Terrorist Captured in Syrian/Iraq Border Had Plans for London Attack (More Iraq-Terrorist Links)

Washington Times ^ | 9/7/2005 | Pam Hess

[SirLinksalot]

Terrorist had plans for London attacks

By Pam Hess

UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

----------------------------------------------------- MOSUL, Iraq -- A terrorist captured near the Syrian border last month had a computer "thumb drive" that contained planning information about the July 7 suicide bombings in London, according to a U.S. military officer.

Col. Robert Brown, commander of the 1st Brigade 25th Infantry Division in Mosul, said that the man was captured north of Qaim in western Iraq and that authorities had connected him to the al Qaeda terrorist network.

It is the first evidence of a link between the London bombs and terrorists in Iraq, but fits with other evidence of a growing presence in Iraq by al Qaeda, which has taken responsibility for the British attacks.

Qaim, a Euphrates River border town, fell under the control of fighters claiming allegiance to Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization Monday..

The sources said members of the group led by terror chief Abu Musab Zarqawi had killed U.S. collaborators and imposed strict Islamic law, posting a sign at an entrance to the town declaring, "Welcome to the Islamic Republic of Qaim."

Col. Brown declined to discuss the specific nature of the information on the thumb drive -- a miniature data storage device that plugs into a computer's USB port -- but said it indicated al Qaeda involvement in the attacks on London's bus and subway system.

"I don't think anyone's done a good enough job explaining" the relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, he said.

SNIP SNIP SNIP

The same video carried a recorded statement by one of the four British Muslims who killed themselves and 52 others in the near-simultaneous attacks. The London bomber also cited his admiration for Zarqawi.

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[SirLinksalot]

Powerline says it all :

This is the first clear evidence of al Qaeda using Iraq as a base for attacks against the West since the beginning of the war in 2003.

It's interesting that UPI labels the captured terrorist a "terrorist." If he hadn't had the bomb plans in his pocket, I suppose he would have been just another "insurgent."