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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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Posted on 01/22/2003 8:59:25 AM PST by RCW2001
| Wednesday, 22-Jan-2003 12:20AM | Story from AFP / Robert Holloway Copyright 2003 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) |
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 21 (AFP) - The United Nations panel monitoring sanctions against Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network has no evidence of links between the terrorist group and Iraq, group chairman Michael Chandler said Tuesday.
"We don't have anything yet, and no-one has been able to produce anything," he told AFP in an interview.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair told a parliamentary hearing in London on Tuesday that "there is some intelligence evidence about linkages between members of al-Qaeda and people in Iraq." He did not identify the individuals.
Speaking a day after seven people were arrested in a dramatic police raid on a mosque in north London, Blair said it was "inevitable" that terrorists would try to target Britain.
But he said he was unaware of any evidence that "directly links" al-Qaeda, Iraq and "terrorist activities" in Britain.
Chandler, who described al-Qaeda in a report to the UN Security Council as "a substantial threat, globally, to peace and security," said it was not obviously "in either side's interests to be linked at this stage."
He noted that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein runs what is "still quite a secular country" distinct from the Islamic regime of bin Laden's ambitions, and added: "Saddam doesn't want a caliphate; he wants to be in charge."
Chandler chaired a panel of five set up in January last year to monitor the enforcement of sanctions originally imposed in 1999 on al-Qaeda and the Taliban regime then in power and harbouring it in Afghanistan.
The Security Council renewed the sanctions -- an arms embargo, a financial assets freeze and travel ban -- in a resolution Friday which asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to re-appoint the panel.
It also asked governments to update reports on steps they had taken to enforce sanctions.
Chandler said only 79 of the 191 UN member states had responded to a similar request made a year ago, but added: "I would be reluctant to say any country is reluctant to cooperate; that is not what we are seeing."
Many countries had problems incorporating the necessary measures into their own constitutions and legal frameworks, he said.
He noted that it was difficult to impose a travel ban inside the 15-nation Schengen area, which has effectively abolished border controls throughout the continental states of the European Union, Norway and Iceland.
The restrictions apply, not only to al-Qaeda and the Taliban, but also to 104 people on a list compiled by the Security Council. Suspects are listed at the request of governments if no other government objects.
"Nobody who is on the list has actually been stopped from trying to enter a country," Chandler said. "That shows one of two things: either they are clever enough not to try, or the system isn't working."
He also noted that some suspects appeared on wanted lists around the world, but governments had not had them listed. They included four people sought by the FBI.
"We don't understand why. We have asked the question twice," he said.
Asked to assess al-Qaeda's strength and resources, Chandler replied:
"It's quite difficult to get a handle on a lot of things to do with al-Qaeda because of the way it has been able to disperse and perpetuate itself" since the massive US military assault which toppled the Taliban regime.
Governments were thought to have frozen 130-140 million dollars worth of assets, but few were willing to identify the owners of the bank accounts, he said.
"The amount of money needed for an attack is comparatively small," he said.
"Some people have put a figure of 74,000 dollars" on the twin bombings which killed 190 people in nightclubs on the Indonesian island of Bali on October 12, he said.
But, he went on, "I don't think anybody actually knows" how much money the network had.
Before it was routed in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda "was a kind of Holy War Inc., with managerial departments and people who could provide support, direction and possibly even finance down the chain of command," Chandler said.
The fact that it had managed to diversify showed "the extent to which feeling for this organisation has spread around the world," he said.
Al-Qaeda cells were being broken up in Europe, but there was a danger of new cells being formed to replace them.
"It is clearly much more difficult for them to operate than it was, but that does not mean we should be complacent," he said.
"Nor should we underestimate their ability to do something unpleasant. It has been too quiet for too long."
rh/mk
Iraq-UN-Qaeda
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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But we have evidence of ties between Libyan terrorists and UN Human Rights council leadership. Bomb the U.N.!
Maybe they should read the following lawsuit on Find Law
Ashton, et al. v. al Qaeda, et al.: Complaint (PDF) Lawsuit claiming a 9/11 link between Iraq and al Qaeda. Sept. 3, 2002
The file is in slow loading .pdf format, but it is an interesting read. Some excerpts:
39. Upon information and belief, there have been numerous meetings between IRAQI Intelligence agents and high-ranking AL QAEDA terrorists to plan terror attacks. Once such meeting occurred in 1992, when ZAWAHIRI (EGYPTIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD leader and AL QAEDA officer) met with IRAQI INTELLIGENCE agents in Baghdad, IRAQ over several days. An IRAQI serving with the TALIBAN who fled Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, was captured in Kurdistan and has corroborated this meeting and confirmed that IRAQI contacts with AL QAEDA began in 1992.
During the early 1990s, Sudan’s Sheikh Hassan al-Tourabi of the Islamic National Front arranged meetings between BIN-LADEN and IRAQI INTELLIGENCE officials. BIN LADEN met with FARUQ AL-HIJAZI, an IRAQI INTELLIGENCE agent in the Sudan who would later head IRAQI INTELLIGENCE for SADDAM HUSSEIN. BIN LADEN again met with IRAQI INTELLIGENCE officers in 1994 and 1995 in the Sudan. At these meetings, BIN-LADEN and IRAQI INTELLIGENCE secret service director FARUQ AL-HIJAZI agreed to work together on terrorist projects directed against the U.S.
55. From 1996 until 2001, BIN LADEN with the financial and logistical support of OMAR and others in the TALIBAN and IRAQ and IRAQI INTELLIGENCE, created, supplied and operated at least five training camps in order to create an “Islamic Foreign Legion” capable of attacking their enemies throughout the world. These camps trained men from 15 nations in guerrilla warfare, terrorist activities, rocket warfare, demolition and bombing, including the use of mines, grenades, TNT, nitroglycerine and plastic explosives. Classes were also given in “how to kill a policeman” and “traps, murder and terrorist moves.”
57. In February 1997, BIN LADEN publicly expressed his support for IRAQ in its conflict with the United States stating:
“The hearts of the Muslims are filled with hatred towards the United States of America and the American president for American conduct towards IRAQ.”59. IRAQ upon information and belief, agreed to supply arms to AL QAEDA and provide AL QAEDA with access to and training in the use of chemical and biological weapons and agreed to instruct AL QAEDA terror trainers at its Salman Pak camp in Baghdad that contained a Boeing 707 used to practice hijacking. IRAQ also agreed to supply AL QAEDA terrorists with new identities and passports from Yemen and the United Arab Emirates.
60. AL QAEDA agreed to provide protection from political opponents to IRAQ and SADDAM HUSSEIN, and to commit assassinations and other acts of violence to create instability in regions of IRAQ, particularly Kurdistan, to assist the regime of SADDAM HUSSEIN. AL QAEDA further agreed to provide trained terrorists, assassins and martyrs to carry out terror attacks in concert with IRAQ against their common enemies, including the United States.
64. Between April 25 and May 1, 1998, two of BIN LADEN’s senior military commanders, MUHAMMAD ABU-ISLAM and ABDULLAH QASSIM, visited Baghdad for discussions with SADDAM HUSSEIN’s son -- QUSAY HUSSEIN -- the “czar” of IRAQI INTELLIGENCE.
65. QUSAY HUSSEIN’s participation in those meetings highlights the importance of the talks in both symbolic and practical terms. Upon information and belief, as a direct result of these meetings, IRAQ again made commitments to provide training, intelligence, clandestine Saudi border crossings, financial support and weapons and explosives to AL QAEDA.
66. IRAQI INTELLIGENCE officials met with BIN LADEN in Afghanistan several more times. A second group of BIN LADEN and AL QAEDA operatives from Saudi Arabia were then trained by IRAQI INTELLIGENCE in IRAQ to smuggle weapons and explosives into Saudi Arabia and other countries, which they later accomplished in an effort to carry out future terrorist acts of violence. A third group of BIN LADEN and AL QAEDA operatives received a month of sophisticated guerrilla operations training from IRAQI INTELLIGENCE officials later in the Summer of 1998.
67. Despite philosophical and religious differences with SADDAM HUSSEIN, BIN LADEN continually sought to strengthen and reinforce the support he and AL QAEDA received from IRAQ. In mid-July 1998, BIN LADEN sent Dr. AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI, the Egyptian co-founder of AL QAEDA, to IRAQ to meet with senior Iraqi officials, including Iraqi vice president TAHA YASSIN RAMADAN. Upon information and belief, the purpose of this meeting was to discuss and plan a joint strategy for a terrorist campaign against the United States.
69. During the July 1998 visit ZAWAHIRI toured an IRAQI military base and nuclear and chemical weapons facility near al-Fallujah in IRAQ and upon information and belief, observed training by IRAQI INTELLIGENCE officials of AL QAEDA operatives at the al-Nasiriyah military and chemical weapons facility in IRAQ.
79. Following the December 1998 air strikes on IRAQ, SADDAM HUSSEIN dispatched FARUQ AL-HIJAZI to Kandahar, Afghanistan in order to meet with BIN LADEN and plot their revenge.
81. To demonstrate IRAQ’s commitment to BIN LADEN and AL QAEDA, HIJAZI presented BIN LADEN with a pack of blank, official Yemeni passports, supplied to IRAQI INTELLIGENCE from their Yemeni contacts. HIJAZI’s visit to Kandahar was followed by a contingent of IRAQI INTELLIGENCE officials who provided additional training and instruction to BIN LADEN and AL QAEDA operatives in Afghanistan. These Iraqi officials included members of “Unit 999,” a group of elite IRAQI INTELLIGENCE officials who provided advanced sabotage and infiltration training and instruction to AL QAEDA operatives.
82. At that meeting, upon information and belief, BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA and IRAQ agreed to join efforts in a detailed, coordinated plan for a protracted terrorist war against the United States.
84. IRAQ maintains an advanced chemical and biological weapons program and is one of only three countries in the world producing a highly developed weaponized anthrax. Some time during or after 1998, IRAQ agreed to help BIN LADEN and AL QAEDA develop a laboratory in Afghanistan designed to produce anthrax.
85. In addition to the al-Nasiriyah and Salman Pak training camps, by January 1999, BIN LADEN and AL QAEDA operatives were being trained by IRAQI INTELLIGENCE and military officers at other training camps on the outskirts of Baghdad.
86. In January 1999, IRAQ began reorganizing and mobilizing IRAQI INTELLIGENCE front operations throughout Europe in support of BIN LADEN and AL QAEDA. HAQI ISMAIL, believed to be a member of the IRAQ’S MUKHABARAT Secret Service, left IRAQ to train in an Afghanistan AL QAEDA camp. ISMAIL was believed to be a liason between IRAQ, the TALIBAN and AL QAEDA and was rewarded with a position in the TALIBAN Foreign Ministry.
103. On July 21, approximately six weeks before the September 11 th attacks, IRAQI columnist Mulhalhal reported that BIN LADEN was making plans to “demolish the Pentagon after he destroys the White House.”
104. Mulhalhal’s July 21 article further informed that BIN LADEN would strike America “on the arm that is already hurting.” Upon information and belief, this references a second IRAQI sponsored attack on the World Trade Center. This interpretation is further bolstered by another reference to New York as “[BIN LADEN] will curse the memory of Frank Sinatra everytime he hears his songs.” (e.g., “New York, New York”) identifying New York, New York as a target.
105. Mulhalhal further indicated, “The wings of a dove and the bullet are all but one and the same in the heart of a believer.” (Emphasis supplied) This appears to be a reference to the use of commercial aircraft as a weapon. The information was reported in an IRAQI newspaper who’s editor-in-chief serves as secretary to UDAY HUSSEIN’S Iraqi Syndicate of Journalists. The article expressed IRAQI admiration and support for BIN LADEN’s plans and its appearance in the newspaper would clearly have to be endorsed by SADDAM HUSSEIN himself.
106. All IRAQI news media is strictly controlled and censored by the government of SADDAM HUSSEIN and is under the direct oversight of UDAY HUSSEIN. Various members of IRAQI intelligence work at and control the content of each and every newspaper published inside IRAQ. 107. The information contained in Mulhalhal’s published statements were known prior to the events of September 11 th , and that Mulhalhal has ties to IRAQI intelligence, demonstrates foreknowledge of the planned attacks by BIN LADEN and indicates support by IRAQI co-conspirators.
110. According to U.S. and foreign intelligence officials, in the spring of 2000, IRAQI INTELLIGENCE agents met with September 11 th pilot hijackers ZAID SAMIR JARRAH and MARWAN AL-SHEHHI in Dubai, UAE in order to advance the hijacking of U.S. aircraft to commit terrorist acts. Not long after the meeting, AL-SHEHHI entered the United States on May 29 and JARRAH entered on June 27, to begin preparations for attacks.
133. Instruction documents on an artillery weapon known as the “Super Gun” were found in AL QAEDA camps when they were captured by U.S. forces in the winter of 2001-2002. IRAQ is the only state known to have purchased and assembled the super gun, a weapon so large it must be constructed in segments. It has a range of several hundred miles.
Other links to connections:
He... noted that some (terrorism) suspects appeared on wanted lists around the world, but governments had not had them listed... "We don't understand why."
Asked to assess al-Qaeda's strength and resources, Chandler replied: "It's quite difficult to get a handle on a lot of things to do with al-Qaeda..."
In other words, the U.N. (the same organization that has yet to agree on the definition of the word "terrorism") doesn't have a clue -- but, no matter, the French press takes this drivel, from an impotent "commission" that can't seem to "get a handle" on al-Qaeda (or even a report on terrorism from over half the member nations) as headline-worthy confirmation that there is no link between Saddam and al-Qaeda.
FBI searches Saudi family's former home
By Scott McCabe and Eliot Kleinberg, Palm Beach Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
GREENACRES -- FBI agents Tuesday night searched the former home of a Saudi family who a neighbor said had enrolled an adult son in a nearby flight training school and had left "in a hurry" two days before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Neighbors and state records identified the head of the family as Mohamad Almasri, 57. According to state records, others who lived at the house in the upscale neighborhood near Jog Road and Forest Hill Boulevard were Madawi Almasri, 26, Turki Ma Almasri, 22, and Afaf I. Arif, 47.
Neighbors said Almasri lived at the home with his wife, a son and daughter in their late teens or early twenties, and a younger son and daughter.
Several agents, some in white biohazard suits, arrived Tuesday afternoon at the home at 1606 Doral Drive in Fairway Isles, a gated community, neighbors said. Into the night, agents went in and out of the home, carrying plastic and paper bags, and dug up parts of the front yard. Neighbors said they saw the agents carrying what appeared to be metal detectors. A large pickup hauling a large metal trailer was backed up to the front door.
Miami FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said Tuesday night that the agents were acting on a search warrant. She would not say what they were looking for or might have found or whether there was any link to the ongoing national terrorism investigations. At least 12 of the 19 terrorists who hijacked jets on Sept. 11 had addresses showing they once lived in Palm Beach County.
Lisa Dickerson said she watched Mohamad Almasri hustle his family into their car on Sept. 9, 2001. She said that a few days after the attacks, when news reports began focusing on possible connections between the terrorists and the nearby Lantana airport, she called a special national FBI hot line.
"It was just the way he put them in," Dickerson said. "It happened so fast."
Neighbors milled Tuesday night behind yellow crime scene tape that stretched in front of the home and across Doral Drive to the front yard of Rodney Lamarca. Lamarca said Almasri told him he was an engineer. Lamarca said the FBI had searched the home about two weeks ago. He did not know whether that had been the agency's first visit.
"Now they are back like gangbusters," Lamarca said. "They must have found something."
Lamarca said homeowner association president Dave Remsen told him FBI agents had said they removed a computer and disks. Remsen told him FBI agents said the family packed up so quickly that food was left on the table. Lamarca said last week he saw the FBI use tools to unlock a car that had been sitting in the garage.
"I didn't know it was there," Lamarca said.
Martha Ruth, Dickerson's mother, said she was told the couple's son, Turki, 22, was attending one of the three flight schools at the nearby Lantana airport.
Palm Beach Flight Training owner Marian Smith said Turki had not trained there. Kemper Aviation manager David Allison said he would not have access to records until the morning. Officials at Chandelle Aviation said they would check Tuesday night but did not call back.
Owen Gassaway, Jr., who runs the commercial operation at the airport, said he keeps photographs and names of all suspected terrorists that the FBI has asked airports and flight schools to monitor. He said he checked them Tuesday night and "nothing matched."
155 posted on 01/22/2003 3:02 AM CST by FL_engineer
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That was Salman Pak...
Salman Pak: Iraq's Smoking Gun Link to 9-11?
An excerpt:
"We know that at Salman Pak, on the southern edge of Baghdad, five different eyewitnesses - three Iraqi defectors and two American U.N. inspectors - have said - and now there are aerial photographs to show it - a Boeing 707 that was used for training of hijackers, including non-Iraqi hijackers trained very secretly to take over airplanes with knives."
Another intriguing coincidence: Salman Pak's hijacking school reportedly opened for business in 1995, the same year al-Qaeda agents in the Philippines hatched a plot to hijack 12 airliners and slam some of them into U.S. landmarks.
If America's press is looking for smoking-gun evidence tying Iraq to the 9-11 attacks, Saddam Hussein's hijack school for Islamic terrorists is as good as it's likely to get.
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