Posted on 07/21/2002 8:09:00 AM PDT by habaes corpussel
A Sudanese man who approached U.S. officials claiming he belonged to al-Qaida and offering to spy for the CIA has been sentenced to seven years in prison, according to a newspaper report.
Sudan's Al-Watan daily reported Sunday that the unidentified Sudanese man had offered his services to the CIA and contacted the U.S. embassy in Khartoum several times.
He reportedly told U.S. officials that he had fought in Afghanistan and had information on some al-Qaida members who returned to Sudan from Afghanistan.
The newspaper said the court had found that he had supplied the CIA with false reports because he needed money.
The man has "inflicted great harm on Sudan and that he had distorted its image and reputation for portraying it as a state sponsoring terrorism," a court official was quoted as saying.
The paper did not say when the verdict was issued. U.S. Embassy and Sudanese officials were not immediately available for comment.
Sudan has been on the U.S. State Department's terrorism list for years, but relations between Khartoum and Washington improved last fall after Sudan pledged support for the U.S.-led war on terror. The State Department said in May that Sudan was making progress in ending ties to terrorism.
Sudan ordered terrorist suspect Osama bin Laden out of the country in 1996 after five years of residence there.
Sudan, however, has refused to confirm U.S. claims it has arrested suspected militants since the Sept. 11 attacks, partly because a politically powerful Muslim bloc views the war on terrorism as a Western assault on Islam.
Last month, the Interior Ministry announced a suspected al-Qaida leader claiming to have fired a missile at a U.S. warplane at a Saudi air base had been handed over to Saudi Arabia for trial.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
Their worried about image and reputation? Or what a Daisy Cutter can do?
Get this: "Last month, the Interior Ministry announced a suspected al-Qaida leader claiming to have fired a missile at a U.S. warplane at a Saudi air base had been handed over to Saudi Arabia for trial."
Sounds more like this article is meant as a warning to anyone considering offering information to US officials. The terrorists would prefer people to stay well away from US officials.
Yes and it done so meekly.....
Saudi paper: Detained al-Qaida suspects smuggled weapons from Yemen
AP | 6/19/02 | JOHN R. BRADLEY
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Jun 19, 2002 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- The weapons and explosives that detained al-Qaida suspects planned to use for terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia were smuggled in from neighboring Yemen, a Saudi-owned newspaper reported Wednesday.
The London-based Al-Hayat daily also said that one of the suspects, a Sudanese who is believed to be an al-Qaida cell leader, fled the kingdom through Iraq after firing an anti-aircraft missile at a U.S. warplane in Saudi Arabia in May [2002]. He apparently made his way to Sudan, which announced earlier this week he had been transferred from Sudan to Saudi Arabia for trial.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced its first al-Qaida-related arrests since Sept. 11, saying it was holding 11 Saudis, an Iraqi and the Sudanese man in a plot to shoot down a U.S. military plane. It alleged the suspects "were planning to carry out terrorist attacks against vital and important installations in the kingdom, by using explosives and two (surface-to-air) SA-7 missiles, smuggled into the kingdom and hidden in different places around the country." ...
The Sudanese man Saudi Arabia announced it had detained was identified by U.S. officials as Abu Huzifa. He has acknowledged firing an SA-7 missile at a U.S. warplane at Prince Sultan Air Base, the U.S. military's regional command-and-control center and home to about 4,500 U.S. troops and several military aircraft.
According to the Saudi news agency, which did not name the Sudanese man, he was directly connected to al-Qaida and had fought with the group in Afghanistan.
Another London-based Saudi-owned newspaper, Asharq al-Awsat, said the Sudanese was born, lived and studied in Saudi Arabia. It gave no further details.
The Sudanese government said Sunday it had transferred the man to Saudi Arabia after he admitted firing the missile. In May, Saudi security guards found a missile launcher tube about three kilometers (two miles) from a runway at the desert air base.
bttt
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