet of about a dozen ships but they are in an island enclave and that was a difficult exercise," Mr Fergus said.

"I also don't think anyone would have a clue about sea mines from North Korea regardless of U2 flights or satellites."

An Australian aviation industry official said stealing a light aircraft was "as easy as stealing a car if you know what you are doing".

In Australia there have been two recent examples of light planes being stolen – one at Parafield in Adelaide and one in Alice Springs. A light plane was also hijacked in central Queensland.

However the official said it would be "extra-ordinarily difficult" for a light plane to crash into a large passenger plane due to collision avoidance systems in larger airliners.

A P&O spokesman last night said exactly the same standard of security for the airline industry was applied for cruise ships.

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[Moose4]

I was wondering the same thing. What good is TCAS going to do a fully-loaded British Airways 747 taxiing around at Riyadh, when some Islamonutburger in a suicide Cessna dives on it?

Now in the air, that's another matter. Between air traffic control and TCAS--assuming the controller is fast on the switch when he realizes he's got a plane with no transponder return running around in his airspace and puts 2 and 2 together--a passenger jet would have a chance to evade.

}:-)4

[happygrl]

He likely also believes you guys only took pictures.

Mr. Fergus may also believe it was an airborne/aerial asset...

Not fair to tease.

Or is that info still classified... ?

[HiJinx]

Are you bullet-proof?

Actually, I'm referring to having human assets (CIA) on the ground, or shared intel from another party, or something else that we don't even know about.

[Chad Fairbanks]

A "Catholic" hard IRA man or two has appeared beside Muslim terrs at places throughout the world, in active and support roles.

And, another example is the Japanese Red Army attack, done on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine at Lod Airport in Tel Aviv...

During the 70s and 80s, if I recall correctly, the former Soviet Union sponsored terror camps all over the mid east that trained the IRA, Shining Path, Palestinian groups, and the various european red armies etc...

[Chad Fairbanks]

I can appreciate that that does exist, but in this particular case you will find it impossible to establish any links. If you think you can, be my guest. The fact remains that the conflict in Sri Lanka is an exclusively local one that is neither imported nor exported.

Actually, the Tamil Tigers have well-documented links to terror groups in the Middle East - many veterans were trained by Yasser Arafat's P.L.O., for example - and, more importantly, they operate an armament delivery service for other militants around the world.

[RaceBannon]

Tamil is not Hindu or Christian, they are Tamil.

[thoughtomator]

"Tamil" is an ethnicity, like "Slav", not a religion. Tamils in Sri Lanka are, in general, Hindu, Christian, or Muslim.

[thoughtomator]

Here is the 2003 CFR report on them, for what it's worth. Ties to Arafat are from the 60s and are not contemporary. Arms trafficking is a problem, indeed, but it is not on the order of, say, France's, since the cargo trafficked is light arms and not heavy weaponry.

From the point of view of US national security, the LTTE is a non-factor.

[RaceBannon]

Well, I been there, and spoke to them. I agree that they are mostly considered an ethnicity, but they are NOT Hindu or Christian in their concerns for their 'independence'.

In fact, I got to speak to some of the founders of the Tamil Tigers.

[RaceBannon]

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[thoughtomator]

I speak to Tamils every day. What you're talking about is a polyglot spirituality that borrows from all the neighboring religions. There is no such thing as a Tamil religion. Having asked hundreds of Tamils what their religion was (to fill out applications of their behalf), only one has said to me anything other than "Hindu" , "Christian", or "Muslim". (That one said he didn't have a name for what he believed.)

It is true that, on the Tamil side at least, the war in Sri Lanka is not a religious one, though Tamil Muslims are a separate community from the rest of the Tamils.

[thoughtomator]

See? Click on the links... they all reference either Hinduism or Christianity.

[little jeremiah]

There's an article somewhere on FR (read it this morning or last night - had a hard day today so brain is fried) detailing just that. I THINK it was from WNDaily. Explaining how terrorists of all different ideologies seem to be ganging up, since they all hate the US.

[ladyinred]

They aren't going to announce everything they know for security reasons. There is no telling how much is known. I understand why it is not told to us while we are investigating. They want to catch as many of them as they can.

[ladyinred]

WOW

[Happy2BMe]

All aboard for a HUGH DISCOUNT on the Queen Mary II maiden voyage - courteousy of Al Qaeda - ping!

[Happy2BMe]

"But Howie Dean thinks we're less safe now and losing the battle against terrorism."

Dean also claims the Soviet Union is aiding Iran's nuclear weapons program.

[Happy2BMe]

"I speak to Tamils every day."

Do they ever speak back?

[infowarrior]

I'd guess a few Catholics in the bigger conspiracy to kill one of their own...

Kind of like when he conspired to kill the brothers Diem, fellow Catholics?

the infowarrior

[thoughtomator]

When they can speak English, yeah... otherwise they speak to the translator, who speaks to me.