Al Qaeda again threatens New York, Washington and Los Angeles (thread 2) Daily Terror Threat

DEBKA ^ | 11/03/03

[Mossad1967]

Al Qaeda again threatens New York, Washington and Los Angeles

Link to Thread #1

[freeperfromnj]

Exactly. This stuff is more dangerous than anthrax IMO and it's not being treated with the same level of concern as the '01 bio attacks.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

The people who most need to be woken up appear to prefer sleep.

While Islam is against the whole world, I believe that they are being helped by other parties, in order to push them first at us. The jihadis accept that help, considering us to be the most difficult of their obstacles, planning to get the rest after they have dealt with us. Their helpers, hope the jihadis damage us sufficiently before we destroy them, so that we will be pushovers after the muslims are gone.

This is the strategy of the opening round of WWIV.
Looks like a game of last man standing.

[milkncookies]

Recently posted on IH:

Bin Ladin Is Getting Reorganized; Soon a New 11 September

01 Feb 2004

FBIS

Rome: La Repubblica in Italian 01 Feb 04 p 3 [Telephone Interview with al-Muhajiroun leader Shaykh Umar al-Bakri Muhammad in London by Marco Ansaldo in Rome on 31 January: "'Bin Ladin Is Getting Reorganized; Soon a New 11 September'" -- first two paragraphs are La Repubblica introduction]

"I do not know whether the message comes from Al-Qa'ida or from other groups acting in its name. But the threat of an attack is credible. Indeed, an attack with an even higher profile than 11 September is possible. All Muslims await the good news. That is why they are not taking either British, or French, and certainly not US, flights to go to Mecca right now. I would not be surprised if it fell also to Italy."

Omar Bakri [London-based al-Muhajiroun leader Shaykh Omar Bakri Muhammad] is recognized as Usama Bin Ladin's "unofficial" mouthpiece in Europe -- a job, he said putting up a smoke screen, that "is a privilege which I would like to have." Speaking over the telephone from his London residence, the imam who represents the Saudi multimillionaire was already au fait with the reports disseminated by the news agencies. "The CIA got this information from Arab web sites that report on Islamic activities. In short, they found out about it from the Internet."

[Ansaldo] And is it reasonable to believe in intelligence garnered on the 'Net?

[Bakri] Why not? Muslims surf the great sea of the Internet in order to communicate with one another. It is a technology that is both interesting and a great help.

[Ansaldo] Is the threat serious?

[Bakri] No one can be sure of that. It is impossible to tell if this intelligence is genuine or credible.

[Ansaldo] But was it Al-Qa'ida or not?

[Bakri] I cannot say for sure. But it could have been an organization, or several people, acting in Al-Qa'ida's name or close to it.

[Ansaldo] So?

[Bakri] So the risk needs to be given serious consideration. The possibility of fresh attacks, in Europe as in the United States, or in Indonesia, is highly likely.

[Ansaldo] Are you thinking in terms of a new 11 September?

[Bakri] Much more. Something more lofty, something bigger, with a higher profile than 11 September. Muslims throughout the world are awaiting the good news. My advice is to watch the communications circulating on Arab web sites with great care. I will repeat once again that security measures must be stepped up.

[Ansaldo] Could there be a warning before it takes place?

[Bakri] It is in any case better to be on one's guard.

[Ansaldo] Yes, but 11 September was not like that. Why should it happen now?

[Bakri] It is not a matter of warning. But something might always leak through

[Ansaldo] Imam Bakri, what precautions do your own followers take, for instance?

[Bakri] They do not fly with certain airlines.

[Ansaldo] What does that mean?

[Bakri] It means that in this period when everyone is going to Mecca for the annual pilgrimage, they give their preference to certain airlines over others.

[Ansaldo] Can you give me an example?

[Bakri] It is simple: Our people from here never fly with British, French, or of course US airlines.

[Ansaldo] Is Italy running a risk in all of this?

[Bakri] I would not be surprised if something were to happen in Italy: not outside its borders as happened in al-Nasiriyah, but on its own territory. The attack would be more effective and it would do more damage.

[Ansaldo] But why Italy?

[Bakri] On account of its support for the United States in the occupation of Iraq. That was the turning point. Your country is now being watched very carefully.

[Ansaldo] Are any other countries in danger?

[Bakri] Israel, first and foremost. And then not only France but also Germany. Their lower-key profile over the Iraqi affair certainly will not save them from the possibility of an attack.

http://cobalt.carebridge.org/~tides/TIRR/TIRR.htm#_Omar_Bakri_Warns_of_Islamic_Attack_

[freeperfromnj]

Update on the CT story - I didn't realize that Wallingford was the major sorting center for the New England region:

Suspicious Powder Found in Connecticut Mail Center
13 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A suspicious powder was found in an envelope at a Connecticut mail sorting facility on the same night the deadly poison ricin was discovered in a U.S. Senate mail room in Washington, officials said on Tuesday.

A mail clerk discovered sandy granules in an envelope about midnight Monday at Wallingford, Connecticut, in one of the same facilities in which anthrax spores were found in 2001, a U.S. postal official said. The 2001 find came during a major anthrax scare that also involved Senate offices in the U.S. Capitol.

The clerk was decontaminated as a precaution and was not injured. Preliminary tests of the powder were inconclusive.

A 94-year-old Connecticut woman was one of five people who died after inhaling the anthrax bacteria that was spread in mail in the months immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks. The perpetrators of the anthrax deaths are still not known.

Wallingford is the major mail sorting center for the New England region. A U.S. postal official said the employee who found the suspicious powder was wearing gloves.

"It was field-tested and X-rayed and the results came back inconclusive in terms of a biotoxin," said Kevin McDonough, assistant postal inspector in charge of the New England region.

The envelope and other mail that could have been contaminated was isolated, McDonough said.

He said results from testing by the Connecticut state health laboratory would be known later on Tuesday.

In Washington, U.S. Capitol Police said a suspicious white powder found in a Senate office building tested positive for ricin in several preliminary tests. The discovery disrupted Congress and echoed the 2001 anthrax scare.

[freeperfromnj]

FBI mail flier seeks ricin probe aid

Posted Monday, February 2, 2004 - 8:25 pm

By John Boyanoski
STAFF WRITER

About 270,000 Upstate residents have been sent a one-page flyer in the mail asking for help finding the person who left a letter with a vial of the deadly poison ricin at a Greenville postal center in October.

It's the latest attempt by authorities to get information on the person who threatened to "start dumping" if federal officials did not repeal new trucking regulations aimed at requiring more rest for truckers.

Despite an early flurry of leads, the person who signed the letter "Fallen Angel" has eluded capture.

Most of the flyers were sent to houses in the 296 and 293 zip codes, postal officials said. An additional 70,000 will be sent to northern Georgia and Spartanburg areas in a few weeks.

FBI officials cannot say whether "Fallen Angel" is from South Carolina, but believe the person has some familiarity with the area because the postal facility chosen is not one used by the public.

The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest of the person who left the substance in an envelope at a mail center on Pelham Road that serves Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport.

Inside the envelope was a small metal vial containing ricin, a substance derived from castor beans that is more deadly than nerve gas and a potential tool for terrorists, according to the FBI. Written on the envelope was "caution RICIN POISON" and a warning that read, "Do not open without proper protection."

The Oct. 15 discovery of ricin triggered a terrorism investigation, the temporary closing of the postal center and testing of the facility by state and federal health officials.

It also prompted calls for improving the nation's response to bioterrorism threats, though investigators quickly labeled the ricin incident extortion.

[milkncookies]

And then there is this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/internati...,889600,00.html

North Korea is entitled to launch a pre-emptive strike against the US rather than wait until the American military have finished with Iraq, the North's foreign ministry told the Guardian yesterday.

Warning that the current nuclear crisis is worse than that in 1994, when the peninsula stood on the brink of oblivion, a ministry spokesman called on Britain to use its influence with Washington to avert war. (snip)

[milkncookies]

Correct link for Post 5,289:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,889600,00.html

[freeperfromnj]

Belligerent behavior by Saudi traveler, vague answers raised inspector's suspicions

http://www.nj.com/breakingnews/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0855_BC_TerrorThreat-Airlines&&news&tradecentercrash

[Domestic Church]

I'm not worried about rabies. Now if there was some new combo coronaparvo virus that pops out of the blue as SARs did up I'll be concerned.

[freeperfromnj]

Oops, wrong link

http://www.nj.com/breakingnews/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0831_BC_Attacks-Inspector&&news&tradecentercrash

[MediaMole]

I say that because it needs to be inhaled in relatively large doses to be deadly -- on another thread the dosage was nearly 300 mg inhaled. According to this chart, the LD50 is 2.7 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, so for a 175lb man, that would be 215 milligrams of ricin.

One milligram can kill -- if it gets into the bloodstream directly -- i.e. if it is injected.

Topical exposure -- on the skin is far less dangerous than inhaled exposure.

Ricin is nasty stuff, but I will take my chances with ricin before sarin, VX or anthrax. ...and nothing I say takes away from the urgency of finding whoever is distributing the stuff.

[JustPiper]

So maybe these mailings are mere samples of introducing the product?

[Rutles4Ever]

Someone is sending a message... ...

I'm guessing we haven't heard the last of this.

[freeperfromnj]

Those were my thoughts too. It would fit in with the "not realizing what happened until it's too late" scenario

[Calpernia]

>>>It is so cold the keyboard does not work, nor does granny.

**Hugs** to Ruth.

[freeperfromnj]

I heard on the news this morning that an amount small enough to fit on a the head of a pin is deadly.