Posted on 07/07/2005 8:15:33 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
The synchronised explosions in London on July 7 seem to be the handiwork of the Al Qaeda and the International Islamic Front (IIF) formed by it in February, 1998. The first indication that pro-Al Qaeda terrorist elements were planning a major terrorist strike in London came in August last year following the arrest in Lahore by the Pakistani authorities of one Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, a Pakistani computer expert, who used to live partly in London and partly in Pakistan.
During his interrogation, he admitted that he was working for the Al Qaeda as a communications expert and that he used to trasmit all messages from Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders in a coded form to the Al Qaeda cadres in different countries.He also reportedly told the Pakistani authorities that the Al Qaeda had planned a terrorist strike at Heathrow airport in London.
On the basis of the information given by Noor Khan, the British authorities arrested Dhiren Bharot alias Bilal, a Hindu convert to Islam, and 11 others, seven of them of Pakistani origin.
Noor Khan was reported to have told the Pakistani authorities that Dhiren, who was also known as al-Brittani, was the leader of an Al Qaeda cell in the UK and had in the past been sent by Khalid Sheikh Mohammad of the Al Qaeda, who had orchestrated the 9/11 terrorist strikes in the US, to the US to select suitable economic targets in New York for attack.
The British did not give details of what they had ascertained during the interrogation of the arrested persons, but gave out that their interrogation did not corroborate the Pakistani version of a planned terrorist strike in Heathrow.
Investigations made by the intelligence and security agencies of West Europe after the Madrid blasts of March 2004 revealed that the Al Qaeda had a large number of supporters in the Muslim diaspora of West Europe.
In its annual report on the action against terrorism in Europe, the EU had also drawn attention to this fact. Morrocans and Pakistanis constituted the largest number of terrorist suspects arrested and questioned in West Europe last year.
About 70 Muslims from the UK, many of them of Pakistani origin, were estimated to have gone to Iraq last year and joined the local Al Qaeda unit headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Following the reported participation of one of them in a suicide mission, the British Police had recently made some arrests in the UK, but they have not revealed the identities of those arrested.
Thus, the British authorities were apparently aware of the presence of suspected Al Qaeda sleeper cells in the Muslim diaspora in the UK and had been closely monitoring their activities for nearly a year.
The fact that despite this, the perpetrators of the blasts managed to carry them out speak well of their motivation and ability to plan and execute terrorist strikes in total secrecy.
In June, in response to a request from a US security consultancy group asking for my comments on likely future scenarios in the US homeland, I had said: "A new anti-US hub, which is emerging, is the Muslim diaspora in West Europe, consisting of Muslims, who had migrated to different countries of West Europe from the countries of the Islamic world. Osama bin Laden and his ideology have a growing following in this diaspora---particularly among Muslims of Moroccan and Pakistani origin, who constitute the largest number of terrorist suspects detained for questioning in connection with the investigation of different terrorist incidents. The countries needing a special watch are the UK, Spain and France. It is my assessment that there is likely to be another attempt for a 9/11-like terrorist strike in the US homeland in retaliation for the alleged descecration of the Holy Koran. Saudi, Moroccan and Pakistani nationals or foreign nationals of Saudi,Moroccan and Pakistani origin are likely to play the leadership as well as the foot-jihadi roles in the efforts to plan, mount and execute another catastrophic terrorist strike in the US homeland. Saudis are in the forefront of the current terrorist wave in Iraq and Pakistanis in Afghanistan. Moroccans played a central role in the terrorist strikes in Madrid last year."
"While the devices used for triggering off an explosion are becoming more and more sophisticated, the explosives actually used are more and more commonplace.The use of sophisticated explosives such as the Semtex, the RDX etc has given place to more commonplace ones such as nitrogenous fertilisers, whose acquisition is unlikely to give rise to suspicion. It is only a question of time before the terrorists start using the fuel contained in the tank of any automobile as an explosive and incendiary device for causing casualties and material damage. All they need to do is to devise a mechanism by which a suicide terrorist can cause an explosion in his fuel tank while at the steering wheel of his vehicle. If they manage to do so, prevention can become an impossibility."
My assessment was that the next Al Qaeda strike would again be in the US. Instead, it has come in the UK. It is apparent that the terrorist strikes had been deliberately planned to coincide with the G-8 summit, to create the maximum impact and take advantage of the fact that the attention of the British agencies would have been focused on protecting the VVIPs attending the summit.
B. Raman is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Distinguished Fellow and Convenor, Advisory Committee, Observer Research Foundation, Chennai Chapter.
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/456
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20030714/ai_n14555277
Expert: We must stop terror funds Oakland Tribune, Jul 14, 2003 by Tom Anderson, STAFF WRITER
FREMONT -- Terrorism expert B. Raman, who has spoken before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, said during a weekend talk in Fremont that the United States needs to target Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in its war on terrorism.
"Until we stop fund-collection and sanctuaries of terroristic organizations, we will never be able to deal with terrorism effectively," Raman said Saturday.
His hour-long talk, "Terrorism Worldwide: Who Funds It?", was sponsored by Friends of India Society International, at the Hindu Temple Children's Center in Fremont.
The pro-Hindu group organizes two to three lectures a year, activist Ashwini Surpur said.
During his visit to the United States last year, Raman spoke at University of California, Los Angeles, the World Bank and the Potomac Institute of Policy in Washington, D.C.
He has written two books on terrorism and is a member of the National Security Advisory Board for India's government.
"We chose B. Raman because terrorism is the No. 1 problem affecting both the United States and India," Surpur said.
From Carlos the Jackal to the Sept. 11 attacks, Raman said most acts of terrorism against India and the United States could be traced to the International Islamic Front, a loose coalition of terrorists that includes al-Qaida.
"The largest component of the International Islamic Front is its more than 30,000 members in Pakistan," Raman said.
Relations between Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan have been marred by a dispute over the Kashmir region for more than 50 years. Raman's remarks against Pakistan received a warm reception among a primarily Hindu audience.
"The goal of this talk is to educate people. We need to let them know that they shouldn't be afraid of terrorists," Friends of India Society International president Gaurang Desai said.
Raman was asked after the meeting about killings last year in Gujarat, India, when Hindu mobs killed more than 1,000 Muslims and raped hundreds of Muslim women last year, according to an independent report from Human Rights Watch.
He dismissed the killings as "a moment of anger that many nations have from time to time." Raman pointed out that the attacks in Gujarat were ignited when a Muslim mob stoned and set fire to a train carrying Hindu activists that killed 59.
"The United States will soon realize that it cannot trust Pakistan," Raman said.
c2003 ANG Newspapers. Cannot be used or repurposed without prior written permission. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
Yes. This makes more sense than the coincidence with the Olympics announcement.
And, as someone on another thread noted.....9-11, Madrid, and now London, all seemed to begin around 8:49A.M.....
ditto
Raman as usual, is bang on with his analysis.
Wonder how many of this cell got training in Pakistan.
Pakistan, O, Pakistan, who is this Djinn that protects you and makes America so blind?
Seems a flurry of activity, Kashmir, Ayodhya, the aborted plot in Kosovo/Bosnia, diplos in Iraq, offensives in Afghanistan.
Bush is fully aware of what kind of a cesspool Pakistan is. For better or worse, he has decided that, for these years at least, it is better to contain it than to invade it. It's not as if we don't have plenty of more immediate challenges on our plate, such as Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia (which built the madrassahs and funds the worst excesses in Pakistan).
Good thinking Cicero. (/sarc)
At the moment I'd say WE'RE the ones that are contained, while bin Laden lounges in the mountains, and terrorists are trained Musharraf's backyard.
Lemme see, 4-5 years in Iraq, 4-5 years in Syria, 4-5 years in Iran, and 4-5 years in Saudi Arabia .....
I give, what's the plan? ... to hope the REAL badguys die of old age?
Neat plan ... I guess that means Jeb's kid gets to declare victory, huh?
>>It's not as if we don't have plenty of more immediate challenges on our plate,
Yes, I'm missing the Aruba updates.
Iran and Syria aren't a problem?
Aren't Iraq and Afghanistan enough to deal with now, especially seeing how the monies from Saudi flow to jihadis and Pakistan, well, we're just camping on their border while our troops deal with attacks from Paki sanctuaries.
So it was the Pakis? It took an (Indian)Rediff.com to say so?....... That those terrorists are Pakis!
This isnt good for Britain at all they have just too many Pakis. Not a very good thing to have. The Pakis have just tried to hit Indians at Ayodhya but failed.
There was a BBC thriller about an WMD attack with multiple bombers on London.
The protagonists were all Pakistani - a refreshing change to see reality based entertainment.
What's England gonna do? Invade Pakistan?
Frankly.....forget Syria and Iran. You guys should have hit Pakistan.
....Before its too late.
"What's England gonna do? Invade Pakistan?"
.....Join us when we invade.
You guys must see this.
Ping!
I've noticed the msm has no pictures of islamists dancing in the street. Is it possible there are none?
Hmmmm. Interesting observation. I hadn't thought about it. Perhaps we've accomplished more in the ME than we're led to believe.
When are we going to wise up and kick the towelheads out of Europe and the US? Islam is not compatible with non-Islam.
Oh, come on, really!
What's the point of talking sense
in our nuthouse world?!
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