US investigators have asked to examine a three-page letter found by Italian investigators in 1995 at an Islamic cultural centre in Milan at the centre of many anti-terror investigations, which indicates that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden could have travelled to Milan in the early 1990s, Rome daily La Repubblica reported on Tuesday. The letter is dated 31 May, 1991, approximately when bin Laden is supposed to have moved from Saudi Arabia to Sudan, from where he was expelled in 1996.
"The news is the arrival of Osama bin Laden," says the document, in which the writer also claims that "by the way, I want those in Egypt to know that I am in Italy."
The letter is part of documents presented by prosecutors at a trial in Milan of 17 terror suspects, mostly Egyptian nationals, accused of using the controversial Islamic centre in viale Jenner - classified as a financier of terrorism causes by the US Treasury Department after 9/11 - to fasify documents, smuggle arms and provide a cover for terror activities. The mosque, according to the prosecution, was at the centre of a network which linked terror activities in Europe and the Middle East.
Investigators however are still reportedly unclear whether the person who wrote the letter, whose signature is Abou Abdallah, was actually in Italy as he claims or in Peshawar, in northern Pakistan, which is the document's dateline.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.364018007&par=0
Somalia: Jihad declared in Beledwein as Ethiopia advances
Mon. November 27, 2006
(SomaliNet) The authorities of Islamic Courts in Hiran region called on the people in the settlements of the region on Monday that they should be ready for the jihad on the Ethiopian troops that crossed into Somalia.
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Milan...
Thanks Oorang.
The leader of an Islamic militant group blew himself up at a border post near Lebanon on Tuesday after a gunbattle with security forces that left two of them wounded, the Syrian government said. Omar Abdullah, 28, the leader of a militant organization Tawhid and Jihad, was challenged when he tried to cross into Lebanon with fake documents, the Interior Ministry said.
A witness said Abdullah was standing outside the passport control building when security agents approached. He opened fire with a handgun, wounding two, then ran toward the nearby village of Kfeir Yabous about 500 yards away. More security forces arrived, started shooting and apparently hit the gunman, said the witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals. The attacker raised one hand in a gesture of surrender, but used the other to detonate an explosives belt.
The Interior Ministry statement said nine fake identification documents were found on Abdullah, who also used the name Omar Hamra.
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http://www.topix.net/content/ap/3042519316112334574616089229911273665597
American Traitor Leading Jihad in Somalia?
November 28, 2006
I was reading through the headlines today to see if fighting has begun between our allies in Ethiopia and the jihadis of the Islamic Courts Union which now run most of Southern Somalia, when I came across something interesting.
The head of The Foreign Relations Department of the Islamic Courts Union, Ibrahim Hassan Addow, is an American citizen.
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