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British politicians singled out by bin Laden's assassination squads
Al-QAEDA hit teams are planning to assassinate British politicians and other international leaders closely linked with President Bush. These targeted killings would be carried out simultaneously in a number of countries.
Terror suspects being held in Pakistan have told their captors that the orders for this campaign of political assassinations came directly from Osama bin Laden.
Key al-Qaeda lieutenants now in custody have revealed how in his mountain hideout bin Laden is still personally involved in drawing up plans for a new wave of attacks against the West.
A Pakistani intelligence source said last night: “Osama has given the go-ahead to target important places and personalities in the US, UK and Pakistan.”
Details of the assassination plot were said to have been found on a computer belonging to an al-Qaeda suspect who was a frequent visitor to Britain. It suggests that the assassins are in place in many of the countries being targeted by the terror network.
The computer belonging to Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan also contains meticulous details of how suicide bombers will hit airports and buildings in Britain and America.
A senior security source in Islamabad told The Times that there are a number of countries where assassins are intending to strike. There are no names of specific British politicians on al-Qaeda’s list, which just refers to “political personalities” who are key allies of Washington.
The intercepted plans show how this assassination campaign would begin in the US, with the murder of a figure close to the White House followed as swiftly as possible by attacks against as many of America’s allies as the terrorists can reach.
Terror cells were told months ago to identify “available targets” who would exclude closely guarded figures such as George W. Bush and Tony Blair, and instead concentrate on prominent public figures who do not have the same protection.
Pakistani officials have apparently shared details of their discovery with countries vulnerable to attack. These are believed to include Yemen, Turkey and Saudi Arabia as well as Pakistan. President Musharraf of Pakistan has already escaped two attempts on his life this year.
Checkpoints were set up in Islamabad yesterday and cabinet ministers have been told to restrict their movements.
Investigators in Saudi Arabia are said to have uncovered plans by an al-Qaeda cell in the kingdom which was plotting to assassinate members of the ruling royal family.
Security around Saudi royals has been intensifed after this threat was uncovered in June after the killing of the al-Qaeda leader in a shoot-out in the kingdom. Until now al-Qaeda has rarely used targeted political assassinations as a tactic.
Two terrorists posing as journalists murdered the Afghan leader, Ahmed Shas Massoud, 48 hours before the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US to eliminate a key Northern Alliance commander who would have led any attack on al-Qaeda and its Taleban allies.
Pakistani officials refused to divulge whether the plans they have found reveal whether these assassinations will be carried out by gunmen or suicide bombers.
The senior source said suspects told how they are timed to coincide with this November’s US presidential election.
A Tanzanian-born suspect, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, apparently told his captors al-Qaeda “wanted to create chaotic conditions in the US during the elections”.
“They planned a series of terrorist activities in the United States,” the source in Islamabad said.
Pakistani ministers played down a report from unnamed US intelligence sources quoted in yesterday’s Washington Times claiming that these high-profile assassinations would trigger a new wave of suicide attacks.
Security experts believe that al-Qaeda would have kept cells of suicide bombers well apart from their assassination squads so as not to jeopardise these operations.
Western intelligence officials who have seen the information found on al-Qaeda computers are astonished at the detail compiled by terrorist reconnaissance teams.
They believe targets in Britain have already been carefully chosen as al-Qaeda teams are now known to spend years finessing their attack plans.
What has also emerged from the recent arrests in Pakistan is how Osama bin Laden is determined to carry out another spectacular attack against the US. Mr Ghailani admitting meeting the al-Qaeda leader in 2002 and told them he last had direct contact with bin Laden in June 2003.
Bin Laden last released a taped message in April. The CIA believes the audiotape was the voice of bin Laden and that his mention of the March 11 Madrid train bombings shows the tape was current.
Mr Ghailani, who has been indicted for his part in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in east Africa, told how he was in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal area in June when an offensive was launched against foreign militants.
He managed to escape and moved to Gujarat, 110 miles south-east of Islamabad, where he claims to have been training suicide bombers for an attack on a military airbase at Chaklala, which is used by President Musharraf, and Islamabad international airport.
Mr Ghailani reportedly identified one of al-Qaeda’s main figures in Britain, who he said was co-ordinating su