Posted on 04/19/2002 8:35:39 AM PDT by Registered
"Deathbed" Confession Transcript -- World Exclusive Posted April 19, 2002 The following interview with ELMINA ABDUL, widow of EDWIN ANGELES, one of the cofounders of the ABU SAYYAF GROUP (ASG), and deep cover agent for the Defense Intelligence Group (DIG) of the Department of National Defense (DND), of the Republic of the Philippines, was taken on March 10, 2002, in the presence of CHRISTOPHER M. PUNO, Information Officer of the Province of Basilan, at BASCOM Hospital, in the general ward. TRANSLATED TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH ELMINA ABDUL, WIDOW TO EDWIN ANGELES TAKEN AT BASILAN COMMUNITY HOSPITAL GENERAL WARD ISABELA CITY, PROVINCE OF BASILAN REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES BY DORIAN ZUMEL SICAT NEWS CORRESPONDENT MANILA TIMES, OMEGA NEWS SERVICE (USA) (After introduction to ELMINA ABDUL by Provincial Information Officer Christopher Puno) NOTE: I interviewed ELMINA in Tagalog, she answered me in Chavacano and Cebuano, two of the local dialects spoken in Basilan. She did not speak in the indigenous dialect because she knew that I do not speak or understand that dialect. DZS: Good morning Ms. Angeles DZS: How are you feeling this morning? EA: Not very well. DZS: Do you feel like talking with me? EA: Yes, but not so long. I am tired. DZS: I will try to be as short as possible. Did Chris tell you what I am here to talk to you about? EA: Yes. And I am the one who asked him to look for you after I was told that you are interested in the truth about my husband. DZS: Good. Okay. You are not Edwin's first wife, is that true? EA: Yes. I am his third wife. For Muslim men, they can have even four wives, if each of the other ones approve. DZS: How, when and where did you meet Edwin? EA: We met when he was in the Provincial Jail here in Isabela, in 1995. I was then working for the government radio station, dxOS (Philippine Information Agency)/PIA. DZS: That was after his capture? EA: Yes. DZS: When did you marry him? EA: In 1997. DZS: I am going to ask you some very sensitive questions now. Is that all right with you? EA: Yes. I want to tell the truth of what I know of my late husband. DZS: Did you know that he was one of those who founded the ASG, along with the late Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, in 1991? EA: Yes. I know also why he was one of them. DZS: Can you tell me why? EA: Yes, I want to tell you why. I want now to tell the truth about my husband. I will die soon. I want you to know the truth. Will you write the truth, Mr. Sicat? DZS: Yes. I will. I promise. EA: You are not afraid? DZS: More than you know, Mrs. Angeles. EA: Good. Maybe you will stay alive and safe because of your fear. I will tell you that Edwin was ordered to do that. DZS: Can you explain please. EA: He was what they call a deep penetration agent or DPA. DZS: Can you explain please? EA: As I told you, he was given orders. DZS: By whom? EA: Some very powerful men in the DND. DZS: Did he tell you why? EA: No. Only that he was ordered to help to organize the ASG and to report all developments. DZS: Did he tell you who it was? EA: Not by names. But he told my only at the highest levels. DZS: Did he ever tell you about his activities in the ASG before he met you? EA: He told me everything. I do not believe that he would hide anything from me when we were talking alone. DZS: Please do not be offended, but how do you know that? EA: Not only because I was his wife, but because he knew that he would soon be killed. He wanted me to know everything so that if anything happened to him I could tell others. DZS: Do you want to stop now? EA: No. More water please. DZS: Can I ask you about some things that happened back in the mid-90s? 1993, 1994? EA: Yes. I will try to answer what you ask. DZS: Did he ever talk to you about meetings with Arabs or Americans? EA: Yes, once he had met with some Arabs and Americans in 1994, in Davao (City), or General Santos (City). DZS: Did he tell you who they were? EA: Does the name Ramsey Yousef mean something to you Mr. Sicat? DZS: Ahmad Hassim. Does that mean something to you? EA: He had met with them. And an American who he called Terry or the Farmer, and another American whom he did not name. DZS: Was the American he named as Terry, Terry Nichols? EA: He did not mention the surname. Only Terry. DZS: Did he tell you why and how many times they had met? EA: They met almost every day for one week. They met in an empty bodega (warehouse). They talked about bombings. They mentioned bombing government buildings in San Francisco, Saint Louis and in Oklahoma. The Americans wanted instructions how to make and to explode bombs. He (Edwin) told me that Janjalani was very interested in paying them much money to explode the buildings. The money was coming from Yousef and the other Arab. DZS: Did he tell you when the bombs would explode; when they exploded? EA: He told me that the Americans exploded one bomb in Oklahoma in 1995, after he was arrested and after we first met. DZS: Did he ever tell you who was supplying the money for the bombing of the building, I mean who Yousef was working with or for? EA: Mr. Sicat, you are the mediaman. Do you not know that Yousef was representing Iraq and Saddam Hussein? Do you not know that? DZS: Did Edwin tell you that? EA: Not only Edwin, but others that were close to us, before he was killed. One time, a soldier (Philippine Army) and Edwin were talking secretly. I was there because Edwin demanded. The soldier ordered Edwin never to tell anybody about the Iraqis. DZS: Did you ever see that soldier before or after that time? EA: Only two times before. He was the one who would talk to him for information. DZS: Mrs. Angeles, do you know who killed your husband, Edwin? EA: The ones who used him and then betrayed him, Mr. Sicat. (She grows visibly weaker). I want to rest now. DZS: I understand. I'll let you rest now. Thank you so much, Mrs. Angeles. You have told me so much. I will try to see you tomorrow if you are up to it. NOTE: I was not able to speak with ELMINA again. She became too weak and incoherent the following day. A few days later, the doctors had diagnosed that she was terminal. She needed to be transferred to Davao City to the Regional Hospital (government) for treatment. A few days later, while I was in Davao, arranging for her admission to the Regional Hospital, Chris told me that she could no longer be moved. She would die in transit. Since Muslims require burial within 24 hours of death, I understood the reasoning. The following day, Chris contacted me that ELMINA ABDUL, widow to EDWIN ANGELES (killed by unknown assailants in 1998), died in the pre-dawn hours Saturday March 30. She was the last one to talk with her husband before he was killed. I was the last and only reporter to talk with her about her husband before she died. (sgd) DORIAN ZUMEL SICAT News Correspondent Manila Times /Omega News Service (USA) Investigative Liaison to Law Office of John Michael Johnston Robert Bickel, Sr. Senior Investigator and Legal Analyst Law offices of John Michael Johnston Elmina Abdul Angeles Statement |
As I stated above, there are numerous comparable instances with comparable results. The only difference was accident vs. intent, which has absolutely no bearing on physics.
Oh come now! It's not that hard nor expensive. If either one was particularly plugged into a "militia" group, the info would almost fall in his lap. Buy ingredients for a few hundred bucks, mix in containers, place in truck, drive to target, ignite improvised fuse, leave quickly, big boom.
My whole point is: it's not that hard. I don't understand why so many people don't get it...
I see the word "test" so I will assume that it was not directed at me. If so please explain.
If your reason is that I did not define who "they" was, it is because at the moment I could not recollect the names of the Middle Easterners convicted of planting the bomb in the garage beneath the WTC. It was not a reference to those involved in OKC. I am fully aware that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were never alleged to be involved in that attack in 1993 nor do I have the remotest reason to believe that to be the case.
YOU, (Sir, Ma'am) are either OBFUSCATING the FACTS, or are WOEFULLY IGNORANT of the physics of the "Murrah Building Event!"
NO WAY an "ANFO BOMB" Dropped the Murrah Building BY ITSELF!!!
There is PLENTY of testimony by explosives experts (USAF GENERALS) who corroborate my POV!!
If we EVER learn "The Truth," I, for one, would be curious WHO YOU ARE!!
I only hope we can "Hold our Civilization Together"--despite "Those who manipulate us like 'ctdonath2!!'"
Doc
I'm quite willing to hazard guesses as to distance from where the truck-bomb parked to other buildings. Please bear in mind however that (1) these are just that, guesses, and (2) I have studiously avoided and will continue to avoid all the conspiracy B.S. like the plague!
Murrah Bldg north side was on 5th street. Thats where the truck parked. The west street border would be Harvey, the east Robinson, and the south, 4th street. OK? So, figure about 400 ft between Robinson & Harvey, and perhaps 300 between 4th and 5th. St Josephs was on 4th and Harvey facing south, perhaps 300 feet from its front door to where the truck parked. One block east was another church, on the corner of 4th and Robinson, also facing south and about the same distance from where the truck parked. Both these churches were partially sheilded by the M.B.
The north side of 5th street, across from M.B. was parking, then the Journal Record building, about two hundred feet away.
The northwest corner 5th & Harvey was where the Water Resource group met, dont remember the building name, and immediately east was the Athanai building, a small office building with a Greek restaurant on ground floor. These would be maybe 250 feet on the diagonal going NW from the M.B front door.
Forgot to mention earlier, but on the NW side, 5th & Robinson was the YMCA building, again perhaps 250-300 feet from where truck parked.
Both churches were heavily damaged but repaired. The Water recources bldg and the Athenai had to be razed, as was the YMCA. The J.R building was heavily damaged. The west side of that building is now the bombing memorial museum. I believe the remainder of the J.R. building has been repaired, but cant swear to it.
FYI, I work approx. 1.5 miles NE of the blast site, and the blast rattled windows there to the point people headed for the doors. My first impression was an aircraft going into dirt nose first, and very close by. Within a couple mins it was obvious from the debris cloud that it was a downtown blast of some sort.
As to your question concerning gas mains, yeah it seems like good luck that there wasn't one running underground right there. There was plenty of chaos as it was, which I'm sure contributed greatly to some of the theories.
Regards
Apparently the only way you'll be convinced is for someone to actually buy a Murrah-type building, mix up some ANFO, buy a truck (let's avoid a rental one, ok?), detonate it in the same location, and look really surprised when a large bomb actually does major structural damage to a medium-sized building (go figure!).
Somewhere between unquestionable precident of blowing up stumps with cupfuls of ANFO, and flattening part of a small city with a boatload of the stuff, is seriously damaging a medium-sized building with a truckload of the same material. The proportions are obvious to me...why don't you see the obvious?
If you want to convince me of your sanity, please explain how much truck-delivered ANFO would be required to produce the same architectural effects from the same location? If about 4000 pounds of the stuff parked right at the sidewalk isn't enough, what is?
I, & MANY of my Concerned Associates, WANT the events of the past six months to have been an "Aberration!"
DESPITE YOUR BEST OBFUSCATION, the MOST COMPETENT EXPLOSIVES EXPERTS on the Planet regard the Murrah Building Implosion to be an "Inside Job!!"
Sorry, my FReeper Friend, the "ANFO BOMB" could NOT have "Brought Down" the Murrah Building!!
AS USUAL, "Things are NOT as THEY Appear!"
------& SO IT GOES!!----!
Doc
What 1993 attack are you talking about, Waco? Boy, if the OKC epic has morphed that way I would take it as an indication the discussion was being sponsored by the American Pharmaceutical Association.
Imo the only people putting out information of Arab involvement in OKC are low-level government agents. That some people have sustained their OKC illusions 7 years and are finally seeing media attention is good. I'm happy for them. It means they're able to reduce their dosages. Perhaps for once they will have both reason and lucidity in their review of OKC and see the building wasn't a steel-reinforced concrete bunker. As it is I give all posters a big, fat F when I see they haven't even considered the building's architecture before determining the dynamics of it's destruction.
I've read several of the "ANFO could not have done that" reports, and plenty of posts like yours. I have yet to see anything that adequately explains _why_ the ANFO truckbomb model wouldn't work (or what _should_ have happened when two tons of prime explosives is detonated right at the base of a building). All I get is more "some obscure unnamed expert says it couldn't have happened". Bollocks! ANFO accidents show what happens. Prove otherwise.
I suggest you get your chronological history straight before you start calling people idiots. First of all, my comment was in response to a question asking if anyone had used ANFO prior to OKC. My response was yes - the WTC in 1993. There was no mention in my post regarding Arab, Middle Eastern, Islamic, or anyone else's involvement in OKC. So I would suggest that you learn to read before you start calling people idiots in gigantic red letters.
Here is the full text of the post I replied to: That they occurred accidentally is largely irrelevant, as they HAPPENED on an OKC scale.
The response I replied to:Wrong. A shipload of amonium nitrate is a far cry from a ryder truckload. As I stated above, name one time a ANFO bomb was contructed to blow up a buiding before OKC.
My respons in full: Didn't they use ANFO and a Ryder van in 1993 to attempt to blow up the WTC? I recall seeing pictures showing that it was parked next to a reinforced wall which reflected the explosion outward. It also removed at least two floors from the parking garage but left the support beams basically intact.
My point was that someone had done that before, but thank God they were unsuccessful. Unfortunately, they would use another tactic eight years later with catastrophic results.
So in case you need more info, here it is:
From Interpol's website:
"On 26th February 1993, at approximately 12.18 p.m., an improvised explosive device exploded on the second level of the World Trade Center parking basement.
"The resulting blast produced a crater, approximately 150 feet in diameter and five floors deep, in the parking basement. The structure consisted mainly of steel-reinforced concrete, twelve to fourteen inches thick. The epicenter of the blast was approximately eight feet from the south wall of Trade Tower Number One, near the support column K31/8. The device had been placed in the rear cargo portion of a one-ton Ford F350 Econoline van, owned by the Ryder Rental Agency, Jersey City, New Jersey. Approximately 6,800 tons of material were displaced by the blast.
"The main explosive charge consisted primarily of approximately 1,200 to 1,500 pounds of a home-made fertilizer-based explosive, urea nitrate. The fusing system consisted of two 20-minute lengths of a non-electric burning type fuse such as green hobby fuse. The hobby fuse terminated in the lead azide, as the initiator.
"Also incorporated in the device and placed under the main explosive charge were three large metal cylinders (tare weight 126 pounds) of compressed hydrogen gas."
Fertilizer bombs were used in both attacks, with the one at the WTC occuring in 1993, two years prior to OKC which occurred in 1995.
Regarding the exact chemical composition of the explosive materials, yes they may be different chemically, but my point still remains, it had been done before. If anything, it reinforces the position that it can be used destructively.
Here is a link containing a picture of the damage done to the WTC in 1993.
I recognize your intent in mentioning this. It is pathetic.
I just keep shaking my head...what do these people THINK two tons of prime explosives will do to a building?
Well, ANFOs been used for decades as a commercial explosive. It's currently used extensively in strip mining operations so it's capabilities as an explosive should not be much of an issue. The 'cutter charge' clan presumes the Murrah building was some sort of a hardened concrete pillbox which required the use of military-grade demolition charges to bring it down. Architecture and gravity are irrelevant to their theories. Hence, the Evil Government Conspiracy.
Besides, the IRAs been using ANFO for decades. If it can blow up an APC it can probably take down a 9-story post-and-beam building.
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