Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

BOMBAY TERRORIST WAS STILL PLANNING PLANE ATTACKS FOR NOVEMBER
Wall Street Journal via Rediff.com ^ | Monday December 10, 2001 | James Taranto

Posted on 12/10/2001 9:08:36 PM PST by umbra

Edited on 04/23/2004 12:03:59 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

Rediff.com reports that Mohammad Afroz, an alleged terrorist conspirator being held in India, has told Bombay police that the attacks were planned for 367 days earlier--Sept. 9, 2001--and that 'Islamic militants had planned to strike simultaneously in India, US, United Kingdom and Australia.'


(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: afroz; britishparliament; indianparliament; roltatower; terrorwar; towerbridge
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061 next last
More from the article -'Investigators said that the Indian part of the plan (flying a plane into the parliament building) was not abandoned after September 11, and that the strike was to take place in November.
1 posted on 12/10/2001 9:08:36 PM PST by umbra
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: umbra
Mohammed now theres a good Indian name I wonder what religion he is?
2 posted on 12/10/2001 9:12:49 PM PST by Governor StrangeReno
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: umbra
Ashcroft should keep all the (peaceful) Islamic freaks he has locked up!
3 posted on 12/10/2001 9:14:32 PM PST by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: umbra
"367 days earlier - Sept. 9, 2001"

I don't think that adds up? It would have to be Sept. 9, 2000. Thank God this did not happen in 2000. Clinton would have declared martial law and stopped the election. We would now be living in a police state and terrorists would have had free run of the place. Thank God again!!

4 posted on 12/10/2001 9:30:42 PM PST by Sueann
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: umbra
I can't decide what to think about this having possibly happened on 9/9/2000, in the last two months of the presidential campaign (as well as campaigns for a zillion other important offices from national to local level). Would Clintoon have managed to just barely pull off enough of an acceptable response to cause a nationwide wave of patriotism that ended up benefitting Democrats across the board? Or would he have so massively screwed it up as to favor the GOP? I know how we all WANT to answer that question, but he is Slick Willie after all ... his pollsters just might have figured out some sort of non-response response that gave him, say, a 60-70% approval rating; nothing by the standards of what Bush has accomplished, but far more than enough to put Gore in, give both houses of Congress back to the Dems ... yeesh.

But then, this guy could be full of Barbra Streisand. His "confessions" don't seem to totally mesh with everything else we've learned over the last few months. For one, September 9, 2000 was a Saturday; a weekend day would be the worst possible choice if you wanted to inflict maximum damage, since 90% of the potential victims would be at home, not work. Maybe this guy is just saying what the authorities want to hear in order to gain a little favor.

5 posted on 12/10/2001 9:35:29 PM PST by Timesink
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sueann
Yes it was the year 2000.
6 posted on 12/10/2001 10:23:57 PM PST by umbra
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: blam
Ashcroft should keep all the (peaceful) Islamic freaks he has locked up!

No, better yet, he should Chernobylnize them, i.e., pour concrete over their lousy heads and wait for the half-life of hatred of Jews/Christians/the West to pass...

7 posted on 12/10/2001 10:57:29 PM PST by wayne_shrugged
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Sueann
Clinton would have declared martial law and stopped the election.

This is EXACTLY why so many of us took to the streets during the "American third-world election debacle"! We all instinctively knew what was happening -- ANY excuse for the current KKKlintoon "from New York" declaring itself President while his husband BUBBA snorted, guffawed and chortled on his way to the eternal pigpen of history...

8 posted on 12/10/2001 11:01:30 PM PST by wayne_shrugged
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: umbra; *TerrOrWar; aristeides; Nita Nupress
One little tidbit that may go along with this is that Argenbright, which had the security for 14 US airports, including the one that the terrorists flew out of, was apparenly under investigation around September of 2000. (As slow as these investigations go, it was probably initiated long before then.)

From Initial Findings of Review of Argenbright Security, Inc:

Argenbright was sentenced on October 20, 2000 in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on charges of making false statements to FAA concerning the training, testing and background verification of employees. An OIG investigation found that in some cases, convicted felons had been hired as security screeners. Argenbright was placed on three years’ probation and was ordered to pay $1,550,000 in fines and restitution, including: 1) a $1 million fine; 2) $350,000 payment to airlines Argenbright provided services to as reimbursement for fraudulent billings; and 3) $200,000 for investigative costs.

It's possible that this guy is telling the truth, and that the plan was delayed because of the scrutiny surrounding the airports being investigated.

NN- This could be what Trannie was afraid of. There was trouble in the ME then, IIRC. The Argenbright investigation just may have saved us from this coming down then...(Shudder)

9 posted on 12/10/2001 11:34:07 PM PST by Lion's Cub
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lion's Cub
Also, I can't find the link in my notes, but Sepember 9 was one of the web site names the FBI suspected was possibly being used for communications by the terrorists early in the investigation, IIRC.
10 posted on 12/10/2001 11:59:56 PM PST by Lion's Cub
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: umbra
For Aussie Freepers - he claimed his Melbourne target was the Rialto Towers.

Guess that would have made Bruno Grollo really angry - and BG doesn't look like the kind of guy you would want to do that to.

11 posted on 12/11/2001 2:47:39 AM PST by anapikoros
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Comment #12 Removed by Moderator

To: umbra
File this article under "Islam is a peaceful religion. Believers in Islam, however, are violent, women-hating, boy buggering, anti-modern, Western-hating, religious intolerants."
13 posted on 12/11/2001 3:48:17 AM PST by jrlc
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lion's Cub; OwenKellogg
Thanks for the ping on this one. I think it's important that we have this entire article permanently documented in case it disappears later. I encourage people to click on the links in the article.  They work.

 

Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/dec/07ter.htm

Bombay terrorist reveals links with IC 814 hijackers

Josy Joseph in New Delhi
December 7, 2001

Mohammed Afroz, a trained pilot who was allegedly part of the global conspiracy to strike targets in several countries, has told his interrogators in the Bombay police that two of the IC 814 hijackers trained with him in Australia and the United States before the 1999 hijack.

Afroz told his interrogators that Islamic militants had planned to strike simultaneously in India, US, United Kingdom and Australia.

The original plan was to strike on September 9, 2000. However, it was later postponed by one year, and finally, to September 11.

Other than the World Trade Centre (WTC) in New York and the Pentagon (near Washington), the terrorists were planning to strike the British parliament and the Tower Bridge in the UK, Rolta Tower in Australia and the Indian Parliament.

The team assigned to Britain reached Heathrow airport on September 11 to hijack the London-Manchester flight, which was scheduled for take off at 1700 hours (GMT).

In the original September 9 plan, this team was to hijack the London-Bombay flight. The London-Manchester flight was chosen for September 11 as there was no London-Bombay flight on that date.

However, the plan eventually failed because all flights were grounded immediately after the attack on the WTC, Afroz's interrogation report said.

The investigators said that the Indian part of the plan was not abandoned even after September 11, and that the strike was to take place in November.

Afroz, a resident of Trombay (near Bombay) in Maharashtra, was part of one of the four groups that had been assigned the task of carrying out the strikes.

He had initially identified Mohammed Atta, main protagonist of the September 11 attacks, as one of those who trained with him at an aviation academy in Australia, where he underwent training between August 1997 and 1998, sources told rediff.com.

However, during sustained interrogation, he was inconsistent on his claim about Atta.

The cost of Afroz's training in Melbourne was borne by the Student's Islamic Movement of India, which is banned in India, Intelligence agencies claimed.

Investigators have also unearthed remittance of about a million Indian rupees to Afroz's account in Bombay from an ANZ Grindlays Bank account in Delhi.

Afroz also confirmed that two of the hijackers of the IC 814 Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi in December 1999 were part of the team that underwent training in Australia.

The New York Times has given details of evidence picked up in Kabul showing links between the IC 814 hijackers and the Taliban.

The paper said four ticket stubs from the flight, two boarding passes, an Indian Airlines Airbus 300 safety procedure card and a handwritten list of the plane's passengers were among those found in a hideout in Kabul. The hideout also had notes on nuclear and biological weapons.

The two IC 814 hijackers who trained with Afroz in Australia were Shahid Akhtar Sayeed alias Sandy and Mistry Zahoor Ibrahim alias Zia, both Pakistanis.

Afroz claimed to have returned to India in October 1999 and later went to Britain in August 2001 for a multi-engine training programme.

Afroz returned to India on September 22 and was staying in various hotels, but never returning to his home. On October 2, 2001, he was picked up from Hotel Abbot in Vashi.

According to the interrogation report, a large number of jehadis (holy warriors) from Iran were part of the entire plan. However, they disappeared in the wake of the September 11 attacks.


Here's a story printed at rediff.com  from two days earlier that states at least some of Mohammed Afroz's story has been confirmed:

http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/dec/05adv.htm

Al Qaeda had plans to attack Parliament House: Advani

December 5, 2001

Al Qaeda had plans to attack the Parliament House in New Delhi, besides places in Britain and Australia, along with the September 11 strikes in the United States, Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani said on Wednesday quoting confessions by an arrested terrorist.

Stating that the terrorist had been arrested in Bombay, Advani said, "His confessions were very startling. He told the police that Al Qaeda had plans to attack Britain, Australia and our Parliament House. It was a massive conspiracy."

Advani, who did not name the terrorist, said the terrorist had received flight training in Australia.

"We have been able to confirm his statements and some other information he had revealed," the minister said.

"From what all this man has said, it seems his confessions carry some weight," Advani said.

Investigations are still on and the leads he has given were still being pursued, the home minister added.

 

14 posted on 12/11/2001 4:13:19 AM PST by Nita Nupress
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: RightOnline
You may be interested in this one.
15 posted on 12/11/2001 4:14:09 AM PST by Nita Nupress
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: umbra
was not abandoned after September 11, and that the strike was to take place in November.

I'll bet it's became more difficult to recruit al Queda hijacking muscle since everyone realized this was a one-way ticket to Paradise.

I've been convinced since the outset that 11 of the 19 hijackers didn't know it was a death mission, and UBL has apparently confirmed that.

16 posted on 12/11/2001 4:18:00 AM PST by angkor
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Nita Nupress; Lion's Cub
Is there any way to find out where Clinton was on the morning of 9/11/2000? Was he out of the White House?

And what date was the Cole bombing? Did it coincide with 9/11/2000?

Also the Just Post the Dang Thing threads began 9/8/2000. An excerpt:

Another adjunctive area, specific trigger actions, could also be looked at. Nuclear terrorism, for instance. By EO, Clinton has changed the level for publicly declaring a national emergency from 'domestic terrorism' (WMD, for example) to any attack on the US, or US territories (including embassies, American interest stations, etc.).

Two possible scenarios:

1. Chemical/biological release within the continental US. Most of the population will not know for certain if the attack is controlled, except by any information disseminated by the media.

2. Nuclear release. Suitcase nuke (or other, small-yield device) detonated on or near US military bases (S. Korea, Japan, Diego Garcia, Okinawa, etc.) could polarize the populace behind Clinton, if used in conjunction with #1. Remember, IF such actions are taken, it must be because the (perceived/created) crisis is large enough to overwhelm the populace with a sense of urgency and foreboding. Clinton must create a scenario that causes (controlled/manipulated) public opinion and polls to welcome his retaining power.

17 posted on 12/11/2001 5:03:14 AM PST by OwenKellogg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: OwenKellogg
Very good questions. Many of us here on freerepublic had a foreboding feeling that Clinton had a big plan up his sleeve in order to declare martial law before the elections. Could he have known this? I don't think even an evil Clinton would have had a hand in the plans, but could he have known about them? He is the one who did away with personal on-the-ground intelligence, so supposedly, he would have had less resources to have learned this sort of thing. I would like to see answers to your questions, because I think they might begin to point to the truth of this event. Might also explain why Hillary had that sour look on her face while President Bush spoke to the joint houses.
18 posted on 12/11/2001 5:35:05 AM PST by twigs
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: OwenKellogg
Also, when did Clinton change the law by EO giving AG (J Reno) responsibilities that had previously belonged to Sec. of Defense? The change was to take affect 10/1/00, if memory serves me correctly, but when was the EO drafted? Any thoughts?
19 posted on 12/11/2001 5:43:39 AM PST by twigs
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Sueann; Nita Nupress; LSJohn
"367 days earlier - Sept. 9, 2001"

I don't think that adds up? It would have to be Sept. 9, 2000. Thank God this did not happen in 2000. Clinton would have declared martial law and stopped the election. We would now be living in a police state and terrorists would have had free run of the place. Thank God again!!

4 posted on 12/10/01 10:31 PM Pacific by Sueann

IIRC, the ever vigilant Nita Nupress & others developed several threads dealing with the "real terrorist threat of bubba" contriving some event as an excuse to declare martial law and suspend the november elections.

the 9/09/00 events could very well have played into this scenario.

20 posted on 12/11/2001 5:46:37 AM PST by thinden
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson