Hijackers Planned to Seize PAL (Philippine) Planes for Tuesday U.S. Attack - Manila

Philippine Star News ^ | 14 September 2001 | Philippine Star Newspaper, Manila

[AmericanInTokyo]

Hijackers planned to seize PAL planes for Tuesday US-attack

09/14 5:18:34 PM

Muslim extremists with links to Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in last Tuesday's terrorist attack on the US, had planned to hijack a Manila-based commercial airline which has regular flights to the US mainland.

The planned hijacking of a commercial airliner by a group of terrorists based in the Philippines was disclosed by Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) General Manager Edgardo Manda, who also said that the Philippine Airlines was the target.

The declassified information revealed that the plan to hijack a PAL plane bound for the US was supposed to be carried out shortly after the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC were attacked by still unknown group or groups of terrorists.

Manda said that the government authorities have raised the level of security at the NAIA's terminal one and two, particularly at the departure areas of foreign airlines that have regular flights to the US.

As disclosed, the intelligence information, according to Manda, was 'A-1' and was relayed to the PAL, Northwest Airlines, and Continental Micronesia. The three airlines have daily flights to the US from Manila.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Reported shortly ago. Further this a.m., President Arroyo of the Philippines announced that both Clark and Subic will be made available for the US military in the massive international strike against the terrorists that is underway worldwide, involving the Allied Forces.

[RoughDobermann]

Thanks for posting this. I think it is truly frightening to think that these terrorists are willing to hijack international flights to get within our borders. This will become a world war very quickly... So be it.

[piasa]

California and Washington almost got it, looks like. And I'm glad to see the Phillipines joining the fray. They've certainly had their problems with the extremist groups anyway.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Yes. This will indeed probably become the Third World War. Very possibly Russian and US forces fighting side by side (using Russian bases, etc., etc.). Stunning. South Korea is also mobilizing, according to Korea Herald this a.m., and is even looking for a joint North Korea/South Korea declaration of opposition to terrorism, (of all things!)

[MizSterious]

Those of us in the Oklahoma City area--or even those who have followed the OKC bombing closely--will recall that Terry Nichols made a number of trips to the Phillippines, and it was said he met with Osama Bin Laden terrorists whilst there.

Take note, people. It's very possible that if the FBI had been doing their job properly, and looking for all the John Does--not just the ones that looked like the militia types Clinton wanted to discredit---that Tuesday's events might never have happened. The blood of NY and DC is on the hands of Clinton, Reno, and the agencies that were charged with the task of achieving justice. They not only failed us, but some of them did so deliberately.

[littleleaguemom]

My husband flies PAL regularly to and from Manila. In fact, he arrived into LAX Monday night - close call.

[Robert Lomax]

These kooks who took our planes and killed our people were determined to do it at whatever cost. Hell, they gave their lives for their fvckEd vp (sorry no other words describe it) cause. We have to be more determined than they are and eliminate them whatever the cost.

[Robert Lomax]

These kooks who took our planes and killed our people were determined to do it at whatever cost. Hell, they gave their lives for their fvckEd vp (sorry no other words describe it) cause. We have to be more determined than they are and eliminate them whatever the cost.

[MizSterious]

For an excellent article on the point I was making, please see this article on the connections between this case and the OKC bombing.

[manumission]

This is how WWIII will happen, everybody will sympathize with us and let us use bases in there country for awhile. Then since they did us a favor they will expect us to look the other way when they want to get rid of their enemies and we are too busy to care. For example India/Pakistan, North Korea/South Korea, China/Tiawan, Columbia, Sudan, Bosnia/Albania, etc. We should build up our forces and do it with limited help, even if it takes awhile.

[honway]

Well stated - as always.

[Moleman]

Now is not the time for internal political bickering.
Put away whatever axe you have to grind against Clinton.
We all have a common enemy, we must band together.

[cdooley1]

It will be interesting to see if any of the FALN terrorists pardoned by the Clintoon show up somewhere in all of this.

[smolensk]

Take note, people. It's very possible that if the FBI had been doing their job properly, and looking for all the John Does--not just the ones that looked like the militia types Clinton wanted to discredit---that Tuesday's events might never have happened. The blood of NY and DC is on the hands of Clinton, Reno, and the agencies that were charged with the task of achieving justice. They not only failed us, but some of them did so deliberately.

NO TRUER WORDS EVER SPOKEN! And can someone tell me WHY, when my Russian father-in-law and brother-in-law (my wife is Russian) who are both medical doctors can't get visas to come here and visit us, were tourist visas given to young Saudi men? What compelling reason or need did they have to come to this country given the level of risk?

And don't think that our illustrious senators aren't aware of these types of instances - they get complaints from their constituients every day about this. And yet they have the gaul to stand on the capital steps and hold hands and sing God Bless America when they haven't done a damn thing to stop this.

[cdooley1]

All of a sudden the Clintoon is showing up in the media. It is nauseating. But it cannot be denied the scum has a pair. Chuckd

[cgbg]

>California and Washington (state) almost got it

I think the Bush administration gets an A + for grounding all aircraft as quickly as they did.

They also get an A + for not allowing any international flights into the US.

The reality is they probably saved more lives by those two actions than all the US anti-terrorist activities in the last twenty years.

I hope they take their sweet time about opening up U.S. air space to foreign flights.

My personal preference is that we have a declaration of war, close down all flights, go for nuclear weapons, unconditional surrender and occupation of terrorist harboring states, and then and only then open up the air space.

Obviously that is not our strategy. Since the Bush folks have gotten it right so far one must presume they know what they are doing. (but I still like my strategy better ;-) )

[R2]

Nuclear weapons make occupation difficult. But they can always errect a tall barbed wire fence.

[SKYDRIFTER]

Like it or not, our own government, particularly Bill Clinton, set this up.

The Federal Law was "conveniently" changed, effectively relieving the FAA of the responsibility for aviation safety, turning safety into an option. Thereafter, the FAA guaranteed profits; not safety.

With Clinton's Presidential Executive Order 12866 in the background, the 9-11 event was 100% guaranteed.

This event epitomizes Bill Clinton.

There is no shortage of complaints, documentation and reports to verify that statement.

See - Airline Safety ‘Net

The 9-11 event was not a case of terrorist luck or coincidence.

[Real Cynic No More]

"Now is not the time for internal political bickering.
Put away whatever axe you have to grind against Clinton.
We all have a common enemy, we must band together."

I couldn't agree more. As much as we have differences in belief with our former and even some of our current leadership, it is now time to maintain unity against ALL OUTSIDERS.

[MizSterious]

I refuse to put aside my Clinton/Reno axe. Methinks your name is well-chosen. Are you by any chance on the payroll of one of the Clintons? These people have done great harm to us in any number of ways, up to and including accepting campaign financing from Arab groups that support terrorism. Yes, I am standing beside my fellow countrymen, but no, I will not forget about who may have allowed this to happen.

[MizSterious]

I believe most government oaths taken in this country state that we are to defend the Constitution and our country against all enemies, domestic or foreign. We have on our hands some domestic enemies that will, sooner or later, have to be brought to justice. We cannot ignore the enemies that happen to be home grown. They are, perhaps, even more of a danger than the foreign-grown. I believe the Clintons to be two such persons.

[Catspaw]

Expect a visit from the USSS very shortly.

You are a fool.

[PoisedWoman]

Glad your husband got home on time. I flew to Philippines twice in the late 70s and security at Manila airport was the tightest I'd ever seen anywhere. I was on press trips, as guest of Philippine government tourist ofice, and they rolled out the red carpet for us as we toured the islands. Nevertheless, our luggage was subject to intense scrutiny before we boarded the flight home. All passsengers walked between two rows of armed soldiers to get to the plane. Is security still strong there? (They confiscated a souvernir ceremonial dagger on a plaque given to me by the head of the Philippine Navy in Zamboanga! LOL! But gave it back when we reached the USA)

BTW, the Philippines was one of my favorite tourist destinations. The people were lovely and we all had so much fun.

[GEC]

Desiring to and saying that I would do it are two different things.

If they want to arrest me, let them come.

I have nothing to hide.

[SKYDRIFTER]

With "Project Bojinka" (see the Internet accounts) in the background, this is further evidence of the same question; "Especially after the 9-11 attack, is there some 'mystery' behind why can't the intelligence agencies can't find their own ass with both hands and a flashlight?"

[Dog Gone]

Something's not right about this story. It's a long flight from the Philippines to the US.

How was this foiled? If it had truly been in place, it would have been virtually unstoppable, as the plane would be approaching the West Coast in order to be timed with the other coordinated attacks.

If it was foiled on the ground before the flight ever took off, it would have been at least 12 hours before incidents began on the East Coast.

[Catspaw]

If they want to arrest me, let them come.

Make sure you post a report about your visit. Other freepers have enjoyed them immensely.

[thesharkboy]

And the planes would be coming in without much fuel.

[Dog Gone]

Good point. This doesn't fit the plan at all. If they were planning to hit the west coast, they would have hijacked a plane leaving Los Angeles or San Francisco and turned it around.

[littleleaguemom]

Philippine Airlines flies nonstop to the US from Manila. The flights leave around 10 am EST, arriving into LAX at dinnertime PST. Manila is a hotbed of Islamic terrorists and was (is?) a base for one of the previous WTC bombers. Makes perfect sense to launch a hijack from there.

[Dog Gone]

No, it doesn't. The hijackers wanted a plane loaded with fuel, not one running on fumes coming in from Manila.

[Tarakotchi]

Here's an interesting thread. Philippine police according to the French press say Project Bojinka included suicide crashes:

Earlier US airplane hijack plot first uncovered in Philippines: police

[Tarakotchi]

Hi golitely,

Here are some more OKC "Wild Theories". This Bin Laden OKC connection seems so plausible now. I've read elsewhere Abdul Hakim Murad said they did OKC (and Ramzi Yousef said they did Flight 800).

link to article

The Denver Post Online: Bomb Trial

Wild theories spun in book By Howard Pankratz Denver Post Legal Affairs Writers Oct. 12 - In his new book, the lawyer for convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh claims that co-defendant Terry Nichols met with Ramzi Yousef, an Iraqi intelligence operative who masterminded the World Trade Center bombing and was behind a plot to blow up 12 U.S. jets. In Stephen Jones' "Others Unknown," he claims the meeting occurred sometime in the early 1990s on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines, a "hotbed of fundamentalist Muslim activity." The 331-page book will be in bookstores Nov. 9. Present were Nichols - who referred to himself as the as "The Farmer" - and Yousef, Abdul Hakim Murad, and Wali Khan Amin Shah, according to Jones. The subject of the meeting was terrorism. Specifically, three topics were discussed: bombing activities; providing firearms and ammunition; and training in the making and handling of bombs, claimed Jones. But Nichols' lawyer, Michael Tigar, and Larry Mackey, the former federal prosecutor who spearheaded the government's case against Nichols, say there is no evidence to support Jones' claim. "It is false, it is defamatory and he (Jones) knows it," said Tigar of the Yousef-Nichols allegation. "From the beginning, one of his (Jones') tactics has been to create a smoke screen by seeking to divert attention from the real serious issues that had to be decided in this case. "Repeatedly he has hatched the "Conspiracy Theory of the Week,' each one less credible than the last. I don't think behavior of this sort does credit to the justice system. I don't think it does credit to the lawyer who does it and I do not think it is in the interest of his client," said Tigar. Mackey said that federal investigators "left no stone unturned" and could find nothing indicating a Nichols-Iraqi-Muslim link. "We ran this down when it first came up long before trial," said Mackey. "And there was absolutely nothing to it." Mackey noted that just a couple of weeks before the McVeigh trial began, Jones made similar, although sketchier, allegations to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. But Mackey said the "defining moment" in the McVeigh case came during Jones opening statement when Jones didn't even raise the allegation about a Nichols-Iraqi link. Mackey said Jones "didn't dare try to sell" such a far-fetched story to a jury of 12 people. Like Tigar, Mackey questions whether Jones should now be trying to sell the theory to the American public. In his book, Jones admits some members of his staff were skeptical of the information that was developed about Yousef and Nichols. But Jones said it is credible. Jones said that after their meeting with Nichols, Abdul Hakim Murad, Wali Khan Amin Shah and Ramzi Yousef were charged in the plot to blow up the 12 U.S. jetliners. They were convicted in September 1996, and are serving time in U.S. prisons, said the Enid, Okla., lawyer. Jones claimed that an extensive investigation by his office in the Philippines, aided by Filipino officials, indicated that one of the convicted plotters, Wali Khan Amin Shah, was acquainted with Nichols' wife, Marife Torres Nichols, a Filipino by birth. Jones also claimed that Nichols' marriage to Marife was little more than a cover for Nichols as he made his way six times to the Philippines to perfect bomb-making techniques he originally tried to develop on the Nichols farm at Decker, Mich. Jones called Nichols a liar who fabricated vast portions of his tale about what transpired before the Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Jones said Nichols set up McVeigh - using methods that Yousef had used over the years, including the attempt to hide the real perpetrators of the World Trade Center bombing. Jones said that after analyzing Nichols, he was forced to wonder if the Oklahoma City bombing was not a "very clever, well-executed conspiracy. "Could it have been designed to protect and shelter everyone involved? Everyone, that is except my client - who may or may not have been involved but whose role, if he had a role, would have been the designated patsy?" Jones asked. "I began to look at everything Nichols had said...and the more I looked, the more it appeared that Nichols, with Tigar as his advocate, was going to try to save his skin at Tim McVeigh's expense." But Tigar said Jones' portrayal of Nichols is not true. "I spent three years of my life, along with four other lawyers - and they are good lawyers - and five investigators and five para-legals, tracking every single moment of Terry Nichols' life from the time he was born until the time he walked into the Herington police station,"  said Tigar. "And this ain't true. "And I'll tell you something else. If there were any credible evidence that Nichols had been involved in a conspiracy to bomb the federal building with Muslim fundamentalists, the United States would have been free to put it on in their case," said Tigar, adding they would have put it on in a "heartbeat" had it been there. Jones bases his claims about the Nichols-Iraqi intelligence meeting on interviews he said Filipino police had with Edwin Angeles, described as an associate of Yousef, who was arrested in the Philippines and purportedly turned informant against Iraq. In videotaped and written interviews, Angeles said he met "The Farmer" at the meeting where the "farmer" discussed terrorism with Yousef, Abdul Hakim Murad and Wali Khan Amin Shah. Jones said Angeles also included a sketch of "the Farmer," which "was a dead ringer for Terry Lynn Nichols." Based on the sketch and the details provided by Angeles, and further investigation of Angeles by lawyer Jim Hankins, Jones concluded that "the Farmer" was Nichols and Nichols and had met Yousef. But when he asked U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch to subpoena Angeles to testify at the McVeigh trial, Matsch refused, said Jones. Jones said Angeles was also trying to squirm out of testifying in Denver. Angeles stuck to his original version as videotaped by his Filipino interrogators but started embellishing his story with additional and implausible details. Jones quoted Vincent Cannistraro, former chief of operations and analysis for the CIA's counterterrorism center, and Laurie Mylroie, of the University of Pennsylvania, as saying they were convinced that the Iraqi intelligence service was deeply committed to attacking the United States within its borders. A key figure in that effort was Yousef, said Jones quoting Mylroie and Cannistraro. Jones also claimed that Osama bin Laden, the Saudi multimillionaire linked to the bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, was in the Philippines about the same time as Nichols and Yousef. "Bin Laden - Yousef - Nichols. Now a lot of things made sense," wrote Jones. "The connections kept coming. Bin Laden was known to Ramzi Yousef. Terry Nichols had met Yousef, said Angeles. "How, given all this, could I not think that Terry had gone in and out of the Philippines at will, using Marife Torres Nichols as a beard, in order to meet with conspirators who had taught him to develop and assemble the ANFO bomb? "And...if this was true - if, that is, Terry Nichols had gone to the Philippines to be instructed by Ramzi and his band in the art and techniques of blowing up a nine-story building - then mightn't he have learned another part of Ramzi Yousef's modus operandi? That it's always prudent to leave someone else holding the bag?" Jones noted that this spring, Judge Matsch offered Nichols a deal. The only way Nichols could avoid life without parole, Matsch said, was for him to name names. If Nichols would identify "others unknown," then Matsch would consider a lighter sentence. However, Nichols failed to respond and received the life term. "I believe I know (Matsch) well enough to affirm that he never would have made such a proffer speculatively or frivolously or to gain attention for himself," said Jones. "Could it be that Richard Matsch, persuaded by evidence he refused to let our jury hear, has himself become a conspiracy theorist?"

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[piasa]

The plane that flew to St Louis, which was on its way to San Antonio? The one the terrorists had to disembark from and get on a train instead? Think now, what would be easy to reach beyond St. Louis if they had hijacked the aircraft over the St. Louis area... Oklahoma again?

[piasa]

Bake some cookies, fix coffee, and be polite. The Secret Service really doesn't need to be distracted right now, but remember- those poor guys have to spend time protecting Bubba's pompous butt. that's like surrounding an old Yugo economy car with fine sportscars so you won't get the door dinged.

[MizSterious]

Maybe the target wasn't on the U.S. mainland at all. What other U.S. or U.S.-friendly targets might be closer to the Philippines takeoff site? Is there an aircraft carrier nearby, for instance? Just putting some thoughts out there, because honestly, I don't know.

[MizSterious]

Yes, the thought did occur to me, and it would have been an unnecessarily cruel twist--but given the makeup of our enemeies, not out of the question. Were they to have refueled in St. Louis? If so, maybe that was on their sick minds.

I can't help but wonder what the "successful" ones' faces looked like when they sought entrance into Heaven (having believed their leaders' promises)....

[MizSterious]

The link Tarakotchi provided in #33 is well worth the time to peruse. Lots of good research on the thread, and given the high quality of the various flags, I suspect still more will appear.

[SKYDRIFTER]

Keep moving; you're on the correct track.

[GEC]

And you be sure and post when the men in the white suits come for you.

I've been waiting for them for years.

They say they're going to show up, but they never do.

I wind up eating the cake all by myself.