* Was the North Brunswick computer person Mazen Mokhtar who mirrored Al Qaeda’s website azzam.com (which explained the symbolism of the “green birds”) in contact with subtilis expert Walied Samarrai in 2001?
Posted by DXer on May 8, 2011
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This entry was posted on May 8, 2011 at 7:01 am and is filed under Uncategorized.
Tagged: *** 2001 anthrax attacks, *** Amerithrax, *** FBI anthrax investigation, Al Qaueda and anthrax, b.subtilis contaminant, Mazen Mokhtar, Walied Samarrai. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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CASE CLOSED ... what really happened in the 2001 anthrax attacks? 
DXer said
https://www.npr.org/2018/03/17/594537795/how-a-russian-nerve-agent-got-to-the-u-k
How A Russian Nerve Agent Got To The U.K.
March 17, 20188:13 AM ET
Heard on Weekend Edition Saturday
We saw the assassination of Kim Jong Nam in Kuala Lumpur last year. We’ve seen the ongoing use of sarin and chlorine in Syria. We’ve seen the attempted murder of the Skripals. So clearly, the taboo that there had been against the use of poisons of war – as weapons of war has weakened. And we have to ensure – we have to work very hard to make sure that taboo doesn’t weaken even further so that we enter a new era where chemical weapons become normal. I think we can still maintain that taboo. But it’s going to take a robust activity and people to stand up and say these things are wrong.
Comment: In the case of Amerithrax, the elderly woman Ottilie Lundgren was killed. Therefore, if it turns out that Zawahiri-led jihadis were responsible, then under their belief system — and under the koran and hadiths — their souls will burn in eternal hellfire (Or whatever the specifics of their belief).
DXer said
Badat, the fellow who gave one of his shoe bombs to a Malaysian cell to blast the cockpit door open, implicates Babar Ahmad.
The sentencing of Babar Ahmad, who explained the meaning of the “Green Birds” on the Al Qaeda website, is coming up.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1102914/canary-wharf-was-next-target-after-911-us-trial-hears
Once he arrived in Kandahar, a senior Al-Qaeda lieutenant offered to recruit him to carry out attacks on Jews and Americans, but Badat said he refused.
He said he had orders from Babar Ahmad, who headed a group of young Muslims interested in violent jihad in London, to forge a path for other British recruits.
“I said I’d rather continue with my plan because at this time that kind of thinking was a step too far and also I had orders from Babar Ahmad to do something different,” Badat said.
DXer said
FBI: Drone-like toy planes in bomb plot
Michael P. Mayko
Published 6:17 pm, Monday, April 7, 2014
BRIDGEPORT — A Moroccan national who allegedly plotted to turn a radio-controlled model airplane into a drone-like flying bomb and crash it into a school and a Connecticut federal building was arrested Monday by FBI agents.
Comment: Babar Ahmad is due to be sentenced in CT. He was the Al Qaeda webmaster who explained the meaning of “Green Birds.” The shoebomber Badat will testify by video from the UK. Is this related to that?
DXer said
This year I let the domain for a website UpInTheAirNews — about drones — expire. I mainly had taken the interest so Santa would bring me a drone for Christmas.
UpInTheAirNews.com (Up In The Air News) – Domain …
marketplace.domaintools.com/upintheairnews.com
Terjemahke koco iki
Jan 26, 2013 – UpInTheAirNews.com (Up In The Air News) is a 14 character domainname that was originally registered on 2013-01-26 and currently expires …
But the irony of my choice of domain name is not lost on me because there are numerous unanswered questions in the recent news report. For example, what was the school targeted? What that just loose, bitter talk about his old school where he reportedly once had flunked out? What did his 2009 or 2010 arrest in Fairfax, VA involve? What was the federal agency? Was it the federal courthouse? Was it the FBI field office? Was it immigration? Why did he move to Bridgeport? What went into the decision to arrest him now? Does he have foreign connections? A Bridgeport, CT wannabe bomber from 2010 (NYC Times Square, I believe) bought his explosive material in Pennsylvania. This fellow thought he needed to go to Tijuana for the same material? If so, had his talk gone beyond angry, loose talk? Will he now just be deported?
We hardly ever hear about Morocco and terrorism. Once in 1987 or so I set off to go to the Moroccan marketplace in James Steward movie, The Man Who Knew Too Much. The flight, because of a diversion to Madrid, took 24 hours. Then there was a several hour wait in a crowd because they were looking for some terrorist. It was a wonderful, life-changing experience to stay with the family of a man I had met on the plane. A national, he did not have to wait. But then, just because of the casual offer of a place to stay as we were exiting the plane, his family waited a few extra hours for me to clear customs. They had already been at the airport for nearly a day. His Romanian in-laws were visiting and his father-in-law had made vodka in the bathtub. A year later I met his brother who worked at the embassy in DC based just on a chance meeting on the street — where yet another brother was asking for directions to the immigration office. When he took out his wallet, I saw he had the same last name of the fellow I had met on the plane. So even without Doris Day belting out those moving chords at the embassy in the classic James Stewart movie, I’ve always loved the country and serendipity of life.
But in Morocco, I quickly learned to be very skeptical about any commercial offers involving carpets, currency or Marlboros.
DXer said
Moroccan National Wanted to Use Planes to Bomb Federal Courthouse, FBI Says
http://www.eastidahonews.com/2014/04/moroccan-national-wanted-to-use-planes-to-bomb-federal-courthouse-fbi-says/
(BRIDGEPORT, Conn.) — A Moroccan national arrested in Connecticut on immigration violations wanted to “use airplanes, possibly toy planes” to bomb a federal courthouse and an unnamed university, the FBI said Tuesday.
Comment: The building has now been identified by FBI as the federal courthouse. Was it the federal courthouse in New Haven?
There were Fairfax, VA participants in this forum at this Al Qaeda website in 2002. The CIA left the website up in 2002 to pick up leads. The northern VA jihad supporters expressed their upset that young men would go to Afghanistan only to be left in the lurch. They complained of bum information on the site — and I think someone’s defense was that war is deception.
Was the Moroccan’s targeting of a federal courthouse in Connecticut related to the Babar Ahmad case?
A remaining question: what was the university? If it was the university that he flunked out, that certainly makes his motive seem petty. He might have just applied himself more to his studies.
Britons guilty of U.S. terror charges denied access to secret files
BY RICHARD WEIZEL
MILFORD, Connecticut Fri Apr 4, 2014 8:41pm EDT
(Reuters) – Two British men who pleaded guilty to raising money for al Qaeda and the Taliban were denied their bid on Friday to gain access to secret documents about a witness whose testimony could have a major impact on how long they spend in prison.
The pair, 39-year-old Babar Ahmad and 34-year-old Syed Talha Ahsan, have argued in papers filed in U.S. District Court in New Haven, Connecticut, that they have a right to more information on the witness, British citizen Saajid Badat.
According to U.S. prosecutors, Badat was recruited into al Qaeda as a result of Ahmad’s work and went on to play a role in the attempt by “shoe bomber” Richard Reid, another Briton, to blow up a jetliner over the Atlantic Ocean just three months after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Defense attorneys for Ahmad and Ahsan argued before U.S. District Judge Janet Hall that the government should provide transcripts of 55 taped interviews with Badat conducted in 2008 by British authorities and photos of suspected militants.
DXer said
This article makes me think that maybe his plan relating to the federal courthouse and homeland security related more to his own immigration problems. He seems like more of a pissant than terrorist. (He would be joining a long queue in that regard). The fact that he (apparently) didn’t own a plane seems to be a point defense counsel would emphasize if ever he is charged with terrorism.
I’m more concerned that my niece is going to climb a lamppost if and when UConn wins girls basketball tonight. (Her mom denies it was her last night). Go UConn!
Moroccan man in Conn. accused of plotting ‘flying bomb’ attacks
Posted about 5 hours ago
http://wireupdate.com/moroccan-man-in-conn-accused-of-plotting-flying-bomb-attacks.html
But when an immigration judge found Fathi removable from the Unites States during a court appearance in April 2011, Fathi stated that he wished to apply for refugee status, even though he had previously given no indication of this. Fathi was then provided with a form to complete his refugee application and was eventually released on $7,000 bond in June 2011, after which he moved to Connecticut.
“In his written application for refugee status (I-589), Fathi sought asylum and withholding of removal based on his political opinion and membership in a particular social group,” said FBI Special Agent Anabela Sharp in the affidavit, adding that Fathi falsely claimed he had been arrested several times and that Moroccan authorities believed he was a member of the banned Ansar al-Mehdi group.
“I was accused of being involved with the so-called Ansar El Mehdi group, the group that was trying to overthrow the government of Morocco, that was because I participated in many demonstrations in support of Western Sahara independence, and more importantly because of the involvement of a family member with Ansar El Mehdi group, so there is an APB against me in Morocco, so if I returned to Morocco I will be arrested, detained, and tortured,” Fathi wrote, adding that he was likely to be sentenced to 25 years in prison.
With immigration hearings still pending in Connecticut, Fathi traveled to Los Angeles in September 2012 to stay with a friend and to go sightseeing, leading to an arrest in California for theft. While serving his sentence he was again determined to be unlawfully in the United States and eventually appeared at an immigration hearing in California in August 2013, after which Fathi was granted ‘withholding of removal,’ a status that is similar to asylum, and was released.
Months later, Sharp said, a federal criminal investigation was launched in January after the FBI received information about Fathi’s alleged aspirations to bomb an educational institution outside Connecticut. During the course of the investigation, Fathi allegedly also expressed his desire to bomb a federal building in Connecticut.
***
During some of the recordings, Fathi also repeatedly stated his desire to bomb an educational university outside Connecticut and later also a federal building in Connecticut that houses a courthouse and offices for Homeland Security Investigations. He claimed that funding for these attacks would come from “secret accounts” with money coming from money laundering activities and drug dealing.
When asked about pliers, a cutter and wires in his bedroom in February, Fathi allegedly said in the recordings that the materials were for a bomb. “Fathi stated in the recording that he would use airplanes, possibly toy planes to execute the bombing,” Sharp said. “Specifically, Fathi stated he was going to use a plane, a remote-controlled hobby-type airplane, to deliver the bomb.”
The affidavit adds that Fathi allegedly claimed to have studied his planned bomb attack for months, and said he previously made a chemical bomb while in high school in Morocco. “He can be heard explaining that there are three things that scare people in the United States: causing harm to schools, the economy, and their sense of security,” Sharp said.
DXer said
If indicted, it seems that the young man may argue entrapment. In this Mass. that seems to have parallels, the defendant at least owned a plane.
The Hartford Courant describes the FBI affidavit saying that the bomb would be provided to him. Which makes me wonder about the significance of the wires, pliers and cutters at his residence.
Did they resort to arresting him on immigration charges when a terrorism charge didn’t fly?
Even this repentant young man got 17 years while being complimented by the prosecutor for his repentant reflections.
But let’s start with filling in some basic facts so as to be able to tell the story. What university did he discuss? Was it Virignia International University — with the motivation being solely personal?
Massachusetts man gets 17 years for plot to bomb Pentagon, Capitol with model planes
Friday Nov 2, 2012 3:33 AM
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/02/14876075-massachusetts-man-gets-17-years-for-plot-to-bomb-pentagon-capitol-with-model-planes?lite
The 26-year-old was arrested after an FBI sting operation in which he requested and took delivery of plastic explosives, three grenades and six assault rifles from undercover FBI agents who he believed were members of the al-Qaida network.
***
A remote-control model of a 1950s U.S. Navy Sabre jet fighter that prosecutors said belonged to Rezwan Ferdaus is seen in this undated photo released by the United States Attorney’s Office District of Massachusetts.
Parents: Depression led to mental illness
In a letter to Judge Richard Stearns, Ferdaus’ parents, Showket and Anamaria Ferdaus, said he slipped into a depression during his senior year at Northeastern, which led to mental illness that was “obviously visible” to his family since late 2009.
They said they tried to get him to see a doctor but he would not.
…
Ferdaus’ attorney, Miriam Conrad, told reporters after the hearing that her client had shown no interest in terrorism before FBI investigators approached him.
“There was no evidence ever produced that Mr. Ferdaus sought out contact with any outside groups before the government became involved or even after the government became involved,” Conrad said.
‘Wanted to become a terrorist’
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Pirozzolo disagreed.
“He was a person who decided that he wanted to become a terrorist,” Pirozzolo said, adding that before the FBI investigation began, Ferdaus had tried to obtain weapons illegally from an area gun shop and performed surveillance on a train station in his hometown of Ashland, Massachusetts.
“Those events predated the undercover operation that unfolded here,” Pirozzolo said.
The government had alleged that Ferdaus told undercover agents of his plans to commit acts of violence against the United States by “decapitating” its “military center” and killing “kafirs,” an Arabic term meaning non-believers.
DXer said
Last year there was this false alarm of filming of a Bridgeport, CT power plant by a foreign student on a visa.
Then in February 2014 there was a suit filed by a Connecticut freelancer who sued over the FCC shutting down his use of a drone at a car accident.
“Although his device was hovering at an altitude of 150 feet, he said he was operating in public space and observing events that were in plain view.
“Foley said earlier this month that police questioned Rivera but said officers did not ask him to ground the drone. At the time, he said the only concerns for police were for the safety of the officers and the privacy of the victim, whose body was left hanging out of a mangled car.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating Rivera’s use of an aerial drone, has discouraged their use for commercial purposes, including journalism.
A law passed by Congress two years ago requires the FAA to integrate unmanned aircraft of all sizes into the domestic airspace by late 2015, but it’s clear the agency won’t meet that deadline. The FAA has been working for more than four years on regulations to permit small drones — those weighing less than 55 pounds — to be used for commercial purposes, but it repeatedly has missed deadlines for proposing those regulations.”
Defense counsel may ask: Why would the journalist and counsel think that police cannot maintain control of an accident scene — to include avoiding the risk that the drone fall onto the accident victims like the drone did at the Bridgeport power plant?
The FAA even shut down the drone journalism lab in Nebraska which was complying with the rule that the drone never approach people — a drone would need to turn away and move away from a car wreck, for example, under the guidelines. (The Nebraska lab anomalously was working simultaneously on facial recognition software. Less ambitious, I had approached a software development company to tweak my drone to be hands-free using LEAP technology.)
I don’t envy FAA. I think the Amazon head’s comments were way too optimistic in expecting deliveries to be made any time soon.
And I regretted to see drones being prohibited in search operations by a private group.
I tried to a a video on Captain America over the intercom to S.H.I.E.L.D. about how it had become taken over by Nazis under the cover of using it to defend in a crisis. All I needed to know on Poindexter’s miitary project was to know that a former colleague so passionate to defend the cancer marketing cigarette companies was working on the USG project.
But I was distracted by calculations of whether Captain America could survive a jump without a parachute. I’ve entered a NASA contest to predict when its spacecraft will crash on the moon. I’ve predicted 4:53 a.m. Pacific Time on April 21, Pacific Time.
One take-home from the new Captain America movie is: don’t leave a movie before the credits roll.
“On your left.”
DXer said
The LA TImes helpfully linked a copy of the FBI affidavit in the Bridgeport case.
http://documents.latimes.com/fbi-immigration-arrest-unveils-bomb-plot/
DXer said
Still yet to come:
Abu Ghayth’s claim that Al Qaeda had a moral right to kill 4 million with anthrax including 1 million children;
Abu Hamza’s trial — his colleagues were indicted in connection with documents about water poisoning;
Babar Ahmads trial in CT — he was the web master who explained the meaning of “Green Birds” on the Al Qaeda website.
http://nypost.com/2014/02/27/handless-hate-preacher-pens-letter-asking-to-take-the-stand/
Handless hate preacher pens letter asking to take the stand
By Rich CalderFebruary 27, 2014 | 7:20pm
Handless hate preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri submitted a self-written note to a Manhattan federal judge this week, saying he wants to take the witness stand in his own defense at his April 14 terror trial to talk freely about the charges against him.
***
Al-Masri – who is charged with setting up a terrorist training camp in Oregon, among other terror-related crimes – wrote the five-page letter from his Metropolitan Correctional Center cell with a special prosthetic for writing.
Feds Arrest Al Qaeda Suspects With Plans to Poison Water Supplies …
http://www.foxnews.com/…/feds-arrest-al-qaeda-suspects-wi…
Fox News Channel
Jul 30, 2002 – Sources say they found documents about water poisoning among … of the mosque were trying to establish a terrorist training camp in Bly, Ore., …
Prosecutors: Witness Would Show Extent Of Terror
March 11, 2014 2:16 PM
http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20140305/defendants-in-connecticut-terror-case-say-shoe-bomb-plotter-has-motive-to-lie
Ahmad and his associates coordinated and discussed donations, shipments of gas masks, procuring night vision goggles, safe routes into Afghanistan and the type of people needed to support violent jihad, prosecutors wrote.
DXer said
The CIA kept the website up throughout 2002 to see who visited. But I guess the Department of Justice does not want you to see the classified materials dating to events over a decade ago.
Never mind.
Memorandum in Support by USA as to Babar Ahmad, Azzam Publications re 66 Second Supplemental Brief Regarding Second CIPA Section 4 Motion (Collins, Alexis) (Entered: 08/05/2013)
PROTECTIVE ORDER as to Babar Ahmad Signed by Judge Janet C. Hall on 7/25/2013. (Lewis, D) (Entered: 07/26/2013)
Memorandum in Support by USA as to Babar Ahmad, Azzam Publications re 66 (Collins, Alexis) (Entered: 07/01/2013)
MOTION for a Protective Order Pursuant to Section 3 of the Classified Information Procedures Act by USA as to Babar Ahmad, Azzam Publications. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order, # 2 Exhibit, # 3 Exhibit)(Collins, Alexis) (Entered: 04/09/2013)
RESPONSE/REPLY by USA as to Babar Ahmad, Azzam Publications re 67 Reply/Response Misc Joint Memorandum in Opposition to United States’ Second Ex Parte Motion for Protective Order Pursuant to Section 4 of CIPA (Collins, Alexis) (Entered: 04/09/2013)
REPLY TO RESPONSE to Motion by USA as to Babar Ahmad, Azzam Publications re 52 First EX PARTE MOTION for a Protective Order Pursuant to Section 4 of the Classified Information Procedures Act and Rule 16(d)(1) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (Redacted Version for Public Filing), 51 First EX PARTE MOTION for a Protective Order Pursuant to Section 4 of the Classified Information Procedures Act and Rule 16(d)(1) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (Collins, Alexis) (Entered: 03/28/2013)
Memorandum in Opposition by Babar Ahmad as to Babar Ahmad, Azzam Publications re 52 First EX PARTE MOTION for a Protective Order Pursuant to Section 4 of the Classified Information Procedures Act and Rule 16(d)(1) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (Redacted Version for Public Filing), 51 First EX PARTE MOTION for a Protective Order Pursuant to Section 4 of the Classified Information Procedures Act and Rule 16(d)(1) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (Barrett, Kelly) (Entered: 03/15/2013)
NOTICE of filing motion for a Protective Order Pursuant to Section 4 of the Classified Information Procedures Act and Rule 16(d)(1) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure by USA as to Babar Ahmad, Azzam Publications. (Collins, Alexis) Modified on 4/10/2013 to edit text. (Torrenti, R.). (Entered: 01/04/2013)
NOTICE of filing motion for a Protective Order Pursuant to Section 4 of the Classified Information Procedures Act and Rule 16(d)(1) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure by USA as to Babar Ahmad, Azzam Publications. (Collins, Alexis) Modified on 4/10/2013 to edit text. (Torrenti, R.). (Entered: 01/04/2013)
DXer said
Probation’s presentencing report is due 2/21/2014. In the pending guilty plea, Mr. Ahmad and the government reserve their right to present additional relevant offense conduct to the attention of the Court in connection with sentencing.
“The above-listed recommendations are conditioned upon the defendant’s affirmative demonstration of acceptance of responsibility, by (I) truthfully admitting the conduct comprising the offense(s) of conviction and truthfully admitting or not falsely denying any additional relevant conduct for which the defendant is accountable under Sentencing Guideline § 1B1.3”,,,
“In addition, the Government expressly reserves the right to seek denial of the adjustment for acceptance of responsibility if the defendant engages in any acts, unknown to the Government at the time of the signing of this agreement, which (1) indicate that the defendant has not terminated or withdrawn from criminal conduct or associations (Sentencing Guideline § 3E1.1); or (2) could provide a basis for an adjustment for obstructing or impeding the administration ofjustice (Sentencing Guideline § 3C1.1).”
The Stipulation reads:
“10. Azzam Publications also produced and/or sold a number of audio and video products that were advertised on the websites. Examples ofthese products included the audio cassettes entitled “In the Hearts of Green Birds” (1996) and “Under the Shades of Swords” (1997), which featured first-hand accounts of Muslim soldiers detailing their personal experiences on the battlefield in Bosnia during the 1992-95 war. These audio cassettes were produced in the United Kingdom. Mr. Ahmad was one of the narrators of these audio cassettes.
…
16. In bold red capital letters, the article read, “URGENT APPEAL FOR CASH DONATIONS.” The article stated: “An appeal for cash donations is especially urgent at this time (Spring 2001) since ajoint U.S./Russian chemical strike on Afghanistan is imminent … After U.N. sanctions and international isolation, the Taliban are wholly dependent on their Muslim brothers and sisters around the world to come to their aid … there are many things the Taliban is unable to do due to the lack of funds. As a reasonable estimate, at least $10 million a month are required in donations from outside the country to be of any meaningful use. . .. At present, it is relatively simple for either Muslim organisations or wealthy individuals, to assist the Taliban financially. The procedure is given below: (a) Muslim communities, organisations, mosques and centres should collect money for the people of Afghanistan through appeals, collections and fundraising events. It is advisable to hold the appeals in the name of the people of Afghanistan rather than the Taliban, since the enemies of Islam will try to prevent fundraising for the Taliban in the future.”
17. The article stated, “(b) All the money collected should be converted into US$ in cash and deposited with two or three wealthy, trustworthy and respected members of the community or organisation…. (c) At the end ofeach month, depending on the amount ofthe money, two or three of the same trustworthy members or elders of the community should travel to Karachi, Pakistan with the money in US$ in cash.”
18. The article stated, “If a large amount of money is involved, it is probably advisable to send one or two trustworthy, young, strong, fit Muslims with the delegation for protection of the money and the delegation. The delegation should carry an official letter on the letterhead ofthe organisation or centre, giving the full names ofthe members ofthe delegation and that they are carrying donations for the suffering people of Afghanistan.”
“Sample text for such a letter is found below:
“To Whom it May Concern:
We would like to introduce our official delegation from the Islamic Centre of South Arlington who Page 3 of5
Case 3:04-cr-00301-JCH Document 108 Filed 12/10/13 Page 15 of 16
are carrying monetary assistance for the suffering people of Afghanistan. The members ofthis delegation are listed below:
1. Abdullah Muhammad Saeed, American Passport Holder 2. Ishaq Mansoor Al-Katib, American Passport Holder 3. Muhammad Abdur-Rasheed, Canadian Passport Holder
They are carrying a quantity of cash donations which have been collected by the Muslim community of South Arlington and are to help the suffering people of Afghanistan. We request all those whom it may concern to allow the bearers of this letter to pass freely without let or hindrance and to provide them such assistance and protection as may be necessary.
[Signed]
Chairman of the Islamic Centre of South Arlington, USA ‘”
20. The article stated, “(d) Once safely in Karachi, Pakistan, the money should be handed over to the Official Taliban Consul-General, Mullah Rahmatullah, at the Taliban Consulate in Karachi, together with a copy of your official letter from your organisation … It may be necessary to go to the Consulate first in person with your official introductory letter and make an appointment with the Consul-General first. It is better not to make this appointment over the telephone since the enemies of Islam will try everything possible to prevent financial help from reaching the Taliban . . .. If you do call, it is better to call from a public call centre and not give your name or the name o f your centre over the telephone . . . you will also have the opportunity to request anything specific you would like the money to be used for (if possible), ask questions about their current needs and perhaps arrange a visit into Afghanistan if you have time.”
***
23. Mr. Ahmad solicited and conspired to provide physical assets for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The Azzam.com website specifically asked for the donation of military suits and gas masks for the Taliban regime.
***
25. The statement read, “On the visa application form, write that the purpose of your trip is to visit relatives. . .. Remember that the Pakistani Government is NOT on the side of the Muslims and they will not be sympathetic to your desires to go and fight in Afghanistan. . .. Try to avoid mentioning your plans to other people, including your family , if you suspect that they are careless with their tongues.”
26. The written stipUlation above demonstrates that Mr. Ahmad conspired to provide and did provide material support for terrorism in violation of 18 U.S.c. §§ 371 and 2339A by soliciting funds, personnel and equipment for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. This stipulation is incorporated into the preceding plea agreement. Mr. Ahmad and the government reserve their right to present additional relevant offense conduct to the attention of the Court in connection with sentencing.
DXer said
So what is classified? Even in a summarized form. The naval battle group plans, to include a discussion of vulnerabilities, are regularly referred to as “then-classified.”
GOVERNMENT’S SECOND CLASSIFIED IN CAMERA, EX P ARTE MOTION FOR A PROTECTIVE ORDER PURSUANT TO SECTION 4 OF THE CLASSIFIED INFORMATION PROCEDURES ACT AND RULE 16(d)(l) OF THE FEDERAL RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AND MEMORANDUM OF LAW
(REDACTED VERSION FOR PUBLIC FILING) The United States hereby respectfully moves, pursuant to Section 4 ofthe Classified
Information Procedures Act (CIPA), 18 U.S.C. App. III§ 4, and Rule 16(d)(1) ofthe Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, for a protective order authorizing the government to: (1) substitute classified summaries of certain classified information and produce in discovery the classified summaries to the defense (subject to possession o f the appropriate security clearance), in lieu o f the original classified material; and (2) delete certain other classified material from discovery
…
because it does not contain any exculpatory, impeaching or other information that could be considered relevant and helpful or material to the defense. 1
In the event that the Court grants the requested relief and authorizes the government to produce classified summaries o f specified information to cleared defense counsel, the government will separately move for a standard protective order pursuant to Section 3 o f CIP A that sets forth procedures to govern and regulate the handling o f such classified summaries by the parties during the pendency ofthese cases. …
This pleading describes information classified at the “TOP SECRET” and “SECRET” level. UnderExecutiveOrder13526,theunauthorizeddisclosureofmaterialclassifiedatthe “TOP SECRET” level, by definition “reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security” and classified at the “SECRET” level, by definition, “reasonably could be expected to cause serious damage to the national security.” Exec. Order 13526 § 1.2(a), 75 Fed. Reg. 707, 707-8 (Dec. 29, 2009).
In general terms, the government’s evidence at trial is anticipated to include, among other things: (1) evidence regarding the operation and administration of the family of Azzam websites, which contained training materials, and overt appeals for donations, personnel, gas masks, and nuclear-biological-chemical suits; (2) evidence regarding the production and distribution of videotapes and compact disks depictingjihadi fighters in Bosnia, Chechnya and elsewhere, and eulogizing killed mujahideen, for the purpose of recruiting individuals and soliciting donations to support the mujahideen in Afghanistan and Chechnya; (3) the purchase of supplies, namely 100 cold weather camouflage suits from a U.S. based company; (4) Ahmad’s possession ofGPS equipment and a ballistic vest; (5) efforts to assist individuals responding to the websites’ calls for support via emails discussing donations, shipments of gas masks, procurement of night vision goggles, safe routes to lands ofjihad, and personnel needed; (6) the vetting of individuals on behalf of the Chechen mujahideen; (7) efforts to recruit individuals to travel to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban against the United States or otherwise train for jihad, and the recovery of detailed corresponding instructions for such travel; (8) possession of the then-classified and sensitive information contained in the Battle Group Document; (9) email communications with Abu-Jihaad, the U.S. Naval enlistee who was convicted o f providing the then-classified information contained Battle Group Document, and was sympathetic to the views expressed on the Azzam sites and praised the attacks on the U.S.S. Cole; and (10) the production and distribution of materials supporting violent jihad, such as articles encouraging and justifying “martyrdom operations” and articles about how to train oneself for violent jihad.
***
The government’s evidence also includes Ahsan’s alleged possession ofvarious materials relating to violent jihad, including numerous Azzam Publications materials; an article regarding “martyrdom operations;” an article regarding when it is appropriate to target women and children; various articles and handwritten notes on how to be secretive in the categories of computers, identification, mail, and telephones; and a letter to his father regarding his intention and motivation to go fight again in the jihad.
***
In order to establish the national security interest in the classified material at issue, the government ordinarily submits a declaration or affidavit, executed by an official with classification review authority, that identifies “specific facts that (a) render the materials … at issue classified and (b) support the conclusion that disclosure ofthose materials would pose a risk to national security.” Abu-Jihaad, 630 F.3d at 141. While the discoverability of the classified material at issue is discussed in subsequent sections, the government submits that the state secrets privilege has been properly asserted over the classified material in this motion.
[CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
1. [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED] [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
2. [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
[CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
a. The Court Should Authorize the Government to Substitute Classified Summaries of Certain Information in Lieu of Producing the Original Classified Documents
Comment: So what classified material is so sensitive even 13 years after the events at issue?
DXer said
US DOJ briefing:
Each of the issues raised by the Court at the May 29 Hearing is discussed below.
A. [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED] [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
B. [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
[CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
C. [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
[CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
D. [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
[CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
E. [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
[CLASSIFIED INFORMA TION REDACTED]
F. [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED] [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
G. [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
[CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
H. [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
[CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
I. [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
[CLASSIFIED INFORMATION REDACTED]
If the Court has any further questions regarding the classified information presented in this submission, the government respectfully requests the opportunity to respond in an in camera, ex parte hearing pursuant to CIPA § 4. See, e.g., United States v. Klimavicius-Viloria, 144 F.3d 1249, 1261 (9th Cir. 1998). If the court grants the government’s requested relief, the government further requests that the entire text ofthe government’s classified submission and accompanying exhibits be sealed and preserved in the records of the Court to be made available to the appellate court in the event of an appeal. See 18 U.S.C. App. III§ 4; Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(d)(l).
Comment:
Nothing to see here folks.
Keep your eyes on the stained panties and the guy established to have edited the wikipedia website for a college sorority.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
There is a lot of detail here in the memo supporting extradition relating to Babar Ahmad.
Click to access 311.pdf
You can see quite a lot is covered without any invocation of TOP SECRET or SECRET designations. So why suddenly is there TOP SECRET material relating to events almost a decade and a half ago?
I think the purchase of fertilizer during the 1997-1998 period, while very notable, wouldn’t be it.
Moreover, the point about vulnerabilities of the naval vessel has already been in the mainstream media.
In Mr. Ahmad’s defense, I should point out that azzam ran an article about an imminent Russian or US attack involving chemical weapons.
So if it hadn’t been for the experiments killing the rabbits and dogs, I might have bought that spin as underlying the solicitation of gas masks.
DXer said
The website azzam.com explained the meaning of “green birds.” The webmaster of that site, British man Babar Ahmad, now has pleaded guilty to supporting terrorists in Afghanistan through websites that sought to raise cash, recruit fighters and solicit items such as gas masks.
Given that Mr. Ahmad was soliciting gas masks at the time of the experiments killing rabbits and dogs. What did he know about Al Qaeda’s work on chem and bio weapons?
The webmaster for the azzam.com website was finally extradited after a nearly decades-long extradition battle.
British terrorist Babar Ahmad pleads guilty in U.S. court to running terrorist website and faces 25 years in jail
Ahmad and Syed Talha Ahsan both admitted charges in US District Court in New Haven
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2521780/British-terrorist-Babar-Ahmad-pleads-guilty-U-S-court-running-terrorist-website-faces-25-years-jail.html#ixzz2sv2IML5j
Ahmad, along with fellow Briton Syed Talha Ahsan, pleaded guilty in US District Court in New Haven to charges of providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.
By pleading guilty, the men ‘admitted that they knew that their efforts could result in the maiming and murder of individuals, including US citizens,’ acting US Attorney Deirdre Daly said.
***
The sites asked for donations of military suits and gas masks for the Taliban and appealed to Pakistanis to travel to Afghanistan to fight, according to Ahmad’s plea agreement.
…
The sites produced videos of Muslims detailing their experiences on the battlefield in Bosnia and advertised videos of battles in Chechnya.”
[Note: One popular video was “Green BIrds of Paradise” which was oft-watched by the Virginia Paintball group].
“Ahmad insisted he didn’t condone terrorism…”
The pair was scheduled to be sentenced on March 4.
It seems that he could get his sentence reduced if he cooperated.
Did Ahmad hear Anwar Awlaki and Ali Al-Timimi speak in August 2001 in the UK?
Here is a great piece of matchstick art made by Mr. Ahmad.
http://www.freebabarahmad.com/the-story/in-his-own-words/item/552-i-will-always-live-free-winner-of-2012-koestler-trust-highly-commended-award
Not too long ago I self-published a picture of matchbook art and so appreciate what painstaking work it is. I hope he is allowed to continue his art.
Mr. Ahmad’s also writes poetry.
Cry of the Caged Bird
http://www.freebabarahmad.com/the-story/in-his-own-words/item/101-cry-of-the-caged-bird
DXer said
Certainly the defense committees and families of both Ali Al-Timimi and Babar Ahmad supported the efforts of each other.
But what were the connections, if any, prior to 9/11 between the two individuals — apart from both supporting the Taliban and supporting the participation of young men in jihad abroad.
Prior to 9/11, what was Ali Al-Timimi’s understanding of the reason for azzam.com’s solicitation of gas masks?
1. Message of Support to Ali Al Timimi from Family of Babar Ahmad
05/05/2005
http://old.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=7130
2. The Free Ali al-Timimi Support Committee Announcement
The Free Ali al-Timimi Support Committe are urging supporters to assist the family of Babar Ahmad (a British Political Prisoner) who are calling for 100,000 people to sign an e-petition calling for him to be tried in the UK. They wish for a full discussion to take place at a parliamentary level in relation to his extradition, and this can only happen if 100,000 people support the petition. The link to the petition can be found here:
3. Free Ali al-Timimi · 1,534 like this
November 2, 2011 at 4:01pm ·
• The Free Babar Ahmad Campaign is pleased to announce that over 100,000 people have now signed the e-petition to put Babar Ahmad on trial in the UK. We have been humbled by the response of the people of Britain which has been nothing short of phenomenal. Although the target has now been reached, we urge all volunteers to continue to try and obtain more signatures for the petition to demonstrate the level of public support behind Babar and the need for there to be a parliamentary debate about his case. We once again thank all our supporters for their tireless efforts to get justice for Babar
DXer said
Babar Ahmad’s family provides his background here. It seems that the surest way to bring home the point that he was against terrorism is to fully cooperate in connection with the Fall 2001 anthrax mailings — providing any information that might be relevant.
https://www.facebook.com/FreeBabarAhmad/info
“Like the rest of the family he was deeply affected and saddened by the events of 9/11. A relative, who the family have always been close to, was on the 106th floor of the North Tower and lost her life on that tragic day. Babar and his family shared the pain and anguish with her family in their desperate search for news of her well-being.
Much of the media continues to promote the ideology of guilty until proven innocent in cases such as Babar’s. He is nothing like the evil, cold-hearted terrorist that the media and others have made him out to be. All those who have met, lived and worked with him unanimously agree that he is quite the opposite.”
DXer said
Babar Ahmad, according to one media account, was connected to Al Qaeda through his cousin.
The arrest of his counsel led to a laptop which contained extensive plans presented by Dhiren Barot (aka Al-Hindi), who cased NYC targets with the fellow I venture as the anthrax mailer, Adnan El-Shukrijumah.
What did Al Qaeda anthrax lab head Yazid Sufaat discuss at the meeting in Kandahar with Adnan El-Shukrijumah and KSM before Adnan set off to return to the United States shortly after 9/11?
Posted by Lew Weinstein on June 7, 2013
https://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordpress.com/2013/06/07/what-did-al-qaeda-anthrax-lab-head-yazid-sufaat-discuss-at-the-meeting-in-kandahar-with-adnan-el-shukrijumah-and-ksm-before-adnan-set-off-to-return-to-the-united-states-shortly-after-911/
DXer says: Adnan El-Shukrijumah is the anthrax mailer … on or about 9/13/2001, he phoned from KSM’s house to tell his mom he was coming to the US
Posted by Lew Weinstein on June 6, 2013
https://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordpress.com/2013/06/06/dxer-adnan-el-shukrijumah-is-the-anthrax-mailer-on-9132001-he-phoned-from-ksms-house-to-tell-his-mom-he-was-coming-to-the-us/
Babar Ahmad: the bugging case terror suspect
By Duncan Gardham
7:38PM GMT 05 Feb 2008
“Babar Ahmad’s alleged connection to al-Qa’eda is through his cousin, Naeem Noor Khan.
When police first arrested Ahmad in December 2003, they found 25 to 30 pages of correspondence between Ahmad and various export companies during 1997 and 1998 in which he allegedly sought to purchase up to 5,000 tons of sulphur or phosphate based fertilizer and large amounts of chemicals, which could be used to make a homemade bomb.
The documents also allegedly linked Ahmad to Noor Khan who was arrested in Pakistan in July 2004.
The arrest led Pakistan security services to another house where they found a laptop which contained extensive plans which had been presented to al-Qa’eda bosses by British plotter Dhiren Barot.
Barot was arrested two days before Ahmad was re-arrested in August 2004.
…
Also charged in the US is Syed Talha Ahsan, 21, a former public schoolboy at Dulwich College with a first class degree in Arabic, who is alleged to have fought in Afghanistan and helped Ahmad run the website.”
In the then classified plans, according to the paper,
“In the plans it stated: “Weakness: they have nothing to stop a small craft with RPG [rocket propelled grenades] etc, except their seals stinger missiles.””
The article states:
“Work colleagues believed his identity had been assumed by someone else, and one colleague described him as a “kind, gentle person who hated injustice being done to anyone and tried to defend what is right.”
But Ahmad had stolen another student’s name and was using his office to run the website.
It may have been Ahmad’s perceived sense of injustice which led him into involvement with Islamic militants fighting abroad.
Ahmad denies any involvement in terrorism.”
DXer said
Scholarly research such as this 2012 study has focused on the strong green bird imagery in jihadist justification — with the emphasis that the souls of the 911 hijackers have gone to paradise in the hearts of green birds. The azzam.com had a FAQ explaining this.
Thus, that may have pointed to the jihadists so fond of watching the video “In the Hearts of Green Birds” (such as the Paintball group associated with Ali Al-Timimi) and also those mirroring the azzam.com website mirroring the website. Azzam.com was mirrored in North Brunswick, NJ. North Brunswick, NJ was where the subtilis expert was located who called the WTC 1993 bomber residence upon until the Blind Sheik’s arrest.
The FBI’s botched Amerithrax by not appreciating the coded reference embodied by the green bird stamp. The FBI concocted some contrived theory that it related to some newsletter found in the Ivins home.
This sub-issue was another example of failed counterintelligence that results from compartmentalized of the Amerithrax investigation.
http://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=act&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%2
6rct%3Dj%26q%3D%2520%2522Anwar%2520Awlaki%2522%2520%2520%2522green%2520birds%2522%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D3%26ved%3D0CDoQFjAC%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fro.ecu.edu.au%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1020%2526context%253Dact%26ei%3D56r4UpKTNejcyQGll4Fw%26usg%3DAFQjCNFMW4MajBpCL2gl4NHNGMAqSEsDkw%26bvm%3Dbv.60983673%2Cd.cWc#search=%22Anwar%20Awlaki%20green%20birds%22
Edith Cowan University Research Online
Australian Counter Terrorism Conference Security Research Institute Conferences
2012
Al-Jihad Fi Sabilillah: in the Heart of Green Birds Robyn Torok
Edith Cowan University, rtorok@our.ecu.edu.au
AL-JIHAD FI SABILILLAH: IN THE HEART OF GREEN BIRDS
Robyn Torok Security Research Institute, Edith Cowan University Perth, Western Australia rtorok@our.ecu.edu.au
Abstract
With an increasing focus on lone-wolf operations, al-Qaeda is becoming increasingly focussed on its internet discourses and propaganda. One of its most significant discourses is the importance of jihad and martyrdom in carrying out a terrorist attack. This study looks at Facebook pages and profiles and examines the discourses presented in relation to jihad and martyrdom. Three important concepts including their justification are considered: Al-Jihad fi Sabilillah (just fight for the sake of Allah), Istishhad (operational heroism of loving death more than the West love life) and Shaheed (becoming a martyr). Results supported previous studies indicating the strong seductive nature of such discourses. Although many discourses were similar to previous studies, several key differences were noted; namely, different emphasises within the concept of Shaheed as well as a strong focus on green bird imagery which became prominent during the Bosnian conflict. Understanding such discourses will be critical in not only preventing terrorism, but also in the developing better deradicalisation strategies.
DXer said
The British man who was webmaster for this azzam.com site that explained the meaning of the green birds of paradise has pled guilty and faces 25 years.
Babar Ahmad Pleads Guilty To Terror Charges
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/news/babar_ahmad_pleads_guilty_to_terror_charges
A British man extradited to the US on terror charges after an eight-year legal battle has pleaded guilty.
Babar Ahmad admitted providing support to terrorists at a federal court hearing in New Haven, Connecticut, and faces up to 25 years in prison, when he is sentenced in March.
Another man, Syed Talha Ahsan, is also expected to change his plea.
The pair were to have faced trial after denying charges of providing material support to terrorists.
Ahmad, 39, and 34-year-old Ahsan stood accused of running websites that sought to raise money, recruit fighters and seek equipment for terrorists in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
US prosecutors said the two men, both from London, operated a network of internet sites known as Azzam publications that attracted worldwide support to the jihadist cause.
…
Ahmad and Ahsan had tried to avoid extradition in British courts and later in the European Court of Human Rights, on the grounds that the websites activities were carried out in the UK.
Ahmad’s campaign to stay in the UK was a record for a British citizen and he had thousands of supporters.
They were extradited to the US a year ago with three other men, including radical preacher Abu Hamza.
DXer said
The CIA left the site up in 2002 in order to catch leads relating to who visited the website.
DXer said
In the plea agreement, released by the court, Ahmad states that “he solicited and conspired to provide funds [and] personnel for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan” and that he and others “recruited men to travel to Afghanistan for mujahedeen training and sought out gas masks to send abroad.” …
“In doing so, they also admitted that they knew that their efforts could result in the maiming and murder of individuals, including US citizens.
***
The original site was shut down within weeks of 9/11 – but much of its content returned a short time later on a new or related website.
Comment:
In a 9/11/2002 interview with al-Jazeera, Ramzi Binalshibh, said that hijacker Al-Shehhi, even before he learned of the operation, “used to have beautiful visions that he flies in the sky with huge green birds and crashes into things.”
A FAQ on Al Qaeda’s website, the Azzam Publications website, explained that “In the Hearts of Green Birds” refers to what is inside: “The actual Arabic word used in the Hadith is not Qalb (heart) but it is Jowf which can mean any of interior, inside, or heart (as in center).” There was a video based on the hadith with the title “In The Hearts of Green Birds” about foreign mujahideen that had been martyred in Bosnia. The audiocasette was created in August 1996 and its 3rd edition was released in January 1997. The azzam.org website selling the “In the Hearts of Green Birds” audiocassette was shut down after 9/11 because authorities thought it might contain codes and instructions to militants.
Azzam.com posted an exclusive interview with Ayman al-Zawahiri and stressed the importance of cash donations and gas masks and chemical-resistant suits. Ibn Khattab, the Arab Chechnyan fighter who was Bin Laden’s good friend, had told his public that azzam.com was highly recommended and that only the two charities identified by the website should be used to route donations — announcing in 2000 that Benevolence International Foundation was one of the charities that should be used. The other was the Islamic Assembly of North America (”IANA”). Ibu al-Khattab, the late Arab-Afghan commander of foreign mujahideen in Chechnya (who in March 2002 was killed by a poison letter), expressly endorsed Azzam Publications.
Azzam.org had “no bricks and mortar address, but operates a post office box in London, and bill[ed] itself as “an independent media organisation providing authentic news and information about jihad and the Foreign Mujahideen everywhere.” One posting datelined from the southern Afghan city of Kandahar and was a message to Muslim youth from top terror suspect Bin Laden. A farewell message from Azzam Publications .. exhorts “Muslims all over the World (to) render as much financial, physical, medical, media and moral support to the Taliban as they can.” Azzam also urged those with computer expertise to mirror the website so as to keep it up after authorities took it down. One can access old websites as they existed on past dates through http://www.archives.org and its wonderful Wayback Machine.
British and US intelligence sources suspected that some of Azzam.com’s jihad photos and graphics contain messages embedded with a technology known as steganography. The code instead perhaps was there separately for all to see on the stamps of the lethal missives being sent.
This was Al Qaeda’s website. On its face, there was both a connection to Ibn Khattab (think bio WMD) and the charity for which Ali Al-Timimi was the lead speaker. The website announced the Ann Arbor-based charity as one of the two charities authorized to receive funds. The “new or related website” was the same site mirrored elsewhere. Mr. Ahmad had specifically anticipated being shut down and asked that supporters mirror it — as one North Brunswick imam, with connections to Brooklyn, did. Even when this website, mirrored in North Brunswick, had the Al Qaeda, WMD, and Ali Al-TImimi connection, there were some few prosecutors and investigators who instead focused stained panties rather than suffer fallout over Dr. Ivins’ suicide.
Subtilis contaminant, you say? The FBI did not bother to swab the suspect labs because they already had a fellow who sometimes worked late and who was emotionally fragile. Besides, the FBI had already been able to exclude everyone because they had interviewed all of Atta’s former associates.
Amerithrax, quite simply, is the greatest counterintelligence failure in the history of the United States. To simplify things: Ask former FBI WMD Director Vahid Majidi when it is he thinks that the FBI interviewed Adnan El-Shukrijumah. Ask him to explain his claim in his September 2013 e-book that they interviewed all of Atta’s Florida associates.
Ask him why he thought Ivins’ formaldehyde experiment with the 52 rabbits was done at some other facility.
Ask him why the FBI withheld Dr. Ivins’ notebook from that first week of October 2001 from Dr. Ivins.
DXer said
Babar Ahmad was extradited along with others, to include lawyer Abu Hamza, Egyptian attorney Abdel-Bari and Saudi Khalid Fawwaz (the fellow who arranged for the St. Louis fellow to buy Ayman Zawahiri’s satellite telephone). There were numerous calls between Bin Laden and Khalid Fawwaz. This is a historic time to be working at the federal courthouse in Manhattan. As I recall, Abdel-Bari came to Brooklyn in 1991 to assist with the defense of Nosair.
Khalid Al-Fawwaz
Former bin Laden associate facing U.S. charges seeks UK spy evidence
BY MARK HOSENBALL AND KAREN FREIFELD
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK Fri Sep 27, 2013
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/27/us-usa-saudi-britain-idUSBRE98Q16720130927
Abdel-Bari
Judge tosses ‘terror’ lawyer’s claim in embassy bombing case
By Associated PressOctober 23, 2013
http://nypost.com/2013/10/23/judge-tosses-terror-lawyers-claim-in-embassy-bombing-case/
Abu Hamza
Jail’s too rough for hook-handed Al Qaeda suspect Abu Hamza, lawyers say
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/jail-rough-hook-handed-al-queda-suspect-lawyers-article-1.1529089#ixzz2nB0lmIOD
DXer said
Babar Ahmad and Abu Hamza among terror suspects to be sent to US
Five UK-based terror suspects will be extradited to the US after a last-minute appeal by some of the men was overturned in the High Court.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17662054
Comment:
Babar Ahmad was the webmaster, as I recall, of azzam.com, which was mirrored by the New Brunswick imam. The website explained the meaning of the “green birds” — as referring to what was inside. (The CIA left the website up for a year in 2002 while trying to develop leads based on who visited).
What can Mr. Ahmad tell the public about the origin of the explanation of “green birds”? What was the reason for the prominent FAQ on the AQ website?
What was his relationship with the NJ imam? Did Mr. Ahmad know the subtilis expert who, as I recall, lived in the New Brunswick area in 2001?
It’s nice that Great Britain invented all those sports — but it might want to revisit the rules governing extradition.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
Indictment against Islamist preacher accused of kidnapping left intact
Published: Sept. 4, 2013 at 11:56 AM
NEW YORK, Sept. 4 (UPI) — A federal judge in New York has ruled that an Islamic preacher who allegedly helped kidnap U.S. citizens in Yemen must face all charges levied against him.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest left the 11-count indictment against Abu Hamza intact, the Courthouse News Service reported.
The indictment alleges that Hamza, who is said to have lost much of his forearms fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, conspired to detain U.S. nationals in Yemen in 1998.
He allegedly provided a phone to the leader of the Abyan faction of the Islamic Army of Adem.
He also is accused of giving advice to a co-conspirator over the phone about the kidnapping of 16 people, two of whom were U.S. citizens, which took place between Dec. 23 and Dec. 29.
Hamza is also accused of conspiring to create a jihad training camp in Bly, Ore., by stockpiling weapons and ammunition he allegedly received from al-Qaida.
Defense lawyers argued that Hamza could not be charged for advising the kidnappers over the phone, but Forrest issued her decision not to dismiss the complaint Friday.
“There is no requirement that the indictment contain allegations of defendant’s presence in the United States … Rather, the determinative issue is whether defendant’s actions were calculated to harm American citizens and interests,” she wrote.
Hamza was arrested in England in 2004 and extradited to the United States in 2012.
The trial is set to begin March 31, 2014.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/09/04/Indictment-against-Islamist-preacher-accused-of-kidnapping-left-intact/UPI-47061378310202/#ixzz2eaMS4ntB
DXer said
Abu Hamza knew about Ayman Zawahiri’s early anthrax planning — dating back to the time when Dr. Ayman was wringing his hands over the Yemen cell buying a new fax when the old one worked just fine. If the New York prosecutors and David Cohen wants to protect New York City, they should artfully pursue the lead..
A February 1999 letter signed by “Army of Suicidals Group 66, Bin Laden Militant Wing” threatened anthrax attacks against Westerners if they stayed in Yemen beyond a 11-day ultimatum ending February 27, 1999. Investigators considered a possible connection to the attempted extradition to Yemen of the London-based Egyptian Islamic preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri.
DXer said
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. BABAR AHMAD AND SYED TALHA AHSAN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64675
OPINION BY: Janet C. Hall
May 1, 2013
OPINION
RULING AND PROTECTIVE ORDER PURSUANT TO SECTION 4 OF THE CLASSIFIED INFORMATION PROCEDURES ACT AND FEDERAL RULE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 16(D)(1)
This matter is before the court on the Government’s First Classified In Camera, Ex Parte Motion for a Protective Order Pursuant to Section 4 of the Classified Information Procedures Act, 18 U.S.C. App. III, (“CIPA”) and Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(d)(1), requesting authorization to substitute unclassified [*2] summaries in lieu of disclosing certain original classified materials and to withhold other classified material in its entirety from discovery. After in camera, ex parte inspection and consideration of the Motion and memorandum of law, supporting declarations and exhibits (hereinafter, “the Submission”), as well as the defendants’ opposition and the government’s reply memorandum, the court GRANTS the government’s Motion pursuant to Section 4 of CIPA and Rule 16(d)(1).
***
DXer said
The Green Birds of Paradise allusion contained in the choice of stamp is found throughout the documents associated with the Al Qaeda operatives. Under Adnan El-Shukrijumah’s belief system, the 911 hijackers, upon martyrdom, became birds of paradise. Adnan and Sufaat essentially were paying homage to the 911 hijackers.
For example, the website created by anthrax letter suspect Adnan El-Shukrijumah, now chief of Al Qaeda’s external operations, had a guest book with such references.
http://web.archive.org/web/20020118092126/http://www.masterarabic.com/
Thursday 05/08/2003 11:43:32am
Name: farid muhammad al-ajlan
E-Mail: al_fma@yahoo.com
Homepage Title: http://www.geocities.com/al_fma
Homepage URL:
Referred By: Search Engine
Location: islam
Comments: by the forever grace and all knowing favors Allah
the Almighty has blessed your father with is only an atom to what is for him in the hereafter,now you and your children and all muslims and searchers of trueth can follow as he followed the prophet muhammad {saw}. and be in THE PARADISE WITH THE SEALED NECTAR!
DXer said
FEBRUARY 26, 2013 1:00 P.M.
Twenty Years after the WTC Bombing
We are today more willfully blind.
By Andrew C. McCarthy
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/341607/twenty-years-after-wtc-bombing-andrew-c-mccarthy
DXer said
The code explained by the FAQ on the azzam.com related to the word “jowf” meaning both heart and inside.
The CIA left the website up in 2002 to see who visited — to try to catch some leads.
DXer said
According to the Detainee Assessment dated 8 Dec 2006 of Ammar Balucchi, it was Balucchi, a fellow overseeing the anthrax lab, who managed the website azzam.com using the coded FAQ about the green birds. (BTW, Al-Balucchi says he was in contact with Ramzi Yousef in 1993 — the subtilis expert living near the mailbox repeatedly called the telephone number.) Al-Balucchi, who like Yousef was KSM’s nephew, he met with Bin Laden, Zawahiri, Atef, Abu Ghaith, Saif Adel and a score of heavy hitters at a meeting after 911.
Al-Balucchi’s Detainee Assessment discusses Aafia Siddiqui:
“Detainee had informed Siddiqui that a laboratory had been set up to produce biological agents. Siddiqui reportedly told detainee that she was willing to participate in a Biological Weapons (BW) project if Al-Qaeda tasked her to do so. Detainee stated that after their conversation, he never asked Siddiqui to participate in the BW project and never considered to let her work in the laboratory.”
Question: Where was the laboratory? Who worked in it?
For her part, Aafia falsely told the Pakistan delegation that she did not know Al-Balucchi.
Aafia’s sister and mother, and Sara Flounders and Cynthia McKinney, would have more success advocating for Aafia if they worked toward a common understanding of facts. For example, if Aafia is lying about knowing Al-Balucchi (who she married) then is it surprising that she was not found a credible witness regarding the shooting incident?
Moreover, it is needlessly inflammatory to emphasize the strip searches done in prison without recognizing that the rule was implemented after an Al Qaeda member gouched the eye out a corrections officer with a sharpened comb.
DXer said
So Ammar Al-Balucchi’s, Aafia’s husband, was involved with the anthrax lab as constituted in Pakistan. And it was al-Hawsawi who had the anthrax spraydrying documents on his laptop. They were both actively involved in getting the 911 hijackers into the country. If one was KSM’s right hand, the other was his left hand. Anthrax lab director Sufaat stayed with KSM for 6 days while explaining his progress with anthrax to Zawahiri and Hambali.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
Wikipedia explains;
Born 1977 (age 35–36)
Citizenship Pakistan
Detained at CIA black sites, Guantanamo
Occupation Computer technician
Ammar al-Baluchi (Arabic: عمار البلوشية, ʾAmmār al-Balūshī; also transliterated as Amar al-Balochi,[1] also known as Ali Abdul Aziz Ali,[2] or Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali[1]) is in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
U.S. officials allege that the majority of money that came to the United Arab Emirates hijackers from the September 11 attacks was transferred through Baluchi and Mustafa al-Hawsawi.[3][4]
DXer said
Ammar Al-Balucchi, Aafia’s second husband, is the detainee whose harsh interrogation is featured at length at the beginning of Zero Dark Thirty. Maybe the reason the FBI refused to produce to the NAS the documents relating to an anthrax lab in Karachi being discussed by Al-Balucchi is that the information was obtained through those tactics. The actor who played Al-Balucchi had a very difficult acting job. I hope he was nominated for awards.
Let’s hope they at least allow Al-Balucchi to discuss the anthrax lab in Karachi (and his marriage to Aafia) if he chooses.
The movie touches upon Al-Balucchi being in touch with Ramzi Yousef, the 1993 bomber (who was another KSM nephew) whose number was called repeatedly by the subtilis expert living in 2001 20 miles from the mailbox. (I have uploaded the phone bill showing the calls). His recent project was teaching people in Afghanistan to learn microbiology remotely.
DXer said
Steve Coll writes a meaty review in the New York Times Book Review titled “Disturbing” and “Misleading” and discusses the treatment of the interrogation of Al-Balucchi.
“The real Ali is a thirty-five-year-old nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the admitted mastermind of the September 11 attacks. He was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and held in secret CIA prisons until he was transferred to Guantánamo in 2006, where he now faces capital charges before a military commission. He is accused of sending, at his uncle’s instructions, as much as $200,000 to the hijackers and providing them with other logistical support. Zero Dark Thirty’s composite Ammar is described at various points as “KSM’s nephew,” who is “tight” with his uncle and has fingerprints “on 9/11 money,” and particularly as someone responsible for transferring $5,000 to the hijackers.
The film’s Ammar is depicted as a doomed man who will spend his entire life behind bars without resort to lawyers or justice. In an early interrogation scene, Maya pulls off her black mask before entering to face the prisoner because Dan assures her that Ammar will never be free to menace her. We are invited to appreciate Ammar’s subjugation.
The truth about Ali is perhaps more interesting. He has been an active, defiant participant in Guantánamo court proceedings and his lawyers have sought permission from military judges to introduce evidence in his defense that he was tortured while in CIA custody, and to pursue information about the identities of the agency officers who interrogated him. That request has been refused on the grounds that what happened to Ali while in CIA prisons is classified. Zero Dark Thirty’s indirect depictions of Ali’s abuse might be the only accounting the real-life prisoner receives in public before he is sentenced to death. Yet the film does nothing to acknowledge its connection to this reality.”
What happened at yesterday’s Gitmos hearings?
DXer said
Although much fuller details are provided by Lawfare coverage, AP reports that
” Mohammed refused to say whether he approved the hiring of another attorney for him. Fellow defendant Walid bin Attash refused to say why he wanted a military lawyer removed from his team.
Their silence Monday delayed by about an hour the start of a four-day hearing on pretrial motions for the five Guantanamo prisoners charges in the death penalty case. The judge eventually granted the changes without statements from the men.”
Bin Attash was the one who Yazid Sufaat knew who met at anthrax lab tech Sufaat’s KL condo for the planning summit. Attash in December was arranging to get a new prosthetic leg and arrived at Yazid’s condo the day before Nawaf did in early January. The fellow routing funds to the hijackers, the fellow Al-Balucchi (who post-911 married Aafia), was connected to the Karachi anthrax lab. When you put the mosaic together you can see that anthrax leads are related to the same dropped ball where the NSA, CIA and FBI negligently allowed Nawaf into the country. Inside the beltway. it is all about CYA. Meanwhile, the anthrax threat remains unresolved. It is important the CIA and FBI always put the public interest ahead of narrow career interests.
DXer said
Babar Ahmad was webmaster for the website that in a FAQ explained the meaning of “green birds” — the website mirrored in New Brunswick.
6 October 2012
Abu Hamza due in US court following extradition
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19855380
“He said Mr Ahmad and Mr Ahsan were indicted in 2004 and 2006 respectively with offences “stemming from their involvement in, and operation of” websites “that allegedly provided material support to the Chechen Muhjahideen, the Taliban, and associated terrorist groups”.”
“…They will appear before New Haven Federal Court in the state, where an internet service provider was said to have been used to host one of the sites.”
He now has been extradited and will appear in a Connecticut court where the server was located.
DXer said
I was mistaken. There is a second detainee (who allegedly helped him with the website) extradited due to appear in Connecticut with Babar Ahmad, but I believe Abu Hamza is due to appear in federal court in New York.
Abu Hamza due in US court following extradition
BBC News-2 hours ago
Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza is due to appear in court in New York to face terrorism charges. He is one of five men who left the UK on two …
Also extradited and expected to appear in New York is Abdel Bary, an Egyptian Islamic Jihad leader who was part of the London cell alleged to have communicated the claim of responsibility for the 1998 embassy bombings.
An attorney helping EIJ members with immigration issues, Abdel Bary was in touch with Canadian EIJ member Jaballah.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Jaballah
In October 1996, al-Jihad’s London leader Adel Abdel Bary contacted Jaballah to mention he was shipping him several books and periodicals, including …
• Thirwat Shehata – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirwat_Shehata
He maintained telephone contact with Jaballah through 1996 when the latter moved to Canada. In October, al-Jihad’s London leader Adel Abdel Bary contacted …
• Mahmoud Jaballah – History Commons
http://www.historycommons.org › Entities
Jaballah is also in frequent contact with Ibrahim Eidarous and Adel Abdel Bary, two Islamic Jihad operatives living in London and working closely with Khalid …
• Ahmad Salama Mabruk
• Updated October 5, 2012, 10:31 p.m. ET
Terror Suspects Extradited to U.S.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443768804578038341120479204.html
Among the others to be flown to the U.S. are Khalid al Fawwaz, 50, who has been fighting extradition for 14 years since he was charged with operating the London media office of al Qaeda at the direction of Osama bin Laden. U.S. officials say the purpose of the office was to publicize Mr. bin Laden’s statements and to provide cover for the group’s terrorism activities. Both he and Adel Abdel Bary, 52, were charged with conspiracy in connection with the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.
DXer said
Khalid al-Fawwaz has been extradited along with Abdel-Bary and is expected to appear in federal court in New York.
Let’s review some of the background.
Walid Arkeh, a Jordanian serving time in a Florida prison, was interviewed by FBI agents after warning the government of an impending terrorist attack. He had been in a British jail from September 2000 to July 2001. While there had befriended three inmates, Khalid al-Fawwaz, Adel Abdel Bary and Ibrahim Eidarous. (Eidarous, as a I recall, was released a few years ago on health grounds). US prosecutors charge that “the three men ran a London storefront that served as a cover for al-Qaeda operations and acted as a conduit for communications between bin Laden and his network.” (Dr. Saad Al-Fagih reportedly helped buy Bin Laden’s satellite phone and 3,000 prepaid minutes used to keep in touch with the London islamists. with the help of someone in Columbia, Missouri). The other two had worked in the same office as al-Fawwaz. All three were indicted as co-conspirators with bin Laden in the 1998 US embassy bombings. Arkeh told the FBI that he had learned from these three that “something big was going to happen in New York City,” and that they had called the 1993 attack on the WTC “unfinished business.”
The head of the London EIJ cell, Eidarous Ibrahim, had been in Baku, Azerbaijan. Eidarous had led the Azerbaijan branch of Al Qaeda between 1995 and 1997. The first information about Al Qaeda and biological weapons related to Baku, Azerbaijan. The Al Qaeda military commander, Ahmad Salama Mabruk (who had spent 6 months in a prison cell with Ayman after traveling to Dagestan), was arrested on August 20, 1998 outside a restaurant in Baku. In custody during his trial in Egypt, Mabruk claimed Bin Ladin purchased biological agents over a two-year period prior to 1998 from European states and the former republics of the Soviet Union. This information is allegedly provided during the April 1999 “Trial of the Returnees from Albania” in Egypt. Eidarous Ibrahim came from Baku, Azerbaijan cell to head the EIJ cell London. After the 1998 embassy bombings, he was arrested along with about a half dozen Egyptians and a Saudi, OBL’s friend Fawwaz. One way to approach analysis of who-knew-who in connection with the anthrax mailings would be start in Baku, Azerbaijan and then thread through London to Brooklyn and on. In the anthrax mailings, Ayman in part is retaliating for the extradition of the EIJ London members, his friends, without getting them in further hot water by explicitly claiming responsibility and setting forth the justification. The pattern fits the al Hayat letter bombs exactly.
In May 1996 Al Zawahiri had put Abdel-bari in charge of the London Cell. In August of that year Bin Laden issued the declaration requiring the faithful to expel Americans from the Arabian peninsular. At the time of the arrests, copies of Bin Laden’s statement were found at Abdel-bari’s house and at the office at 1A Beethoven Street, which Abdel-bari used with Ibrahim, together with Al Fawwaz, who with Abdel-bari signed the lease. Bin Laden’s statement had been published, but what Abdel-Bari had was not simply the published material.
In 1996, in late October, a student named Khaleel in Columbia, Missouri purchased a satellite telephone that for the next two years Abdel-bara, Ibrahim Eidarous, and Al Fawwaz used in calls from Afghanistan, where Al Qaeda were based. Documents taken from Abdel-bari’s home included a fax from July 1997 addressed to Abdel-bari from one of Bin Laden’s assistants in Afghanistan that referred to a financial statement sent by Abdel-bari to Al Zawahiri and to the operation of the media office. The fax questioned whether that office ran according to a policy agreed upon by Al Zawahiri, and asked about office security precautions. The question was raised of whether someone was working for the Americans.
Bin Laden’s satellite phone was used to call Great Britain 260 times until shortly after the 1998 embassy bombings. A majority of those calls were to the address of the Saudi dissident Advice and Reform Committee. Anti-terrorist police officers and MI5 arrested seven British islamists thought to be linked to Bin Laden terrorist network. Bin Laden routed calls through Denver. Little did Bin Laden know that the NSA/CIA was not so easily fooled and was intercepting the calls — that is, until some senior official bragged about it after the embassy bombings, at which time Bin Laden stopped using the satellite phones. In Eidarous’ car trunk, there was an article found explaining the ability of the United States and other western nations to spy on cell telephones and communications systems worked by satellite. Both Richard Clarke and CIA’s “Anonymous” — who was head of the CIA’s Bin Laden counterterrorism unit at the time — are still understandably upset about the leak.
In early 1997, the British Government granted permission to Adel Abdel-Bari and Adel Tawfiq al Sirri to establish Egyptian Islamic Group fundraising and media offices in London, to be done under the names International Bureau for the Defense of the Egyptian People and the Islamic Observatory. Al-Bari was involved in the October 1981 assassination of Sadat and later masterminded the escape of two prisoners jailed for the assassination. In 1991, he fled to Britain and was granted political asylum. He coordinated the Islamic Group’s overseas operations. He was sentenced to death in absentia for the bombing of the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan in 1995. Until his arrest in 2000, he headed the Egyptian Human Rights Defense Office, affiliated to the Media Observatory in London, the mouthpiece for Zawahiri’s Egyptian’s Jihad Organization.
In 1997, the Egyptian State Information Service posted a “Call to Combat Terrorism” on its official web site. The document read, in part, “Hereunder, is a list of some of the wanted masterminds of terrorism, who are currently enjoying secure and convenient asylum in some world capitals.” The “wanted list” consisted of photographs and biographical data on 14 men, linked to the Luxor massacre and other earlier incidents of terrorism. The first seven individuals listed were all, at the time, residing in London.
According to al-Zayat in his book, Zawahiri visited the three in London in 1997 and met with Al Zayat at Al-Bari’s home. When they met, Ayman criticized Al-Zayat for supporting the cease fire in Egypt that had been called by the imprisoned Egyptian Islamic Group leaders and told him his brothers were angry with him.
Abdel Tawfiq al Sirri, the co-director of the movement, was granted political asylum in Britain, despite the fact that he was also sentenced to death in absentia for his part in the 1993 attempted assassination of the Egyptian Prime Minister. (A five-year-old girl was killed instead). Sirri left Egypt in 1988 for Yemen, where he worked as a social worker in the Education Ministry. He said government friends advised him to leave in 1993, after his name appeared on a list that Egypt sent Yemen of 16 Islamists it wanted. Fleeing to London, he ran the Islamic Observation Center out of his home, which he would describe as a human rights group that disseminates information about Islamic causes. A letter found on Zawahiri’s computer revealed that al-Sirri had vouched for two Algerian men who, posing as journalists, set off a bomb that killed Massoud, the key military commander of an alliance of Afghan militias fighting Taliban. Massoud was assassinated two days before the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Yasser Al-Sirri has lived in Britain since 1984. Egyptian officials claim he is a high-ranking member of the military wing of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Unemployed and receiving benefits from the British government, he lived in the posh London residential district of St. John’s Wood. He would fax out bulletins in the name of the Gamaa Islamiya (the Egyptian Islamic Group). But his messages were often at odds with those of the leadership imprisoned in Egypt. In September 1997, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who is in jail in the United States for his role in the February 28, 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York, issued an order, as the spiritual leader of the Islamic Group, calling for an immediate cease-fire. The six members of the ruling council of Islamic Group residing in Egypt endorsed the Sheikh’s order, but the remaining six council member, living in London, rejected the order. Two months later, the massacre at Luxor took place.
“The person called Yasser Al Sirri has no right to speak in the name of the Gamaa Al Islamiyya and also has no right to interfere in its affairs, to stick his nose in its business, and if he continues to do so, he will have an unpleasant reply from us,” continued the statement, signed “On behalf of the Gamaa Al Islamiyya,” by Assem Abdel Majid. Majid was one of the six Gamaa founding members imprisoned in Liman Tora who called for a cease-fire. He is sentenced for plotting the 1989 assassination attempt on former Minister of Interior Zaki Badr.
One document taken from the trunk of Eidarous Ibrahim’s car was a fax from Al Zawahiri in Kandahar dated January 1998. Addressed to more than one recipient, it refers to having “arrived at a good draft agreement with our friend here.” That friend apparently was Bin Laden and the draft agreement was the Fatwah, which came into existence soon afterwards. A copy of that Fatwah signed by Bin Laden and Al Zawahiri and others was found in Eidarous’ car. The fatwah stated: “Killing the Americans and their allies civilians or military men is a personal duty on every Muslim. This is possible to him in every country in which this can be done, and this till the grand mosque of Jerusalem (Al Aqsa) is liberated and so the holy mosques of Mecca (Al Kaba) are liberated . . .”
In addition to a copy of that earlier January draft that was found, a copy of that Fatwah dated February 12, 1998 was found at 1A Beethoven Street and another copy was found at the home of Abdel-bari. On February 23, 1998 the Fatwah was published in the Arab publication Al Quds. Another document found in the possession of Eidarous Ibrahim was a fax dated May 4, 1998, addressed to him, which enclosed “the Lufthansa Shipping receipt for the satellite telephone” purchased by the young man in Columbia, Missouri.
Zawahiri’s letters demonstrate sharp personal differences and accusations over the decision to merge with Al Qaeda. Al-Bari was one of two dismissed by Ayman. On June 28, 1998 Al Zawahiri by fax confirmed that Eidarous “is the one in charge in London” and required Abdel-bari to mend his ways. That fax was found in Eidarous’ car, along with a copy of a reply by Abdel-bari giving the assurances. There was also a July 9, 1998 Egyptian newspaper taken from Ibrahim’s car was a copy of an interview given by Al Zawahiri to an making the point that the threat to American interests was serious.
After Mabruk, who knew so much about Ayman’s intention to use weaponized anthrax against US targets in retaliation for the rendering of militants to Cairo, himself was seized outside the Baku restaurant, the public office of Egyptian Islamic Jihad issued a declaration on August 4, 1998 relating to the capture of three of “our brothers” who had allegedly been participating in Jihad. Part of the declaration reads: “It is important for us to inform the Americans in brief that their letter was received, and the reply is being prepared, which we hope they will read very carefully, because by God’s will, we are writing it in the language that they understand.” The fax containing that threat was found at 1A Beethoven Street where both appellants worked and where it had been copied.
The explosions at Nairobi and Dar es Salam occurred a few days later on August 7, 1998.
Two faxes were found at 1A Beethoven Street headed Aug 7, 1998.. Both were titled “The Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Places” and identical except that one was headed “Operation Blessed Kaaba” and claimed responsibility for the Nairobi bombing, and the other headed “Operation Aqsa Mosque” and claimed responsibility for the Tanzania bombing. The fingerprints of both Abdel-Bari and Eidarous Ibrahim were on the faxes.
On August 8. 1998 faxes were sent from Formosa Street post office, near to Beethoven Street, to Radio France and others. The numbers to which the faxes were sent were in an Eidarous diary. Among other documents found was evidence to show that Eidarous was on the founding council of Egyptian Islamic Jihad and diary evidence to show that he had the telephone numbers of the other members of that council. Abdel-bari also had an address book showing founding council members. There was also evidence of the involvement of Eidarous Ibrahim in the forging of passports. Both were in close contact with, and worked with Al Fawwaz, who was arrested at the same time and who had arranged to buy the satellite phone with the help of Khaleel in Columbia, Missouri. There was evidence from telephone records of close contacts between all three men and Al Zawahiri. The men used cloned credit cards to make anonymous telephone calls.
After the arrest of Abdel-Bari and Eidarous Ibrahim, on September 22, 1998 Bin Laden signed a directive relating to the London office.
With the others in prison, it was Al-Sirri who helped the two men who committed the assassination of Northern Alliance leader Massoud to get accreditation as reporters for “Arabic News International.” While he admitted providing the letter, that vouched for the pair, al-Sirri denied any involvement with Massoud’s assassination or Osama bin Laden. Scotland Yard first arrested Al Sirri for being a suspect in the assassination of Masood, but released him a few hours later for lack of evidence. When police arrested al-Sirri they took his computer and thousands of documents from his office. Britain’s Terrorism Act at the time allowed the government to hold suspects for seven days without charging them. Al-Sirri is known to have close ties to Ayman. He claimed to disagree with Ayman and to have had a falling out in the mid-1990’s about tactics, and yet still arranged to finalize Ayman’s “Under the Banner of the Prophet” manuscript after 9/11. Al-Sirri explained, “I may disagree with Ayman’s tactics.” “But I believe his voice should be heard.” At Old Bailey, at the end of one appearance, he yelled: “There is no case against me. I will win.”
Investigators say part of the role Al-Bari and al-Sirri was to circulate the claim of responsibility for the 1998 embassy bombings. The document was faxed to them via an Internet cafe in London, hours before the bombs exploded. Authorities believe al-Zawahiri regularly contacted the militants in Britain by fax and satellite phones. Al-Bari worked closely with al-Zawahiri. According to CNN Al Qaeda expert Peter Bergen, in 1991, Abdel-Bari helped in the defense of El Sayyid Nosair — a key member of the group of terrorists based in New York in the late 1980’s and 1990’s — for assassinating Meir Kahane in Manhattan. Al-Bari was arrested in July 1999, along with Egyptian Ibrahim Eidarous.
Shortly after 9/11, al-Sirri circulated a statement by Mohammed Atef, third-ranking leader of bin Laden’s al-Qa’eda network. The United States has indicted al-Sirri along with the Blind Sheik’s attorney Lynne Stewart and a spokesman named Sattar. Al-Sirri, according to a United States indictment, was in frequent contact with Ahmed Abdel Sattar, who was in the New York City area, regarding dissemination of various Islamic Group messages. Sattar allegedly had conversations about the need “for a second Luxor.”
DXer said
Dr. Samarrai would be a fascinating interview.
“The Bioterrorist Attacks on America
Yurii V. Ezepchuk*
Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor of Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado, USA
*Corresponding author: Yurii V. Ezepchuk
Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor of Biochemistry
University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado, USA
E-mail: ezepchuk@usa.net
Received April 18, 2011; Accepted July 18, 2012; Published July 20, 2012
Citation: Ezepchuk YV (2012) The Bioterrorist Attacks on America. J Bioterr Biodef 2:115.
doi:10.4172/2157-2526.1000115
Copyright: © 2012 Ezepchuk YV. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
***
“The following reports from the investigative committee of the base laboratory stated that the necessary skills for the handling of the anthrax spores were possessed by Iraqi microbiologist Waly Samar (Walied Samarrai), who worked in New York but lived in New Jersey, from where the first contaminated envelopes were sent [14]. He was a citizen of the USA and graduated from Hunter College where he received a doctorate degree in microbiology. It was easy for him to disguise his work under his investigation of non-pathogenic Bacillus subtilis, which is similar to the composition of the causative agent Bacillus anthracis, better known as anthrax. Since the laboratory techniques and technology used for both microorganism spores are very much alike and require similar precautions, his work was easily conducted under routine experimentation. As a highly competent microbiologist, Samar knew what had to be done in order to prevent contamination of laboratory facilities. Apart from filling the envelopes, he was not successful with the lyophilizing process of anthrax, indicating that the powdery material substance used was prepared ahead of time at a different location. Later it was found that some of the anthrax letters were contaminated with Bacillus subtilis spores. This bacteriological analyzes can be considered as evidence that handling with the anthrax letters was carried out in the lab in which Bacillus subtilis was cultivated [10].
How, where, and when did samar obtain this material? …
… For a short time before 9/11, the 20th sole surviving hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui was given the task of studying at the College of Aviation Agriculture at Minnesota State University. In the investigation, it was established that Samar turned in the application to work at the college proposing his services in microbiology as a chief development officer of spraying poison and mixing microbes for use in aviation technology. The ability to spread anthrax through the postal system was apparently selected by terrorists later on, as was the case in this event that the goal was to be achieved with a smaller amount of contaminated material than was required for the creation of an airborne aerosol used in the aviation method. Opening a clandestine biotechnological venture for the production of anthrax spores within the borders of the US was too risky a business. It is much easier and more practical to bring a few preprepared flasks of dry anthrax spores from overseas. If the FBI was not even interested in the training of future terrorists in American aviation schools, then the importation of small packages resembling medical supplies was of little or no value.
From my point of view, the report made by Dr. Christos Tsonas from Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is worthy of attention. According to Dr. Tsonas, at the end of June 2001, a pilot with a terrible abscess on his leg came to see him. Dr. Tsonas prescribed this pilot with an antibiotic, which subsequently was discovered in the apartment of the hijacker Ahmed Alhaznawi. According to the hypothesis of Dr. Tsonas, the pilot he treated had been infected with the skin form of anthrax. Furthermore, a pharmacist in Del Rey Beach, Florida witnessed the hijackers Mohamad Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi seeking medicine in the pharmacy for a severe skin irritation on their hands [15].
***
After the flasks containing the anthrax spores were given to Samar, he packaged the powder into the envelopes and placed the empty package in a laboratory biohazard waste bin which was removed daily to be destroyed. All of the operations Samar conducted were skillfully undetected by other laboratory staff.
The next step was to send the envelopes, who wrote the addresses on the envelopes, and who wrote the threatening note on the piece of paper. I hoped that investigators would be able to answer such questions as why certain addresses were selected and who put the letters into the mailbox.
Comment: On the Minnesota point, he relies on my friend John Adams. I don’t recall offhand John’s sourcing on that. Professor Samarai hasn’t respond to my inquiries (for example, I once asked him about silica). He could correct any errors that the author has made on this subject better than I can. For one, I want to know his connections to KSM’s nephew, the WTC 1993 mastermind.
DXer said
Here is the 911 tape about the New Brunswick location NYPD intelligence location.
The apartment was in an apartment building near Rutgers.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/329387#ixzz22IZai11g
From when the first of the discovery, it should have been obvious to the inspector that it was a police stakeout / surveillance location (police radios etc.)
For example, an imam there had mirrored Al Qaeda’s website that explained the meaning of the “Green Birds.”
For the FBI to suggest that the NYPD goes on “fishing expeditions” is misdirected given that it reportedly has no sharing relationship with NYPD intelligence. It apparently it has no basis to know what paritcularized leads the NYPD intelligence unit might be pursuing.
We’ve seen the FBI’s pursuit of leads in this matter — such as its pursuit of Dr. Hatfill as a “Person Of Interest” for 7 years.
We’ve heard from the lead FBI investigator that FBI Director Mueller was fixated on a “Hatfill Theory.”
We’ve heard about its sorority theory relating to Dr. Ivins.
Maybe the NYPD intelligence is sometimes not impressed by the FBI overlooking of possible leads in favor of others.
I know that I got all my initial information in late 2001 from someone in NYC who loved hockey and knew a lot about the supporters of the Blind Sheikh.
When it hears that AUSA Lieber was forbidden from interviewing Al-TImimi in prison because a deal had been cut in a different matter, maybe they grew concerned that the FBI dropped the ball in Amerithrax.
Maybe they were concerned that AUSA Lieber, new to the subject, didn’t know jack — and didn’t know about the supporters of the Blind Sheikh.
Maybe NYPD Intelligence grew concerned that the lead prosecutor Seikaly, from the CIA and long experienced in national security matters, knew too much given that his daughter was representing Al-TImimi for free.
Maybe NYPD intelligence was not impressed with United States Attorney’s claim that it could eliminate all other possibilities given that he made such central factual mistakes (such as Dr. Ivins’ access to the lyophilizer on those nights).
DXer said
This operative was friends with Babar Ahman, the Al Qaeda webmaster who was using the code on the Al Qaeda website, mirrored in New Brunswick, about how the key word in the hadith about the “green birds” refers to what is inside. Yazid Sufaat also knows and uses the code. The CIA kept the website up for a year throughout 2002 waiting to see who visited.
Operative Details Al Qaeda Plans To Hit Planes In Wake Of 9/11
By Paul Cruickshank CNN Terrorism Analyst
Read more: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/30951341/detail.html#ixzz1t47j5MmQ
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/r/30951341/detail.html
DXer said
The operative testified that they wanted him to go to South Africa to scout targets but he never went.
This alleged sting reported this week involving the offering of anthrax from Project Coast is interesting given that in 2002 I believe Dr. Basson or a colleague did make available to the CIA Project Coast Ames for comparison — I believe it was for a large sum of money.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/r/30951341/detail.html
Apr 23 2012 2:17PM
Mysterious death of Tai Minnaar
http://www.thenewage.co.za/49150-1007-53-Mysterious_death_of_Tai_Minnaar
De Wet Potgieter
General Tai Minnaar died the way he had lived in strange circumstances and people close to him still believe he was assassinated because he knew too much.
Although the former police commissioner Jackie Selebi and his crime intelligence chief, Ray Lala, were officially informed about a sting operation Minnaar and a former scientist of Dr Wouter Basson’s Project Coast under way in Pretoria with American agents involving a shady deal with anthrax, nobody lifted a finger to prevent his body being cremated soon after his death.
A timely autopsy would have shown that Minnaar did not die of natural causes when he collapsed in the arms of his girlfriend, Romay Harding, in September 2002.
The police’s unit for crimes against the state were at the time investigating the sting operation whereby Minnaar was setting up a deal with Muslim extremists linked to al-Qaeda, wanting to buy anthrax developed by the old regime’s biological and chemical programme, Project Coast.
DXer said
A recent article addresses the difficulty of steganalysis.
For example if Bin Laden hid messages in his digital pornography, would the government analysts be able to detect it?
Crash course: Digital steganography
You have secrets to keep? Use steganography to hide data in image or audio files.
http://www.itworld.com/security/162779/crash-course-digital-steganography
I’ve just uploaded this 44 page book. If there were 20 hidden messages in it, how many would the average government analyst reviewing Bin Laden’s cache of porn be able to detect — even after being told of the number of hidden messages?
New York State Wildflowers
http://www.blurb.com/books/2190753
DXer said
A decoded message, however, led to the eventual capture of bin Laden at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110518/POLITICS03/105180402/Rogers–Decoded-message-led-U.S.-to-bin-Laden#ixzz1MnJNy6rW
DXer said
Wasn’t the New Brunswick/ Al Qaeda-mirrored website full of code?
Martyrs’ website could be ‘full of code’ – World – IOL |…
Independent Online – Dec 10, 2001
Azzam.com, an entity operated by an unknown group under the auspices of Azzam Publications, is named for Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian militant killed in a …
… US CONCERNED THAT JIHAD WEBSITE… – Miami Herald ($2.95)
The North Brunswick website WAS full of code, wasn’t it? And the FBI Quantico analysts just missed it, didn’t they? Wasn’t it hiding in plain view?
The Amerithrax investigators and prosecutors were distracted instead by the coincidence of the mention of Greendale Elementary School in some publication found in Dr. Ivins house and by a code based on codons that would have required different letters to be underlined than actually were. (The FBI interpretation mistakenly asserts one of the letters is underlined when even the most basic magnification shows that it is not; it is a simple matter to see whether something is double-lined upon magnification).
Didn’t the only expert interviewed by the FBI about the code in the letters for which documents were produced disagree with the FBI’s theory of code in the letters?
It was Dr. Ayman who used “school” as code — not Bruce Ivins.
Shouldn’t the Intelligence Community have known that Ayman Zawahiri used “school” to refer to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad given that Ayman Zawahiri’s letter to his supporters (which was obtained by the CIA)? … https://caseclosedbylewweinstein.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/aaa_code_rev_rev_rev.jpg
Saif Adel was appointed by Atef to lead the “Green Team.” See West Point website document (AQ memo)
DXer said
Last Updated: May 19. 2011 1:00AM
Rogers fills in details on bin Laden capture
At Howell breakfast, Rep. Rogers praises team effort in hunt for al-Qaida leader
Candice Williams / / The Detroit News
Analysts used a message from one family member to another, “I am with the old one now,” to pinpoint bin Laden’s location. The break came when an individual the analysts first became aware of five years ago showed up at the compound in August.
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110519/POLITICS02/105190387/Rogers-fills-in-details-on-bin-Laden-capture#ixzz1MnRJGory
DXer said
Osama Bin Laden: Authorities Hunt for Terrorists Named in Files Found at Bin Laden’s Compound
http://abcnews.go.com/International/osama-bin-laden-authorities-hunt-terrorists-named-files/story?id=13633281
DXer said
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/162067-dont-repeat-osama-raid-says-feinstein
“I’m not aware of his whereabouts,” said Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). “I’m sure we are in pursuit of him — he’s the No. 2 person in al Qaeda — but I don’t know of any specific plans, nor do I know of his location.”
Members were in consensus, however, that al-Zawahiri’s location and any U.S. action against him should not be discussed publicly.
“Those are military, national security decisions that are made by the commander in chief, and certainly shouldn’t be done through the newspapers,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said. “For multiple purposes, including strategic ones, you don’t want to be talking about them too wide and broad.”
Comment:
Dr. Ayman, these comments seem sound and Mr. Panetta has threatened to prosecute any leaks from the CIA employees about Bin Laden’s files. But certainly you don’t have to be a rocket scientist working with Al Qaeda to know that you and everyone that Osama knew the existence of should flee and not look back — and avoid being in contact with anyone he ever knew. Osama violated the most basic tenets of spycraft by keeping names, phone numbers and such a huge detailed mass of contact information.
p.s. Authorities put a microchip in Yazid Sufaat’s butt and then let him slip away to Pakistan. Yazid, did you notice how it seemed just a little too easy to leave the country?
Remember the tracking device that the CIA put in the battery that was delivered for your satellite phone in the late 1990s leading up to the embassy bombings?
Well, same thing with Yazid’s fanny.
DXer said
DXer said
The North Brunswick, NJ Connection to Al Qaeda’s Website
Azzam.com posted an exclusive interview with Ayman al-Zawahiri and stressed the importance of cash donations and gas masks and chemical-resistant suits. Ibn Khattab, the Arab Chechnyan fighter who was Bin Laden’s good friend, had told his public that azzam.com was highly recommended and that only the two charities identified by the website should be used to route donations — announcing in 2000 that Benevolence International Foundation was one of the charities that should be used. Ibu al-Khattab, the late Arab-Afghan commander of foreign mjuahideen in Chechnya (who in March 2002 was killed by a poison letter), expressly endorsed Azzam Publications.
“The brothers in Britain, may Allah reward them, have put in much efforts to publicize the Jihad. There is an organization by the name of Azzam Publications, which is run by brothers who are known to us and maintain regular contact with us. So anyone who wishes to support us or requires any further information about the situation here, they should contact this organization. We keep them informed with news updates about the state of affairs here, so if the people have any questions we can answer them through this organization. So the brothers at Azzam Publications, may Allah preserve them, are cooperating with us in media efforts. They have made many commendable efforts to publicize the Jihad, so if you make contact with them and support them, Inshallah, it will be very beneficial.”
Azzam.org had “no bricks and mortar address, but operates a post office box in London, and bill[ed] itself as “an independent media organisation providing authentic news and information about jihad and the Foreign Mujahideen everywhere.” One posting datelined from the southern Afghan city of Kandahar and was a message to Muslim youth from top terror suspect Bin Laden. A farewell message from Azzam Publications .. exhorts “Muslims all over the World (to) render as much financial, physical, medical, media and moral support to the Taliban as they can.” Azzam also urged those with computer expertise to mirror the website so as to keep it up after authorities took it down. In February 2000, the Quoqaz.net website posted donation links for the two charities, one being BIF.
In November 2000, the same month Azzam Publications printed a copy of the fatwa on its website urging it was mandatory to defend the Taliban, the website published warnings quoting Taliban intelligence sources about an alleged “joint American and Russian attack on Afghanistan involving chemical weapons at any time.” Azzam urged that chemical warfare suits be sent the Taliban. In November 2000, an e-mail was sent from an individual to Azzam Publications, stating in part:
On your site there is an article about JOINT U.S./RUSSIAN CHEMICAL ATTACK ON AFGHANISTAN IMMINENT Appeal for donations to the Taliban Government Appeal for gas masks I would like to donate where do I start. Or where do I send a shipment of gas masks to?
Instead of disclaiming ability to direct or assist the donor, a response from an Azzam Publications administrative e-mail account stated, “Instructions later this weekend.”
The azzam.com website gave instructions on how to route money to the Taliban. It recommended carrying an official letter of the organization stating that the donation was for “for the suffering people of Afghanistan.”
A man formerly known as Paul Hall was arrested in Phoenix on a federal criminal complaint in March 2007 and agreed to be removed to District of Connecticut for further prosecution. There was a investigation of Azzam Publications website located on a server there. Hall is alleged to have provided classified information to the London-based Azzam Publications about a U.S. Navy battle group as it traveled from California to the Persian Gulf region in 2001. He allegedly “described a recent force protection briefing given aboard his ship, voiced enmity toward America, praised Osama bin Laden and the mujahedeen [and] praised the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole.”
On August 6, 2001, the numeric Internet addresses for the domain Qoqaz.net were changed by its administrators to correspond directly with those of another existing domain: Minna.com. Thus, all web visitors to qoqaz.net and minna.com were shown the same identical Qoqaz.net homepage. Minna.com at the time was registered to:
Mokhtar, Mazen (MMZ265) mazen@ABETTERMARKET.COM
Minna International Corporation
216 Bishop Blvd.
North Brunswick , NJ 08902
According to an official statement from the administrators of the Azzam Publications website, “By the end of July 2002, the Americans concluded that there was no useful intelligence to be gleaned from leaving our site open and they … delivered a written order to the local authorities asking them to immediately shut down our site. Our site has remained shut since then, but we have continued to post daily news bulletins on other web-sites, such as Waaqiah.com.”
Although moderate in his posts and lectures, he for a time used the email signature: “Hamas has no victims, it only has legitimate targets.” In one atypical posting, he wrote that suicide bombing should be encouraged
“[b]ecause it’s an effective method of attacking the ennemy [sic] and continuing jihad, which is at the very least a [religious requirement] on the Muslims. Those who commit suicide seek death, but martyrs are not counted as dead, as Allah said above. They seek a greater life for themselves with Allah, and a greater future for Muslims. May Allah support them, bless them and forgive us for not being with them.” (April 1996)
According to an official statement from the administrators of the Azzam Publications website, “By the end of July 2002, the Americans concluded that there was no useful intelligence to be gleaned from leaving our site open and they … delivered a written order to the local authorities asking them to immediately shut down our site. Our site has remained shut since then, but we have continued to post daily news bulletins on other web-sites, such as Waaqiah.com.”
Upon KSM’s capture, the website Azzam Publications issued a statement published elsewhere on March 4, 2003: “[I]t is well known that Khalid Ash-Sheikh Muhammad was a Mujahid known for his piety, who joined the Mujahideen in Afghanistan almost 20 years ago, along with his two brothers… All three brothers worked closely with Sheikh Abdullah Azzam [the founder of Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden’s spiritual mentor] in the Afghani Jihad in the 1980’s and consequently, Sheikh Abudllah Azzam mentioned these brothers, by name, in his lectures and books.”
In Fall 2004, the federal authorities indicted the fellow behind Azzam Publications selling “Green Birds,” Babar Ahmad in London, pointing, in part, to the “distribution of videotapes and compact discs depicting fighters in Bosnia, Chechnya and elsewhere, and the eulogizing of dead fighters, for the purpose of recruiting individuals and soliciting donations to support the mujahideen in Afghanistan and Chechnya.” Of Pakistani descent, Ahmad is a British computer specialist. He is associated with KSM, whose assistant had anthrax production documents on his laptop. Ahmad is also the cousin of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, who was arrested mid-2004 in Pakistan. Khan’s computers carried detailed surveillance of five financial buildings in New York, Newark and Washington and prompted the Department of Homeland Security to elevate the threat alert level to orange.
In an affidavit, an FBI special agent and computer investigative specialist, alleged that a New Brunswick, NJ man, Mazen Mokhtar, assisted Babar in maintaining the continued operation of the Azzam sites, through the use of mirror sites, when the administrators of Azzam sites shut down the Azzam.com site down after 9/11.” The mirror sites, http://www.qoqaz.net and http://www.waaqiah.com, allegedly routed people trying to access http://www.azzam.com. The affidavit alleges that Mr. Mokhtar is listed as the administrative contact for the mirror sites. He also operated minna.com. A friend reports: “He said he used to run a hosting service four or five years ago that used to resell Web hosting services to people. He said he didn’t know those guys (mentioned in court papers) and he is not involved in anything like that.” An Egyptian-born imam and political activist, he is a supporter of Palestinian cause and frequent speaker before groups in Brooklyn and the Bronx. He is said to be nice and seems a man of peace. He gave a couple of thoughtful presentations in the Fall of 2006 that are online on YouTube, to include to the Muslim Students Associationa at Rutgers University.
In late April 2007, Mr. Mokhtar was indicted for failing to file tax returns and filing false tax returns. The Indictment alleges that for the tax years 2003 and 2004, Mokhtar failed to file business tax returns. The Indictment additionally alleges that for the tax years 2000, 2002 and 2003, Mokhtar filed fraudulent personal tax returns in that he failed to state the entire amount of income he received from his business, Mindcraft.
In an exhibit introduced at Dr. Al-Timimi’s trial, one jihadist wrote an angry email to a mailing list — upon the December announcement by the Taliban it was surrendering — about the overly rosy picture that the website azzam.com had painted.
“What about Azzam.com? It seems the news from there was not authentic and (much as I hate to say this) we were duped.”
He explained:
“I have been enraged about the tactics of these brothers for some time now. I’ve expressed my outrage to a number of brothers over the years but it has only contributed to their rumors that I have “sold out.” I had been approached to host their sites when they were in trouble and flatly refused. When I asked on brother why they LIE (yes, LIE) while swearing they swear by Allah it is true, the response I got was “al-Harbu khud’ah” (Hadeeth, “war is deception”). War is deception to the KUFFAAR not to your brothers!!!. I know brothers who are leaving within the next few days who are now scratching their heads in confusion. What do they do with their one way, non-refundable plane tickets now that cost every cent they had placing themselves and their families in great hardship?”
DXer said
Al-Marabh: Escape To Parrot-Ice
One of the Boston cell members was Nabil Al-Marabh.
Nabil Al-Marabh, before 9/11, was arrested when he tried to sneak in the country from Canada in the back of a truck. He was released from the Niagara jail in July 2001 on $10,000 bail paid by his uncle, Ahmed Shehab, owner of a Toronto copy shop. (He had been a cab driver in Boston and for a time apparently a cab driver in Tampa.) Shehab, the uncle who paid his bail, is the principal of Toronto’s Al-Qura Islamic elementary school. The uncle is the successor to Mahmoud Jaballah who remained in detention for years. The two had cofounded the school. Al-Marabh skipped on his bail. Telephone records indicate he had contact with at least two of the suicide hijackers. Al-Marabh had worked for the Al Qaeda-affiliate Muslim World League and lived at the House of Martyrs in Pakistan. The immigration judge turned him over to the Canadians who released him on bail. The uncle in whose care he was being released had co-founded the local islamic school with a man under arrest for major terrorists in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
After going first to Detroit, where he applied for a new driver’s license on August 7, Al-Marabh moved to suburban Chicago to live with another uncle in Justice. Al-Marabh accompanied that uncle to install a security camera at a liquor store and then came back to buy slushy drink called Parrot-Ice. In early September, when a cashier did not report, the owner hired Al-Marabh for the late shift. A personal injury lawyer in Boston handling an accident involving al-Marabh’s cab had his forwarding address when the FBI ran his picture on the television news.
On September 19, 2001, Nabil al-Marabh was working the night shift when a half dozen FBI officers arrested him at the Seven Days Liquor Store in suburban Chicago where he had been working for a week. When his uncle went to the store to tell him the FBI wanted him, the FBI arrived in bulletproof vests with their gun drawn. Telephone and banking records reportedly link al Marabh with September 11 hijackers Ahmed Alghamdi, Satam al-Suqami, Marwan al-Shehhi, and Mohamed Atta. A few days later, Toronto police raided Mr. Shehab’s copy shop at the request of the FBI. 40 or 50 officers, some with masks and machine guns, burst into the Best Copy, a copy shop on Charles Street in Toronto. According to witnesses, in the past, there had been a large picture of Bin Laden hanging in the store.
According to al-Marabh, he spent that 8 months unable to get access to a lawyer. Ms. Mariano later reported that she came to have a normal lawyer-client relationship with Mr. al-Marabh, and declines to say whether they have had any conversations related to the terror attacks of September 11. Although he was deported to Syria in January 2004, he had never been there. In 1994, he listed his citizenship as Syrian. Al Marabh felt the government was pressuring him to give up information about terrorism. According to his attorney, he feared he may end up in prison for life or be killed if deported to Syria. Although both his parents had been born in Syria, his former landlord in the Boston area said Al-Marabh told him he was Palestinian.
Al-Marabh stayed at the bin-Laden “House of Martyrs” in Peshawar in 1992. The House of Martyrs had been run by Abdullah Azzam prior to his death in 1989. By 1992, it was run by the brother of Sadat’s assassin, Mohammed Islambouli). From Peshawar, al-Marabh he traveled to Afghanistan, he says, and charity work there led im to be in contact with unsavory figures. In a September 2002 press interview from jail, Nabil al-Marabh explained:
“I was in Afghanistan working with the Muslim World League. I was working for the humanitarian agency to help the homeless and refugees. I never killed anybody. I am just a regular normal person. I’m innocent. I’ve got nothing to do with any terrorist activities.”
Lawmakers from both parties in June 2004 questioned why he was deported rather than prosecuted. Iowa Senator Charles Grassley in a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft described the release as “of deep concern” and not in keeping with what he called the “aggressive, proactive approach to the war on terrorism.” Actually, deporting him to Syria may have been aggressive and too proactive.His family reports that they have not heard from him. He was arrested shortly after being deported. The Republican’s letter says al-Marabh was at one time number 27 on the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists, with substantial links to terrorists in the U.S. He had been detained for nearly two years. AP reports that the Justice Department, for its part, says the deportation was “determined to be the best option available under the law to protect our national security,” including intelligence sources and methods
Al-Marabh, who lived in apartments at 147 and 180 Boston St. in Dorchester from 1989 to around October 2000, was part of a Customs Service investigation that involved hijackers Ahmed Alghamdi and Satam al-Suqami. Hamza Alghamdi was the hijacker shown apartments by the wife of the American Media (“AMI”) Editor, Mike Irish. Interviewed in connection with the Amerithrax investigation relating to the Fall 2001 anthrax letters, she said she found Alghamdi withdrawn and weird. In early 1999, al-Marabh apparently was driving taxis in Tampa, Florida. Al-Marabh then was living in Detroit by May 2000, though he continued to keep his Boston address.
In September 2001, Al-Marabh still received mail at 180 Boston St. in the Boston area — and on September 18, 2001 a Boston Herald reporter saw a letter that had been sent to him from the Florida-based AMI Globe tabloid (reportedly for nonpayment of his bill). Al-Marabh got at least four letters from AMI’s tabloid Globe demanding payment for an overdue subscription bill. Mark Gromis, prosecutor in the US Attorney’s office in Buffalo, said he could not comment on the case — he wanted to keep his job. In sentencing al-Marabh for crossing the border illegally to the 8 months he had served, the judge commented that he wondered why prosecutors had only given him information about the immigration charge and nothing else. The judge said there were things that didn’t add up, such as that al-Marabh had close to $50,000.00 US in cash and gemstones on him when he was arrested. Wesley Wark, of the University of Toronto, was quoted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation “You know, the intelligence community’s credo is that in a way, better to protect the secret than to have a successful trial.”
Al-Marabh’s name was on the mailbox when authorities raided the apartment where the so-called “Detroit terror cell” defendants, to include Karim Koubriti, 23, Farouk Ali-Haimoud, 21, and Ahmed Hannan, 33. were staying. (Two were convicted). According to an affidavit by FBI agent Robert Pertuso, “handwritten sketches of what appeared to be a diagram of an airport flight line, to include aircraft and runways” were seized from the Detroit apartment where al-Marabh’s name appeared on a mailbox. They in turn were associated with an unidentified Egyptian scientist who had worked in a lab in Egypt and was expert in diseases transmitted from animals to humans — such as anthrax.
Did al-Marabh, the Boston cab driver, whose address was on the door in Detroit when the authorties raided the apartment looking for al-Marabh, know Jayyousi, the Florida cell member who kept a home in Detroit and was indicted in November 2005? Did he know the Care International defendants from Boston? Did he know Aafia Siddiqui from Boston who Paracha consulted with about the US with anthrax?
Al-Marabhs friends and family now fear that he has been jailed. Upon arriving in Syria upon being deported, Al-Marabh emailed to one correspondent that his questioners were friendly even. Al-Marabh called and wrote friends and family in North America to say he was doing fine and that he planned to sue the U.S. government for wrongful detention. He wanted Johnny Cochran, OJ’s attorney. Months later, however, when he reported for mandatory military service in May 2004, he was taken into custody by two intelligence officers when he went to register for military service in Damascus. “It sounds like it has been a year ago [since his arrest]” said Adem Carroll, a New York acquaintance who is spokesman for the New York-based Islamic Circle of North America. “His family was so afraid for him they didn’t [initially] tell other family members.” Mr. Carroll told a reporter he had learned of the detention after talking to Mr. al-Marabh’s uncle, Ahmed Shehab, an imam in Toronto, who heard the news a few months ago after travelling through the Middle East while on hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca. “I don’t know whether they’re holding him on that or whether it’s the national-security thing,” said Mr. Carroll, The group had helped Mr. al-Marabh with his U.S. case. Mr. Carroll said that Mr. Shehab complained that his nephew had “absolutely vanished.”
There was then no word of him for over a year. He apparently began to receive monthly family visits from the end of 2005.
Who does Al-Marabh think is responsible for the anthrax mailings? Where is he?
DXer said
Elzahabi: Another Boston Cabby Who Got Around
Al-Marabh was also friendly with one-time Boston cab driver Mohamad Kamal Elzahabi. The Boston office of the FBI probed whether the Boston cab drivers may have been part of a cell supporting Al Qaeda terrorist activities. Elzahabi was charged in Minnesota with lying to the FBI and shipping communications equipment to Pakistan. Elzahabi lived in the Boston area between 1997 and 1999, driving a cab leased from the Boston Cab Co., the same company that al-Marabh and Hijazi leased from. Elzahabi lived in apartments in Everett. Like al-Marabh, he attended Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan during the 1980s. According to an account provided to the Boston Globe, Elzahabi fought together with al-Marabh against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Parrot-ice was Nabil al-Marabh’s favorite drink in 9/2001 according to owner of 7 Days Liquor Store, his employer for a week at the Chicago area liquore store. The drink compay’s slogan was “Escape to Parrot-ice.”
Elzahabi reentered the US in mid-August 2001 and went to Minneapolis (the month Zacarias was arrested in Minneapolis). Like Al-Marabh, Elzahabi allegedly acted as a cash courier for jihadist groups prior to his arrival in the US in the summer of 2001. Elzahabi trained 4 years in Khalden in the early 1990s. He came back to the US for medical care after being shot and treated by an Egyptian doctor in Connecticut. After reentering the US in August 2001, he reportedly also occasionally turned up in Montreal before his arrest. He allegedly knew three jihadists who had been rendered to Syria. Wherewas Elzahabi on the dates of mailing? He applied for a job with a school bus company on September 11. Elzahabi did not begin work until at least about October 17, 2001, according to a published report quoting a named First Student spokesperson. He reportedly was dismissed in January 2002 after missing a few days of work. Elzahabi was granted a hazmat truck license in January 2002 by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Department. His license to drive a bus was cancelled in February 2002.
As the FBI secretly watched him, Elzhahabi became friendly with a police officer. When he wanted to go to Canada, he asked the officer about the background checks involved. The officer told him he was on a terrorism watch list. Minneapolis police Sgt. Andy Smith, a member of the joint terrorism task force with the FBI, suggested to Elzahabi that they talk to a buddy of Smith’s in the FBI about it. FBI then questioned him two weeks before arresting him. On April 16, 2004, they first met on a dark street along the river. Agents told Elzahabi they needed people like him to help them — and he agreed. He said he had long ago abandoned his extremist views. Agents questioned him in the living room of his hotel suite, while working out next to him in the gym, at lunch and dinner. Elzahabi flunked two polygraphs. The machine indicating deception when he was asked about plans to attack the United States. Agents frequently reminded that his statements were voluntary. When he said he had enough with the questioning, they arrested him.
A Lebanese national, he had paid a Houston woman to marry him so he could be a permanent resident alien. He divorced in 1988. He first traveled to Afghanistan in 1988, entering the country through Pakistan. At the camp in 1988 and 1989, he knew Al-Zarqawi. He knew Raed Hijazi, later convicted in Jordan for his part in a millennium bombing plot targeting tourists. He also knew Bassam Kanj, who was killed by Lebanese troops in 2000 while leading a coup attempt aimed at installing a fundamentalist Islamic government. Both Hijazi and Kanj would work with him at the same Boston cab company, as would a man named Derwish, the Buffalo, NY Al Qaeda operative who recruited some young local Yemeni men there. According to the complaint unsealed in US District Court in Minneapolis, Elzahabi lied about the extent of his relationship with Hijazi. When questioned in April 2004 by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, Elzahabi “denied knowing him very well.” The complaint alleged that Elzahabi helped obtain a driver’s license for Hijazi. Elzahabi served as the sponsor for the application and Hijazi used Elzahabi’s Everett address for mailing. The Boston Globe reports that one friend says that Elzahabi had taken a used mattress from his apartment and brought it to Hijazi’s apartment in Malden.
The Boston Globe reports that the friend from Everett says that Elzahabi also had become friends with yet another Boston cab driver, Kanj, when both were fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Elzahabi knew Khalid Mohammed, Zubaydah, and even Zarqawi. He lived in Queens in NYC in 1995-1997, where he allegedly shipped portable field radios to Afghan fighters. Then he worked in Boston with Al-Marabh and Hijazi in 1997-1998. In 1998, Zubaydah asked him to come back to work as a trainer (though he actually ended up in Lebanon). Before 9/11, he fought under Ibn Khattab, the Arab Chechnya fighter who was killed in 2002 by a poison letter. He travelled to Minneapolis in mid-August 2001 as did Zacarias Moussaoui. He applied for a job as a driver for a school bus company job on 9/11. Then he was fired on January 18, 2002 for missing a few days of work.
In August 2007, Elzahabi was tried and convicted for immigration fraud. Soon after he came to the US on a student visa in 1984, his wife-to-be danced at the Pink Pussy Cat club. He had met her in his apartment building. He promised to pay her $5,000 to marry him. According to an FBI affidavit, Elzahabi acknowledged over 17 days of interviews that he had attended a jihad training camp, fought as a jihadist sniper in Afghanistan from about 1991-1995, and had connections to high-ranking Al Qaeda members. Government officials allege that just months after he came to the U.S., Elzahabi and the woman were married. The government alleges the couple never lived together, never exchanged rings and never went on a honeymoon. According to court records, he said he shot and killed a bulldozer driver while fighting with Chechen rebels. “We think this is a death-penalty case,” Elzahabi’s defense lawyer told theJudge, given the possibility of deportation.
In connection with a related Minneapolis case involving a man named Warsame, court documents allege that Warsame trained at two Al-Qaida camps for several months. At the second camp, he met Bin Laden and attended Bin Laden’s lectures and sat next to him on the floor at a meal. Prosecutors allege that Warsame wanted to bring his wife and daughter to Afghanistan but Al Qaeda leaders told him instead that they would pay for him to go back home. Al Qaeda bought him an airline ticket and gave him $1,700.
Who does Elzahabi think was responsible for the anthax mailings?
DXer said
Authorities alleged that Aafia Siddiqui had correspondence with members of a US-based cell on her thumb drive? Who were the members of the US-based cell for which her thumb drive contained correspondence?
Dr. L. Thomas Kucharski, psychiatrist for the defendant, explained in his affidavit filed July 2, 2009 how Aafia had been tasked to study germ warfare:
Who was Abu Lubaba whose fatwa permitted this? The JI religious authority?
The affidavit by a Dr. Sally Johnson, a professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill filed July 2, 2009 sheds light on the continuing mysterious saga of Aafia Siddiqui, one Al Qaeda biochem operative.
“She does admit to a short period of employment as a lab technician at the Karachi Institute of Technology in Pakistan, although she did not share her background with her employer, and allegedly had a lower level job than she could have been capable of holding. [redacted] she claims she was tasked with providing information on germ warfare and translating documents. She minimizes her expertise in the research area.
***
Various accounts are suggested as to what transpired approximately 2003, when she went into hiding, until Ms. Siddiqui was taken into custody in Afghanistan on 07/17/08. Accounts range from her disappearing in a taxi with her children, to possibly being taken into custody, detained and tortured, to her hiding her children with her sister in Pakistan, and heading off to comply with a Fatwa, join and Islamic radical group and serve a religious cause. In one account, she describes being recruited, because of her background in biology and neuroscience, to conduct research on germs and bacteria warfare. It appears that at least part of that time she remained in Pakistan. She described conducting research through books and the internet, and translating documents. She tended to downplay her knowledge or usefulness to any cause and claimed she was unaware of the al-Qaeda affilliation of her associates.
***
Collateral information indicates that on or about 07/17/08, Ms. Siddiqui was detained by the Afghan National Police in Ghazni, Afghanistan. She was accompanied by a young boy, whom she originally described as a war orphan that she had taken care of for the preceding two years, but who ultimate turned out to be related to her (through DNA testing) and is thought to be her oldest son. In her possession at the time she was detained, were various documents, chemicals and a computer thumb drive. Included in the documents were handwritten notes that referred to a mass casualty attack listing various locations in the United States. Other notes referred to construction of dirty bombs, chemical and biological weapons, and other explosives, and noted mortality rates associated with these. Electronic documents available on the thumb drive included correspondence that referred to specific cells and attacks by certain cells, referred to enemies including the United States and discussed recruitment and training.”
Who were the members of the other cells? What attacks were referenced?
The earlier indictment filed on September 2, 2008 alleges:
“On or about July 17, 2008, AAFIA SIDDIQUI, the defendant, was detained by the Afghan National Police in Ghazni, Afghanistan.
“At that time, a number of items were in SIDDIQUI’S possession, including various documents, various chemicals, and a computer thumb drive, among other things.
“Among the documents in the possession of AAFIA SIDDIQUI, the defendant, were handwritten notes that referred to a “mass casualty attack” and that listed various locations in the United States, including Plum Island, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, and the Brooklyn Bridge. In addition, certain notes referred to the construction of ‘dirty bombs,’ chemical and biological weapons, and other explosives. These notes also discussed mortality rates associated with certain of these weapons and explosives. Other notes referred to various ways to attack “enemies,” including by destroying reconnaissance drones, using underwater bombs, and using gliders.
The computer thumb drive in the possession of AAFIA SIDDIQUI, the defendant, contained various electronic documents. a number of these documents consisted of correspondence that referred to specific ‘ cells’ and ‘attacks’ by certain ‘cells.’ Other documents referred to ‘enemies,’ including the United States, and discussed recruitment and training.”
When various non-pilot hijackers purchased their tickets in late May 2001 and June 2001, they listed the phone number of Al-Baluchi, the future husband of Brandeis PhD Aafia Siddiqui, as their contact number. He was in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Later in June 2001, other hijackers listed al Hawsawi. Al-Hawsawi was KSM’s assistant. KSM says it was al-Hawsawi’s computer that had the anthrax spraydrying documents. Al-Hawsawi was also in Dubai. In the formal charges, the Department of Defense alleges that Al Hawsawi and Al-Baluchi (Ali Abdul Aziz Ali) both assisted the non-pilot hijackers by buying clothes, food, lodging, rental cars, traveler’s checks and making travel arrangements. Al-Baluchi returned to Karachi from Dubai on June 26, 2001. Al-Baluchi told KSM, who was his uncle, that he was willing to do anything to help the Planes Operation. KSM advised him to apply for a visa. In late August 2001, he applied for travel to the US on September 4, 2001 but his visa was rejected. With his plan to enter the US thwarted, on September 10, 2001, al-Baluchi flew from Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Karachi. If his travel visa for travel to the US had been accepted, what would have been his role?
Al-Balucchi later married Aafia Siddiqui, a Brandeis PhD, in the spring of 2003, shortly before his capture. Al-Hawsawi had taken over for KSM upon KSM’s capture a couple months earlier. Had al-Baluchi known Aafia Siddiqui prior to 9/11? Did the lovely and pious Aafia have foreknowledge of 9/11?
In early November 2005, an Assistant United States Attorney said in his opening argument in the prosecution of Uzair Paracha, that an unnamed woman, if asked would “help carry out a deadly Anthrax attack against the United States.’” It earlier had been reported that the defendant, Uzair Paracha, had agreed to help KSM and an operative in connection with some ID documents. The AUSA was referring to Al Qaeda supporter Aafia Siddiqui. Uzair Paracha’s recently uploaded Detainee Assessment explains his role in Al Qaeda’s anthrax planning and his consultation with Aafia about Yazid Sufaat and his capabilities.
In early 2002, Aafia Siddiqui had opened up the Post Office box that was to be used in connection with the documents. In January 2002, she was still married to her husband when she came back to the US, interviewed at SUNY and Johns Hopkins, and opened up a PO Box in Maryland for operative Majid Khan. She says, according to a psychiatrist’s report, that Majid Khan had asked her to open the P.O. Box box. She filed for divorce from her husband in 2002 — her divorce came through in August 2002. At the Paracha trial, an employee at the Gaithersburg post office, testified that Aafia Siddiqui opened a PO box for Majid Khan on December 30, 2002. Uzair Paracha, the son, had never met Aafia but he told detectives that he believed she was the kind of person who would be willing to receive anthrax at a PO Box. The jury saw that as evidence that he was willing to help dangerous terrorists.
In a statement to the court, Majid Khan said that he wanted to come to the US because he had a plan to attack gas stations in Baltimore. However, Uzair told detectives that he suspected that Khan, al-Baluch and his father were planning some sort of attack involving chemical weapons. (Al Qaeda, Detainee Assessments explain, use the word “chemical” to refer to both chemical and biological weapons and so often there is an ambiguity as to what is being discussed). He said al-Baluchi and his father had been meeting in Karachi with an 80-year-old chemistry professor whom he said was helping al-Qaeda develop chemical weapons. Later he recanted everything he had said about chemical weapons. The jury didn’t believe him. Who was the 80-year-old professor helping Al-Qaeda? How old was bacteriologist Abdul Qadus Khan in whose home they captured Al-Hawsawi with the anthrax spraydrying documents?
By way of some background, Aafia studied for a time at the University of Houston in 1990-91 after moving to Houston in 1990. (Her brother lived and worked in the Houston area beginning in 2001). Aafia Siddiqui then transferred to MIT and went on to Brandeis to get her PhD in neuroscience. The Wall Street Journal has reported that according to witnesses discussed in a UN dossier, Aafia Siddiqui reportedly met with Al Qaeda’s military commander, Atef, in Liberia in June 2001. There is a difference of opinion as to whether the key witness is credible. Although he drove the woman around, perhaps the man’s desire for a visa to the US influenced his recollection when he saw Aafia’s picture in the paper. Aafia’s attorney emphasizes that witness identifications are inherently unreliable.
In Maryland, Aafia visited a cousin in Gaithersburg and helped Majid Khan in connection with possible attacks by opening a mailbox in his and her name. Her family argues that it is her husband, Mohammed Ahmad Khan, who has made her look guilty — for example, by using her e-mail account to buy night goggles and a book on how to make explosives. According to one report, Aafia left for Pakistan on September 19 and so was not in the country at the time of the second mailing. She returned from Pakistan with her husband in January 2002. At last report, she had 3 children. In 2009, her ex-husband broke his silence to convincingly argue that Aafia and her family have been lying. Prosecutors and government psychiatrists now have similarly argued to the court that she had been faking mental illness. She apparently once thought that if declared incompetent she would be repatriated to Pakistan.
Aafia and her ex-husband, a Harvard-trained anesthesiologist at last report living in Karachi, were officers of Institute of Islamic Research and Teaching Inc. In the mid-1990s, she worked for the United Islamic Organization (”UIO”), an education and relief organization. Her mother was President and her sister also volunteered. Through the group, for example, Siddiqui raised money for Bosnian refugees and the widows and orphans from that conflict. The organization was founded in Zambia in 1974 by Ismat Siddiqui. Its head office is in Karachi, Pakistan and on paper has branches in the United States, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. Perhaps the reality is as the family’s first attorney described to me: Aafia’s father set up the charity as something for the mom to do, who ran it out of her home. Any branch offices were run out of residences. In addition, Siddiqui was found to be active with the Al-Kifah Refugee Center, the Boston branch of an Islamic charity that was ostensibly raising funds for Bosnian orphans. Federal prosecutors allege it is a front for Al Qaeda associated with the Blind Sheikh.
In April 2003, Aafia’s mom, Ismat, said she last saw her daughter on March 30, 2003 before Aafia left in a minicab along with her three children to go to the capital Islamabad. She was going to visit a friend and uncle. She called her mom from the train station — she did not have money for plane tickets. (Rail by far is the easiest and most efficient means of traveling to Islamabad, far in the north). She would later report that she had a fight with her mom and it had been decided she would go live with her uncle. She never made it to see her uncle. Pakistani government officials tried to calm her fears — telling her to be “patient and not rely on media reports” about Aafia’s fate. The authorities have denied having Siddiqui in custody.
Ismat Siddiqui, Aafia’s mother, reports that a stranger came to her house and told her that her daughter was safe and that she should not raise a “hue and cry” for her release. She says he told her not “make too much noise about Aafia if you want her to return safely.” He also threatened her that if she made the matter public, her daughter would meet the “same fate as Asif Bhuja met.” (Bhuja was a suspect in the murder of Danny Pearl but was found dead when police arrived to question him; Saud Memon, the man who owned the property where Pearl was kept, was later reported to have been involved in financing Al Qaeda’s anthrax efforts and years after being captured was left for dead on his family’s doorstep.)
The affidavit by Dr. Leslie Powers, psychiatrist for the government, addresses her whereabouts for the 5 years before her 2008 arrest.
“Since the last report, collateral information was reviewed that clarifies some of Ms. Siddiqui’s reports from 2003 until her arrest for the instant offense in 2008. Ms. Siddiqui gave some indication of her whereabouts during this time when she was interviewed by the FBI. In 2005, she reported living with the Khawaja family and working at the Karachi Institute of Technology. In the Winter of 2007, she reported an attempt to look for her husband in Afghanistan and staying in Quetta. Mohammad Amjad Khan, Ms. Siddiqui’s ex-husband, reporting seeing either Ms. Siddiqui or their children on several occasions in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In July 2008, Mr. Khan claims to have seen his daughter Miriam in the care of the Siddiqui family… While her accounts of her time are incomplete, her statements and other facts gathered seem to corroborate that she was not held captive from 2003 until 2008.”
A family member in the US hired an attorney who inquired of the FBI as to Aafia’s whereabouts but the FBI reported that they did not have her in custody. Aafia Siddiqui’s family has long-standing ties with the family of Pakistan religious affairs minister Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq. Ul-Haq’s late father — Gen. Zia ul-Haq — gave Izmat Siddiqui, Aafia’s mother, a government post after he seized power in 1977 and set up a new court system to enforce sharia. The religious affairs minister Ijaz ul-Haq told The New Yorker that his family respected Aafia’s mother because she “is a religious scholar.”
An Interior Ministry spokesman confirmed in late May 2004 that Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, allegedly involved in terrorist activities, had been arrested in 2003 from Karachi and handed over to the US authorities. Just three days later on May 26, 2004, Director Mueller and Attorney General Ashcroft held a press conference announcing she was an Al Qaeda operative and they were looking for her (even though some were suggest the ISI already had her in custody for over a year). In October 2008, a Pakistani news account relays Aafia’s description of her whereabouts for 5 years:
“She remembers being given an injection and when she came to she was in a cell. She said she was being brainwashed by men who spoke perfect English. They could be Afghan or others. She did not think they were Pakistanis. She said she was being forced to admit things she had allegedly done. She was made to sign statements, some of which included information on phone calls she was said to have made. She also stated that she had been tortured but she provided no details. She was told by her captors that if she did not co-operate, her children would suffer. Her account of the five years she had been missing remained incoherent, unsequenced and extremely vague. Her visitors did not press her hard but they returned unsatisfied with what they had been told. She said she did not know where her children were. Her son, allegedly arrested with her in Ghazni, has since been returned to Pakistan. She was vague about her other two children and it was not clear if they had been with her during her captivity.”
Her Uncle provides a detailed and fascinating account that does not seem inconsistent.
In the Fall of 2003, Fowzia left her position at John Hopkins in neurology to return to Pakistan. Fowzia’s phone reportedly was wiretapped under an NSA program codenamed “Stellar Wind.” In the Spring, she inquired of a government official as to Aafia’s whereabouts and was told she had already been released and should go home and wait for a call — but the call never came.
In 1995, Aafia wrote this:
“Pakistani govt. has officially joined the gang of our typical contemporary govts. of Muslim countries. I mean Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and the likes of them… Here’s what I read in this Friday’s issue of the “Muslim News,” something that was confirmed a few days earlier by some articles in local papers like The Boston Globe and the New York Times etc: “BENAZIR ASKS FOR THE WEST’S HELP AGAINST ‘EXTREMISM’. Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s prime minister, called on the west to help eradicate religious opposition. She said that Pakistan is a “moderate” Islamic country and it is the first defense line against “terrorism,” and hence needs international support. She added that the arrest of Ramzi Yousef and giving him to the United States is a simple proof. [Ramzi Yousef was the mentor of al-Baluchi, Aafia’s future husband].”
“That was before she became a house frau,” the family’s ACLU attorney pointed out to me. But is it accurate to suggest that just because someone has primary responsibility for child care that they suddenly are no longer political? She certainly remained both very political and highly anti-semitic.
Aafia’s sister Fowzia, a respected neurologist involved in diagnosing and treating epilepsy, was at Johns Hopkins until her concern for Aafia’s welfare became too pressing a matter. She too, along with her mom, for a time was locked inside the family home incommunicado even as to a distraught uncle. The Pakistan Interior Minister once said at a press conference: “You will be astonished to know about the activities of Dr Aafia (Siddiqui).” Her uncle wrote two informative letters to the editor at a Pakistan paper. His sister and niece were not under house arrest as he speculated — which leaves the inference they just didn’t hear the knocking at the door, weren’t at home, or just weren’t interested in communicating on the subject.
In December 2008, Aafia’s former husband made an impassioned plea for information relating to his children and their welfare. The ACLU Attorney Lamoreaux advised me that she knows of no basis to the suggestion, first made by a Southern Florida television station, that Aafia knew “Jafar the Pilot.” (In contrast, the Pakistan press has said she was a member of the “Chemical Wire Group” and we later learned that someone known as “Abu Luaba” had tasked her with studying biological and chemical weapons while she worked at a lab technican at the Karachi Technology Institute.
In US News & World Report, attorney Lamoreaux is quoted as saying that Siddiqui doesn’t fit the profile. “A woman with children, wearing a hijab, driving a Volvo,” scoffs Lamoreaux. “Is that how al Qaeda is recruiting, now, at playgrounds?” To know how Al Qaeda is recruiting, it seems a good source would be the thumb drive in her possession which contained correspondence involving cells and previous attacks — and to understand her relationship with this “Abu Luaba.” The story noted “The FBI says the information from those early investigations is classified.” Lamoreaux adds: “The FBI often fans sparks into flames. But it looks to me like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed knew enough about her to know her name. It wasn’t Jane Doe or Jane Smith. That does strike me as odd.”
The ACLU in a February 2004 publication called “Sanctioned Bias: Racial Profiling Since 9/11” described Aafia’s brother first encounter with the FBI. Muhammad A. Siddiqui is an architect in Houston and father of two young children. When his mom and sister called him to say the FBI had questioned him, he called ACLU attorney Annette Lamoreaux. It was a Monday evening when two FBI agents came to visit. “I’d be happy to talk to you, but I’d like to have my attorney present.” Borrowing a page from your favorite television show, one of the FBI agents suggested he didn’t need an attorney. He said that asking for an attorney only made him look guilty. The FBI agent again said that he wanted to speak to him now, greatly emphasizing the word “now.”
Following the advice of his civil rights attorney, he repeated: “I’d be happy to talk to you, but I’d like to have my attorney present.” In response to the FBI’s continuing pressure, he called Attorney Lamoreaux on his cell phone. She told the FBI agent that the agent could call her office during the day and set up an appointment. He screamed at Lamoreaux that Siddiqui did not have a right to counsel (as he was not in custody). Repeating her earlier suggestion that the agent call her on Monday, she told the agent “and you are to leave the house immediately.” The FBI agent handed the cell phone back to Siddiqui. Muhammad did not feel comfortable telling the agents to leave and so he kept politely repeating his attorney’s advice. “Turn off that cell phone!” the agent demanded.
Mr. Siddiqui reasonably refused, at least wanting to permit his attorney to serve as a witness to the questioning. From Siddiqui’s point of view, at least, the FBI agent pulled back his coat to reveal a gun. Siddiqui repeats that he was afraid — his children were inside and his wife, Dr. Lubna Khawaja, a busy doctor who worked at the local medical center, was not at home. Aafia lived with the Khawaja family in Pakistan, according to one government psychiatrist, while working at the Karachi Technology Institute and studying germ and chemical warfare, but it is a common name.
“I do this all the time. As soon as there is a lawyer in the picture, they have to play by the rules,” Lamoreaux explains. The agents — thwarted — turned away. One of them said upon leaving: “We will talk to you. We are watching you. Don’t leave town.”
When the agent called on Monday, Attorney Lamoreaux suggested that they meet on Thursday when Siddiqui was free from work and child care responsibilities. The agent insisted on meeting that day and said he would stand outside of Siddiqui’s home until he came out and spoke to them. At the 15 minute meeting held that day at Lamoreaux’s office, the agent confirmed he had never been a criminal target. Mr. Siddiqui says, “Once there was counsel involved, attitudes changed dramatically. Laws started to mean something.” Before 9/11, Mr. Siddiqui had lived in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan, where his wife was an MD. Aafia Siddiqui is associated with the Ann Arbor addresses, perhaps as the result of visits. Ann Arbor is the location of the nanobiotechnology researchers supplied virulent Ames by Bruce Ivins were located but it is not known whether the head of the DARPA project there, Tarek Hamouda, knew any of Aafia’s relatives.
A Boston blogger arrested in mid-November 2008 was a big supporter of Aafia Siddiqui. He apparently travelled from Boston to NYC for her bail hearing. He allegedly used as code words “school” and “peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”
Aafia Siddiqui’s musings and brainstorming about bioweapons that would kill only certain ethnic groups etc. was actually what Dr. Basson has said he was working on in an interview with Coen and Nadler in their recent documentary online. ABC News yesterday reported on a hearing on her competency:
“The defense witness, Dr. L. Thomas Kucharski, however, testified that some of the written aterials found in her possession revealed a delusional woman. Kucharski noted that her notes also described viruses that could only hurt adults and not children, others that would kill only certain ethnic groups, and a plot to infect U.S. poultry supply with an antibody that made the animals resistant to salmonella, and thereby sicken Americans who consumed chickens. For a woman with a degree from MIT and a PhD in neuroscience, Kucharski testified, these theories and fantasies were not the product of a healthy mind.”
The fellow in the Canton, Ohio library researching anthrax worked at a chicken farm. So she may be totally unrealistic and an anti-semitic religious zealot, but she does not seem psychotic.
At a July 2009 hearing on her competency, while psychiatrists were testifying, Aafia called out to the gallery that the US has been framed to look bad and that the wars were just due to misunderstandings.
Indeed. What is the FBI’s Ivins Theory other than one gigantic misunderstanding?
DXer said
Here is the video that was popular with the hijackers and and other jihadis (and why that particular code was used).
DXer said
azzam.com sold and featured the “In the Hearts of Green Birds” (or Inside Green Birds, see FAQ) video.
Note that the Paracha Detainee Assessment refers to Al-Hindani and Aafia Siddiqui assisting.
Al-Hindani was the one casing helicopters in New York City.
DXer said
Here is what the stamp used in the anthrax mailings looked like:
https://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/dxer-questions-about-the-federal-eagle-stamp-sold-at-the-post-office-used-by-dr-bruce-ivins/
DXer said
Poisoned Penpal: The Murder of Chechen Rebel Leader Ibn Khattab
You can see that Ibn Khattab, a friend of Bin Laden who was an extremist leader in Chechnya and who was in contact with a correspondent writing for azzam.com.
By way of some background, an April 1, 2001 note to FBI Director Freeh, titled “Bin Laden/Ibn Khattab Threat Reporting, read: “Director Freeh: This note is to advise you of recent threat reporting deemed significant and urgent by the United States Intelligence Community.”
“The U.S. Government has received information indicating that serious operational planning has been underway since late 2000, with an intended culmination in late Spring 2001. These plans are being undertaken by Sunni extremists with links to Ibn al Khattab, an extremist leader in Chechnya and to Usama Bin Laden. There are several planning channels, some with connections to Afghanistan, all within a large shared mujahideen recruitment network.”
“It is not known whether there are different parallel plans or whether all activity centers on one major operation since all the players are heavily intertwined.”
Ibn Khattab was killed by a poisoned letter in 2002. The trusted courier had retrieved the contents of a post office box in Baku, Azerbaijan, to include some small presents and money. The man, named Ibragim, brought a coded Sony video-camera, a watch and a letter. After Ibn Khattab opened the envelope, he went into his tent. He came out a half hour later. His face was pale — he was, rubbing his face with the stump of his arm. He then fell into the arms of his bodyguards. Feeling temporarily better, Khattab gave an order to let Ibragim, who, along with five others, had been put under arrest, could go. “He has to get back to Baku.” An hour later Khattab fell ill again. He fell into some bushes, and a short while later was dead. Khattab’s people searched for Ibragim in Baku for a month. His bound body was found in the city outskirts with five bullets in the head. In an interview with the Prima News Service, Shamil Basaev, who reportedly had personally ordered Ibragim’s execution, confirmed his opinion that Khattab had been poisoned by the Russian special services: “They slipped him a poisoned letter,” Basaev told the interviewer.
What was the motive of the islamist who delivered a poison letter to Bin Laden’s friend, Khattab, in March 2002? The letter was delivered by a messenger who he knew — someone he trusted who had was delivering mail from a P.O. Box in Baku, Azerbaijan sent from the Middle East. Was the islamist who carried the letter that killed Khattab working for the Russian intelligence services? Was he an unwitting dupe? Or was it all an internal feud such as when Zawahiri (some speculate) killed Azzam years ago?
DXer said
”In The Hearts Of Green Birds” (Inside Green Birds)
The preprinted stamp used in the anthrax mailings is of a green-blue colored bird designed by artist Michael Doret. Mr. Doret provided me “a file made directly from the original art [he] created, so the color is an accurate representation of the printed envelope.” Michael advises me that the color of the eagle is a “teal” or greenish-blue.
It was widely published among the militant islamists that martyrs go to paradise “in the hearts of green birds.”
In the very interview with Al-Jazeera in which they admitted 9/11, and described the codes used for the four targets for the planes, KSM and Ramzi Binalshibh admitted to the Jenny code, the code for representing the date 9/11, and used the symbolism of the “Green Birds.” Osama Bin Laden later invoked the symbolism in his video “The 19 Martyrs”, describing a hijacker as “A man of worship who enjoined good and forbade evil. His body was on earth but his heart roamed with the green birds that perch beneath the Throne of the Most Merciful.”
A FAQ on Al Qaeda’s website, the Azzam Publications website, mirrored by Mazen Mukhtar of North Brunswick, NJ, explained that “In the Hearts of Green Birds” refers to what is inside. The actual Arabic word used in the Hadith is not Qalb (heart) but it is Jowf which can mean any of interior, inside, or heart (as in center). There was a video based on the hadith with the title “In The Hearts of Green Birds” about foreign mujahideen who had been martyred in Bosnia. The audiocassette was created in August 1996 and its 3rd edition was released in January 1997. The azzam.org website selling the “In the Hearts of Green Birds” audiocassette was shut down after 9/11 because authorities thought it might contain codes and instructions to militants. British and US intelligence sources reportedly suspected that some of Azzam.com’s jihad photos and graphics contain messages embedded with a technology known as steganography. The code instead perhaps was there for all to see on the stamps of the lethal missives being sent.
In early Fall 2001, the Azzam.com website was mirrored by someone who lived 6 miles from the mailbox where the anthrax was mailed. He was indicted in Spring 2007 for income tax invasion. To the left of the advertisement for the “Green Birds” video, you’ll see the description of al-Hawali’s imprisonment. The imprisonment of al-Hawali and certain other scholars was the “Cover Theme” (which includes a related article on the torture of prisoners in Saudi prisons). GMU computational biology grad al-Timimi drafted a letter for al-Hawali and had it hand-delivered to every member of Congress on the first anniversary of the anthrax mailings.
Of course, given that the symbolism used in this regard in the anthrax mailings had an origin in religious writing, there is no direct tie with the website — the tie could be with the hadith. The London webmaster once said that the FBI allowed it to remain up (while it moved from server to server) for another year hoping to get leads on supporters.
Even Zarqawi invoked the imagery in a 60-minute audio message:
“The martyrs rejoice in the bounty provided by God. Their souls are inside the bodies of green birds that fly in heaven.”
Bin Laden was using “Green Birds” in the same way he used the repeated phrase “Looming Tower” to hint of what was to come with the planes attack on the World Trade Center. He would say
“Wherever you are, death will find you
even in the looming tower.”
In a prerecorded tape aired October 7, 2001, at the time of the anthrax mailing to the Senators, Bin Laden said “The winds of faith have come.”
An advertisement for “In The Hearts of Green Birds” sold by Al Qaeda’s website read: “In the Summer of 1996, Azzam Recordings released the first audio tape of its kind to be produced in English. The name of this tape was: ‘In the Hearts of Green Birds.’ It outlined some of the stories of these men. This tape was so successful, that it spread, by the Will of Allah, throughout many Muslim homes in the UK, North America and Australia. Due to popular demand, in the Summer of 1997, Azzam Recordings produced the sequel to this tape: ‘Under the Shades of Swords.’ The Virginia Paintball defendants really liked videos like “In the Hearts of Green Birds” and found them inspirational.
Amerithrax represents the greatest intelligence failure in the history of the United States.
Dr. Ayman Zawahiri has announced his plan to use anthrax against US targets.
Ask the same folks withholding Dr. Bruce Ivins contemporaneous lab notes from the days that DOJ speculates he was making a dried powdered anthrax where Yazid Sufaat is — and how he is spending his days.
They won’t know.
After the US is attacked with anthrax, Congress should identify all those responsible for withholding of documents in violation of FOIA and see that they are fired.