Report Says Africans Harbored Al Qaeda

Washington Post ^ | December 29, 2002 | Douglas Farah

[sarcasm]

ANTWERP, Belgium -- An aggressive year-long European investigation into al Qaeda financing has found evidence that two West African governments hosted the senior terrorist operatives who oversaw a $20 million diamond-buying spree that effectively cornered the market on the region's precious stones.

Investigators from several countries concluded that President Charles Taylor of Liberia received a $1 million payment for arranging to harbor the operatives, who were in the region for at least two months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon. The terrorists moved between a protected area in Liberia and the presidential compound in neighboring Burkina Faso, investigators say.

Long accused of sanctioning illicit diamond and weapons trading, Taylor and President Blaise Campaore of Burkina Faso deny the charge, which is included in a summary of the joint intelligence findings.

[Nix 2]

Don't tell anybody. It will just kill all the people who think the Jews have the world diamond market in their hip pocket. Shhhhhh......There aren't enough trauma centers to treat all the heart attacks such a revelation might cause.

[sheik yerbouty]

Not to mention the arrival of race racketeers like Jesse and Fat Al!

[Nix 2]

Wonder how this will play out with the muggers in the Bronx.

[aristeides]

President Charles Taylor of Nigeria has always been a thug.

[aristeides]

"Of Liberia," that should be, not "of Nigeria."

[Dark Wing]

ping

[Angelus Errare]

FYI

[lodwick]

bttt

[Truthsayer20]

Interestingly, Charles Taylor is also a business partner of Pat Robertson.

[spetznaz]

Interestingly, Charles Taylor is also a business partner of Pat Robertson

I got wind of this info (that Pat Robertson had some business dealings with diamonds from 'questionable' sources) a couple of weeks ago, and i have to say it was rather disturbing. I thought Pat was above dealing with conflict diamonds ...especially when they cause the death of many (plus the rape and mutilations of scores more), and furthermore end up eventually financing terrorism.

I would really like to hear him explain his connection to all this stuff (i hope he does not say 'I did not know' because of i know there is no way he doesn't!)

[GOPJ]

So we can add diamond runners to the list of criminals, killers, terrorist and drug dealers run by Al Qaeda? Maybe deBeers will join the fight against this creepy bunch.

Must read article (lots of juicy details) on connections between West African diamond runners and Al Qaeda.

[VOA]

thanks for the ping...
just another reason to go for "clean" diamonds now being mined in northwest Canada...as profiled
on Sixty Minutes (II?) a few months back.

[Republic of Texas]

How suprising. I never would've guessed this. African countries supporting terrorists who hate America. Who'd ever thought that?

[Sparta]

Taylor is currently supporting the Islamofascist uprising in the Ivory Coast. The Islamofascists are fighting the French Foreign Legion there.

[Wordsmith]

bttt