GUANTANAMO BRITON 'PLANNED ANTHRAX ATTACK TO KILL BLAIR'

London Daily Mail ^ | 12/1/2003 | Jane Merrick

[TrebleRebel]

A BRITISH terror suspect held by the Americans at Guantanamo Bay has confessed to plotting to kill Tony Blair in an anthrax strike on the Commons, it was claimed last night.

Moazzam Begg, one of nine Britons detained at Camp Delta in Cuba, has agreed to plead guilty over an elaborate Al Qaeda plot as part of the deal returning him to the UK, his lawyer said.

The 36-year- old father- of-three has allegedly confessed to planning to fly an unmanned plane from Suffolk to London and drop the bacteria over Westminster. The confession would be in exchange for a return to the UK where he would serve time in a high-security jail.

Begg's father Azmat, who lives in Birmingham, spoke of his shock at the alleged deal.

'My son is a very simple, ordinary citizen,' he said.

'The U.S. cannot catch the big fishes so they want to convict him for something. These rumours are being put in the minds of Britons just to defame him.'

Begg's British lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, said the plot, also said to involve targeting President Bush at the White House, was 'absurd' because it would involve obtaining both anthrax and a GBP 5million unmanned 'drone' to fly over Parliament.

'Moazzam has agreed to plead guilty to this absurd story that allegedly he was part of an Al Qaeda plot,' he said. 'The Americans must think we're incredibly stupid.'

Begg's father added: 'If there is a deal between London and Washington then I welcome it. But I don't understand what the deal is.

'That Moazzam would blow up the White House? That he would attack Mr Blair? That he was going to blow up the Houses of Parliament? I don't understand that.

'Those sort of allegations are just a joke. He would never think of doing anything like that.

'I am very upset at these claims. But at the same time I am very happy that he is possibly coming home.

'If he has done something wrong of course he should confess to it.'

The deal between the British and U.S. governments - expected to be announced this week - would see the nine detainees brought back to the UK either after admitting charges in America or without being charged.

Those who plead guilty would serve their sentences in a UK prison.

Those who have not been charged would be held as suspects pending investigation under the Terrorism Act, most likely at the high- security Belmarsh Prison in London.

The compromise is likely to satisfy both governments. Washington would be reluctant for the men to face trial in the UK, where their lawyers could use the Human Rights Act to help them be acquitted.

At the same time Tony Blair would have secured a significant victory in having the nine repatriated to the UK.

Begg and other Britons may be among 100 Camp Delta detainees that the U.S. announced are due to be released in the New Year.

Last night a Foreign Office spokesman said: 'We are continuing to press the U.S. for a decision on the future of the British detainees.'

Stephen Jakobi, director of the pressure group Fair Trials Abroad, condemned the 'shabby' deal, claiming the confessions were forced. He added: 'The whole thing is an outlandish joke.'

j.merrick@dailymail.co.uk

[FairOpinion]

PING

[Paul Atreides]

Would this be one of the people whom Teresa Heinz Munster wants treated as a POW?

[riri]

Really now? Where was he planning on getting the anthrax? From Hatfill or some other rogue white boy gone astray?

[TrebleRebel]

You're too quick for me

[TrebleRebel]

ping

[FairOpinion]

LOL!

You were quick in finding the article. :)

[FairOpinion]

"Moazzam Begg, one of nine Britons detained at Camp Delta in Cuba, has agreed to plead guilty over an elaborate Al Qaeda plot as part of the deal returning him to the UK, his lawyer said.

The 36-year- old father- of-three has allegedly confessed to planning to fly an unmanned plane from Suffolk to London and drop the bacteria over Westminster. "

===

I hope they also made him tell them where he was going to get the anthrax. I bet it was NOT from Hatfill. ;)

[oceanview]

gee, you would think we would have drugged this guy to find out, I hope?

[TrebleRebel]

I actually found it an hour ago, but I've been doing multi-searches, because I have a phobia of posting repeat articles.

[Ann Archy]

Hope they treated him real nice......NOT.

[FairOpinion]

Brought to us from the "Czech Republic", I see. ;)

[ladyinred]

Well I sure hope those interrogators weren't mean to him to get him to confess! That wouldn't be fair. :-(

[Steel Wolf]

That's an odd thing to confess to. Either it's true, and the plot thickens considerably, or he made it up, which would be incredibly stupid of him.

Not to say that incredible stupidity is out of the question when dealing with jihadis. It just doesn't add up. Guantanamo might not be Waikiki, but it's not like they're getting worked over with crowbars and jumper cables. Why make up a story that will keep you in prison for decades?

There is no upshoot to confessing to this, unless they already have you dead to rights, and you're trying to avoid being executed.

[muawiyah]

No doubt this guy "broke" just about the time the FBI started leaving Hatfil alone.

The only way this plea will work is if the guy pointed to a location where they found stored anthrax.

One hopes they remove it from that place very, very carefully!

[Paul Atreides]

Maybe he got it from that white gun nut, who was supposed to be the D.C. Sniper.

[riri]

Actually, everything could start to unravel just as I thought it might. If I am correct on my hunches, the peices of the puzzle will starting looking clearer and clearer as November 2004 draws near.

[genefromjersey]

Interesting,but pretty much in line with some of the more outlandish material "revealed during interrogations".

The rascal may be speaking the truth-as he knows it. The al-Qaeda folks never had a shortage of brave-sounding-but-impractical schemes.Any time one of the schemes collapsed under the weight of its irrationality, the idiots behind it could shrug, and say : " It was the will of Al'lah (His name be blessed !)"

[FairOpinion]

I expect he must have told them where he was going to get the anthrax and presumable all that was followed up, by now and will be the subject of another article. Interesting that this article makes no mention of that whatsoever, when in fact anyone's first question would be exactly, where he is getting that quantity of anthrax.

Maybe that's why we didn't find any anthrax in Iraq -- it was moved long before we got there, Saddam certainly had plenty of time, thanks to Chirac and others.

[FairOpinion]

"The al-Qaeda folks never had a shortage of brave-sounding-but-impractical schemes."

===

That's what the intelligence agencies thought about a 9-11 style attack in 1995 or 1996, when they were told -- at that time, I think it was called "boinka" attack, but had the same general idea of flying airplanes into buildings. They dismissed it because it was "impractical" -- UNTIL IT HAPPENED.