Posted on 08/23/2004 11:39:29 AM PDT by knighthawk
FRENCH anti-terrorist prosecutor Jean-Louis Bruguiere claims a mystery man in Australia was connected to the "millennium bombing plot" to blow up Los Angeles airport in 2000.
Judge Bruguiere said telephone intercepts had linked a suspect in Sydney to Algerian Ahmed Ressam, who was arrested in December 1999 in Canada before he could cross the US border in a vehicle with explosives, large amounts of money and fake identities.
He said the Sydney man was identified during an extensive international sting operation involving his office. The information was passed on to Australian authorities by the French counter-terrorism branch, the DST.
But the claim has puzzled local law enforcement officials. The Australian Federal Police refused to comment last night and NSW police said they had not previously heard of any Australian link.
DST liaises with ASIO, which is understood to have dealt with the referral without involving police.
The millennium plot was considered one of the most serious efforts to be foiled by authorities since al-Qa'ida emerged as a global terror menace in the early 1990s. US courts have been told it was planned by the al-Qaeda hierarchy to cause massive symbolic damage at the turn of the millennium.
The French were heavily involved in the operation to catch Ressam.
"There was an Australian resident involved in this attempt by al-Qaeda," Judge Bruguiere said.
"There was a string of false passports in France. We had been following the plan since 1996-1997. As we investigated we discovered an individual located in Sydney, in contact with Ressam, by telephone.
"This surprised us very much, that there was an individual in Australia preparing for activities in the US. There was also one in Montreal and one in Vancouver. The individual in Sydney was in the same cell as Ressam."
Judge Bruguiere said he was not aware of the fate of the Sydney suspect although sources said last night he had been detained, then deported on immigration irregularities.
"Australia may not have been able to succeed in obtaining enough evidence," he said.
"It was very important for us to discover this attempt. It provided the first explanation and knowledge of al-Qaeda and it was connected with France."
The millennium plot is now widely regarded as the most sophisticated al-Qaeda plan conceived before the September 11 attacks on the US.
US intelligence officials have said that, if successful, it would probably have been more devastating than the bombing of the World Trade Centre in 1993.
Judge Bruguiere is planning to visit Australia during the next few months to explore further links between French national Willie Brigitte and the Australian men he befriended during the six months he spent in Sydney until last November. Brigitte is held in prison in France.
One of his alleged colleagues, Faheem Khalid Lodhi, was arrested by the AFP in Sydney in April.
A second Sydney man, Izar Ul-Haque, was arrested about the same time and accused of training with the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar el-Toiba, which is believed to have linked all three.
Ping
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