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British Press: Al-Qaeda Has Been Delivered Severe Blow (w/CIA Drone Attack Success in Yemen)
U.K. Times (London) ^ | 5 November 2002 | U.K. Times (London)

Posted on 11/05/2002 12:59:27 PM PST by AmericanInTokyo

Death of Terror Chief Deals Severe Blow to al-Qaeda

By Elaine Monaghan in Washington and Daniel McGrory (U.K. Times, London)

THE man killed by an unmanned CIA aircraft in Yemen yesterday was the mastermind behind the suicide attack on the USS Cole in which 17 sailors died, according to the United States. Ali Qaed Sunian al-Harthi was a key ally of Osama bin Laden and was on the FBI’s most-wanted list. He died with five other al-Qaeda suspects when their car was struck by a Hellfire missile launched by a CIA drone.

Last night Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, declined to say whether CIA agents based in the region might have had any part in the blast.

“I’m not going to get into arrangements that we have with the Government of Yemen,” he said at a Pentagon briefing. However, a US official admitted: “As I understand it, it was an agency drone.”

Islamic militants claimed that the vehicle had been hit by a missile. It was believed that the group had been tracked from their mountain-top hideout by the satellite telephone that they had been using.

Eyewitnesses said that a military helicopter had opened fire on the vehicle after it was torn apart by missiles just after it had pulled off a main road into the desert at al-Naqaa, 125 miles east of the capital, Sanaa.

Yemeni officials would not say whether they suspected that the group had been on its way to carry out a terrorist operation.

They gave no details of what had caused the blast, but said that there were explosives, sophisticated communications equipment and weapons packed inside the four-wheel-drive vehicle. Its burnt-out wreckage was taken away to the town of Marib yesterday, but human remains, ammunition and a satellite telephone were left lying in the sand.

The main suspect, better known as Abu Ali, has been described as being a long-time friend of bin Laden and may have been among the few to know the al-Qaeda leader’s present whereabouts.

His death is being seen by Western intelligence agencies as a severe blow to al-Qaeda, which in recent weeks had shown signs of renewing its activities, including a suicide bomb attack on a French oil tanker off the Yemeni coast, which killed one crew member.

The same tactics were used in the attack on the USS Cole in October 2000, while it was refuelling in the port of Aden, which the FBI and others have blamed on Abu Ali, who they have called al-Qaeda’s “godfather in Yemen”.

The al-Sahwa newspaper said yesterday that Abu Ali had been a close companion of bin Laden when al-Qaeda had its headquarters in Sudan.

When al-Qaeda was forced to find a new base in 1994, bin Laden is reported to have sent his old friend to Yemen, his ancestral home, to investigate the possibility of moving there.

American forces are in Yemen helping local security forces to break up al-Qaeda cells hiding in the south of the country, where sympathetic tribal leaders are known to give them sanctuary.

When Yemeni security forces raided what they thought was Abu Ali’s desert hideout in Marib Province last December, 18 soldiers and three villagers were killed, but their prey vanished.

Yemeni officials say that they are holding 85 alleged al-Qaeda suspects. The arrests are said to include bin Laden’s youngest wife, Amal al-Saddah, 20, who was arrested at her father’s home last month, where she had been sent for safekeeping.


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: alqaida; bullseye; cia; drone; hellfire; terrorism; yemen
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Sic Semper Tyrannis


1 posted on 11/05/2002 12:59:27 PM PST by AmericanInTokyo
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To: AmericanInTokyo
I dunno. This might have been just a car's engine fire. Happens quite often.(/humor)
2 posted on 11/05/2002 1:06:04 PM PST by Mark
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To: AmericanInTokyo
Now, lightly sprinkle with pork rinds.
3 posted on 11/05/2002 1:06:30 PM PST by MCRD
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To: AmericanInTokyo
Sheesh...took them long enough...they have known where they were since January...

Yemen: 2 Al-Qaida Suspects Found - Jan. 29, 2002

4 posted on 11/05/2002 1:35:21 PM PST by ravingnutter
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To: AmericanInTokyo
This must be demoralizing to Al-Qaeda...nothing left but a grease spot in a supposed "safe haven"...cruisin along yammering on a sat. phone.

Great job!
5 posted on 11/05/2002 1:48:24 PM PST by Cuttnhorse
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To: Cuttnhorse
Can you imagine that scumbucket's eternal surprise at having placed a call on his satellite phone only to have Satan answer?
6 posted on 11/05/2002 2:12:25 PM PST by Mr. Lucky
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To: Mark
Looks like a Ford Pinto. Must have been a wire in the Center Fuel Tank. You have to watch out for that.
7 posted on 11/05/2002 2:20:00 PM PST by Dead Dog
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To: AmericanInTokyo
I hope the missle was fired from in front of the vehicle so that the scum saw it coming.
8 posted on 11/05/2002 2:25:52 PM PST by polemikos
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Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

To: polemikos
"hope the scum saw it coming"...The only thing wrong with the whole operation is that they died to fast.
10 posted on 11/05/2002 2:31:19 PM PST by TheLion
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To: TheLion
I think his last cell phone caller said "I can hear you now"
11 posted on 11/05/2002 2:51:22 PM PST by princess leah
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To: MCRD
D'ja hear that Russia is actually wrapping the corpses of Chechen terrorists with pigskin?
12 posted on 11/05/2002 3:16:58 PM PST by stands2reason
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To: princess leah
"LET THEM HATE US SO LONG AS THEY FEAR US." Cicero
13 posted on 11/05/2002 3:17:42 PM PST by geopyg
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To: geopyg
You can run, but you'll only die tired.
14 posted on 11/05/2002 3:19:55 PM PST by geopyg
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To: AmericanInTokyo
"Unsafe at Any Speed"
15 posted on 11/05/2002 3:25:26 PM PST by PMCarey
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To: Mark
Looks like a short circuit or spark in the mid fuselage fuel tank to me.

I wanted to see the body parts...

good riddance to dangerous animals.
16 posted on 11/05/2002 3:26:23 PM PST by Robert_Paulson2
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To: All
I don't think we have been told the whole story.
There is probably a good reason, one of which is that we don't want the dems/libs to whine over who did what and they shouldn't have.

I am betting that this is what really happened:

The CIA had been tracking these guys. The CIA knew they were planning on killing the American Ambassador to Yemen.
The 6 members of this assasination plot were in the car on there way.
The CIA had the Predator track them to a convenient spot.
The Yemeni AF had a helicopter hovering in site of the vehicle.
The US NAVY sent fighters from the USS Abraham Lincoln up in the air to wait for orders to fire on the vehicle.
When the Predator information showed it was time, the Predator painted the target with a laser, the Fighters headed inland and then fired 2 hellfire rockets.
The instant the first rocket hit, the Yemen's opened fire from their helocopter. BTW, the 2nd rocket missed).

So far the news versions have included each of these three sources (CIA, Yemeni AF, US NAVY FIGHTERS) as being the ONE that did it.

All I can say is GOOD JOB, someone in Defense is playing it smart!
If EVERYONE claims to have made the kill, it is hard to single out anyone.
17 posted on 11/05/2002 3:34:51 PM PST by UCANSEE2
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To: UCANSEE2
For those of you on this forum from time to time who like to paint the CIA as a bunch of clowns and cowboys, there are some good men working on your behalf to rid this world of these Islamic scum.

That's my rant.

18 posted on 11/05/2002 4:15:51 PM PST by TheBlueMax
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To: AmericanInTokyo
I just heard that the auto insurance company is refusing to pay for either vehicle replacement or death benefits. It seems that drones were specificially eliminated in the fine print of the policy. D*amn insurance companies always screw you.
19 posted on 11/05/2002 4:22:00 PM PST by doug from upland
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To: AmericanInTokyo
His death is being seen by Western intelligence agencies as a severe blow to al-Qaeda, which in recent weeks had shown signs of renewing its activities, including a suicide bomb attack on a French oil tanker off the Yemeni coast, which killed one crew member.

Has France complained yet about our application of "capital punishment" in this case?

20 posted on 11/05/2002 4:24:24 PM PST by jackbill
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