Posted on 02/06/2003 5:06:06 PM PST by Publius Maximus
07 February 2003
He was supposed to have been a professional. He should have known better, but in the end he could not resist. Using a satellite phone, the senior al-Qa'ida operative excitedly called two associates and congratulated them on their cold-blooded assassination of an American diplomat.
The call cost the man his liberty. It may yet cost him his life but, more importantly, it could have provided America with the "smoking gun" evidence it has long sought and which apparently links the Iraqi regime to an active al-Qa'ida cell committing terror killings and planning others across Europe and the Middle East. One thing is certain: it has left Iraq needing to do a lot of explaining.
The name of the man who made the telephone call as he drove through the rugged landscapes of northern Iraq towards the borders with Syria and Turkey has not been revealed. But his alleged position in the al-Qa'ida network was made clear. Information gathered by the intelligence services of the US, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Pakistan shows he is the deputy of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of an Iraqi-based al-Qa'ida cell.
Though he would not have known it at the time, the deputy's congratulatory telephone call to two men accused of murdering the US diplomat Laurence Foley last October – killed in the garden of his Amman home by a volley of eight shots – was an error of incalculable proportions. The call was intercepted by Western intelligence services, possibly America's National Security Agency (NSA) or Britain's electronic eavesdropping service at GCHQ, Cheltenham, and allowed coalition operatives to trace the man from Syria, then to Turkey.
When he arrived in Turkey, those intelligence operatives took the decision to pounce. The al-Qa'ida deputy was seized and taken to one of the interrogation centres covertly operated in the region by the US Central Intelligence Agency. In many cases, America prefers certain prisoners to be questioned by the intelligence services of countries where the rules governing the use of torture or psychological pressure are less strict. In this instance, it appears America led the interrogation, using, in the words of one official, "unspecified psychological pressure" to obtain information.
US officials quoted by The New York Times say the deputy revealed that Zarqawi was operating a cell out of Iraq, that he had been given medical assistance there and that he was planning and conducting attacks across Europe and the Middle East with up to 24 al-Qa'ida fighters. Mr Foley, 62, head of America's Agency for International Development mission, was the first of the cell's targets.
In his address to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Colin Powell, the American Secretary of State, relied heavily on this information when he accused the Iraqi regime of having links with al-Qa'ida. "[The al-Qa'ida cell members] have been operating freely in the capital for more than eight months," he said. "Iraqi officials deny accusations of ties with al-Qa'ida. These denials are simply not credible."
General Powell said the cell also had links to the alleged ricin suspects arrested in London and Manchester. "The network is teaching its operatives how to produce ricin and other poisons ... Zarqawi and his network have plotted terrorist actions against countries including France, Britain, Spain and Italy," the Secretary of State said.
The interrogation of Zarqawi's deputy also revealed other information, details that America has decided not to reveal formally and which underscore the problems the Bush administration faces in conducting its planned military assault against Iraq.
American officials say Zarqawi's deputy also revealed that his superior had been regularly assisted and funded by a member of the Qatari royal family, Abdul Karim al-Thani, who provided passports and $1m (£600,000) in cash.
General Powell declined to reveal this information publicly because Qatar has emerged as an important ally for any American-led operation, allowing the US to set up its main air operations base there. Mr Thani is not a member of the Qatari government and officials from that country have described him as a deeply religious man who has donated large sums to charity.
This is not the first time high-profile Qataris have been linked to al-Qa'ida. Saudi intelligence officials have claimed that after the terror attacks of 11 September, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, believed to have been one of the senior al-Qa'ida planners of the attack on the World Trade Centre, spent two weeks in hiding in Qatar with the help of "prominent patrons".
Although Western operatives have failed to capture Zarqawi, his identification by General Powell may have sealed his fate, because Baghdad has insisted it has no links with al-Qa'ida. One official said: "A half hour after Powell mentioned his name, I'll wager he disappeared or was killed."
[Cut to scene of turbaned fellow furiously leafing through a Turkish/Arabic phrasebook.] "Ah, yes, here, I have it. Mister Turkish policeman sir, plizz to remove electrodes from my genitalia. Thenk you bery mahch."
We'll be at war within weeks.
Sounds so friendly, doesn't it? And eavesdropping "service."
"Thank you for using GCHQ. Please call again...."
Heh, heh, heh.
Britain's electronic eavesdropping service at GCHQ
Sounds so friendly, doesn't it? And eavesdropping "service."
Hopefully involving the possibility of immediate physical pressure on his cajones.
We also know that Iraq is harboring a terrorist network, headed by a senior al Qaeda terrorist planner. The network runs a poison and explosive training center in northeast Iraq, and many of its leaders are known to be in Baghdad. The head of this network traveled to Baghdad for medical treatment and stayed for months. Nearly two dozen associates joined him there and have been operating in Baghdad for more than eight months.
The same terrorist network operating out of Iraq is responsible for the murder, the recent murder, of an American citizen, an American diplomat, Laurence Foley. The same network has plotted terrorism against France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Republic of Georgia, and Russia, and was caught producing poisons in London. The danger Saddam Hussein poses reaches across the world.
From General Powell's talk at the UN Security Council on the 5th of February
From his terrorist network in Iraq, Zarqawi can direct his network in the Middle East and beyond. We in the United States, all of us, the State Department and the Agency for International Development, we all lost a dear friend with the cold-blooded murder of Mr. Lawrence Foley in Amman, Jordan, last October. A despicable act was committed that day, the assassination of an individual whose sole mission was to assist the people of Jordan. The captured assassin says his cell received money and weapons from Zarqawi for that murder. After the attack, an associate of the assassin left Jordan to go to Iraq to obtain weapons and explosives for further operations. Iraqi officials protest that they are not aware of the whereabouts of Zarqawi or of any of his associates. Again, these protests are not credible. We know of Zarqawi's activities in Baghdad. I described them earlier.
American officials say Zarqawi's deputy also revealed that his superior had been regularly assisted and funded by a member of the Qatari royal family, Abdul Karim al-Thani, who provided passports and $1m (£600,000) in cash.General Powell declined to reveal this information publicly because Qatar has emerged as an important ally for any American-led operation, allowing the US to set up its main air operations base there. Mr Thani is not a member of the Qatari government and officials from that country have described him as a deeply religious man who has donated large sums to charity
This is not the first time high-profile Qataris have been linked to al-Qa'ida. Saudi intelligence officials have claimed that after the terror attacks of 11 September, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, believed to have been one of the senior al-Qa'ida planners of the attack on the World Trade Centre, spent two weeks in hiding in Qatar with the help of "prominent patrons".
Here's another admission of the Qatar royals being involved. I'm flagging it because of the new (at least to me) name (Abdul Karim al-Thani). This account differs somewhat from Baers'--and I suspect Baer has it right. Just to refresh your memory:
UPI Exclusive: Pearl tracked al Qaida
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/760327/posts
In 1997, Baer had left the agency to become a consultant in Beirut. Terrorism was Baer's field and Baer began to meet the ex-Doha police chief from time to time. The ex-Doha police chief, who Baer declined to identify by name, told Baer that during the course of his work he found that there was a bin Laden cell in Qatar, being sheltered by the Qatari government.The two main members of the cell were Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Shawqui Islambuli, the brother of the Egyptian who had killed Anwar Sadat. They also were linked to terrorist Ramzi Yousef, but what worried the former police chief was the fact that Mohammed and Islambuli were experts in hijacking commercial planes. The ex-police chief told Baer that Mohammed "is going to hijack some planes." The ex-police chief said his basis for this was evidence developed by police and Qatari intelligence.
The ex-police chief told Baer that Mohammed was being shielded by the Qatar government and told how, in 1996, the FBI sent in a team to arrest Mohammed and Islambuli. While pretending to help, elements in the Qatari government stalled U.S. agents and supplied the two suspects, Mohammed and Islambuli with passports in fake names and spirited them out of the country.
Mohammed went to the Czech Republic where he began to live under the alias "Mustaf Nasir."
Mohammed also traveled to Germany to meet bin Laden associates, Baer said
I know we call this a desert war, but it's going to be fought in a swamp...
This is also the smoking gun for Qatar, assisting Al Qada, resulting in the deaths of 3000 Americans.
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