15 Men Held in Italy Face Terror Charges Based on U.S. Tip

Washington Post Foreign Service ^ | Sept. 12, 2002 | Daniel Williams

[testforecho]

Since this is Washington Post, excerpts only

Following a tip from U.S. naval intelligence officers, Italian authorities last month seized a ship carrying 15 suspected terrorists off the island of Sicily, Italian officials said today. The men, identified by Italian authorities as Pakistanis, were charged today with "association" to commit terrorist acts.

"We are certain that these people are part of a terrorist organization and we are almost certain that the organization is al Qaeda," said Santi Giuffre, police chief of Caltanissetta, where the group is being held."

"Officials here said the decision to board the ship last month was made on the basis of a U.S. government tip. Police and members of SISMI, Italy's military intelligence service, boarded the vessel in Italian waters off Sicily and found the 15 suspects along with seven Romanian crew members. The Italians confiscated telephone numbers, messages that had been encoded and Karachi-Casablanca air tickets."

A U.S. Navy representative present at the news conference, Samuel Worth, told reporters that the coded reference to marriage was especially worrisome. "We are alarmed," he said, "because it's a word that was intercepted during the first attack on the twin towers, in 1993. It is one of the elements that induced us to intervene."

[testforecho]

I checked the itinerary of the Newark freighter, which was in/near Hong Kong that day. But this is still unsettling. This was after the warning about stowaways, correct?

[swarthyguy]

>>A U.S. Navy representative present at the news conference, Samuel Worth, told reporters that the coded reference to marriage was especially worrisome. "We are alarmed," he said, "because it's a word that was intercepted during the first attack on the twin towers, in 1993. It is one of the elements that induced us to intervene."

Nice tidbit.

[swarthyguy]

It was obvious that these men were not sailors or even normal immigrants," said Giuffre, the local police chief.

A story that got overshadowed today.

[swarthyguy]

One hint for Italian investigators that the men were possibly terrorists was contained in a coded notation found on the ship to someone ''united in matrimony.''

''It's a conventional reference to indicate membership in a terrorist organization,'' prosecutor Francesco Messineo told reporters. He said that the 15, held since Aug. 5 in a detention camp in Sicily for illegal immigrants, probably belong to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for the ping!

[Dog Gone]

Yeah, but what the heck does it mean? From the story:

The ship's owner is a Greek national who lives in Romania, authorities said. It flew a flag of convenience from Tonga. The ship left Casablanca in mid-July and was scheduled to stop in Tunisia, Malta and finally Tripoli, the Libyan capital

It's like a bunch of terrorists decided to take a Mediterranean cruise.

[swarthyguy]

Gathering Clouds Ping.

[csvset]

Good for Italians. They've endured years of terrorist activity, from the Red Brigade, Islamic whackos, as well as the mob.

[csvset]

Picking up or dropping off other players or supplies? You have to wonder.

[swarthyguy]

Do you mean about the owner or the flag or the schedule.

I don't know if any of those cities apart from Malta maybe are very conducive to drinking and dancing all night. Or their topless beaches.

Tonga is supposed to make ships with Panamanian or Liberian registry look real good.

Greek National in Romania. Could be anybody.

[Dog Gone]

I was talking about the schedule. I don't think of any of those locations as likely al-Qaida targets.

I'm trying to guess what they were up to, and am coming up empty.

[swarthyguy]

>>off the island of Sicily

Ship was on the watch list of the Navy. If they had made it to shore in Sicily with good fake id's, they could go anywhere in Europe.

[GOP_1900AD]

More Pakistani "merchant marines".... this seems to be a pattern. I wonder who they really are? My own guess is Pak SOs...SEAL equivalents

[Consort]

Caltanissetta

[Travis McGee]

bttt

[swarthyguy]

KNowing how deep the jihadi mindset has permeated the Pakistani military, i wouldn't doubt it.

That disappearing taliban army was supposed to have a good chunk of pakistani regulars assigned to it.

[keri]

bttt.

[csvset]

Not much additional info other than a photo of some of the scumbags. They are a fugly bunch.

Suspected Al Qaeda Nabbed In SicilyPALERMO, Italy, Sept. 12, 2002

Pakistani Al Qaeda suspects arrested in Italy, from top left: Afzaal Asheaf, Anjum Hussain, Irfan Ahmed, Iftikhar Ahmed, Abdul Rahman, Zulfiqar Ahmed, Mohammad Aktar and Muhammad Altaf. (Photo: AP)

[Dog Gone]

Pakistan seems to be pretty adamant that these guys aren't Pakistanis, and their passports were counterfeit. I wonder what the truth is.

[jwalsh07]

The Bush administration and our Military is doing the job each and every day and I for one am damnn happy with their work.