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Nurse Spots Terrorists on Canadian Ferry
National Post ^ | Tuesday, December 31, 2002 | Adrian Humphreys

Posted on 01/01/2003 10:46:28 PM PST by garjog

Men wanted by the FBI ''in the broader context of 9/11 and the New Year'' were reportedly aboard a B.C. ferry carrying a large, heavy box and taking photographs of the docks earlier this month, the National Post has learned. [snip]

Among the tips coming to the FBI since its public request for information is the compelling account by a nurse from B.C.'s Lower Mainland. The woman was interviewed yesterday by FBI agents after she reported seeing two of the five men, whose pictures were released by the bureau, aboard a ferry that sailed from the Vancouver Island ferry dock at Duke Point, 16 kilometres south of Nanaimo, to Tsawwassen, the large ferry terminal south of Vancouver.

The woman, who spoke to the National Post on condition her name not be published, said she was chilled when she saw the photograph of Iftikhar Khozmai Ali, 21, and Adil Pervez, 19, because she is sure they are the men she saw on her Dec. 10 trip.

She said Mr. Ali was sitting in the front forward lounge of the ferry, slumped in his seat with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. She was so startled by his cold stare she considered phoning authorities to report him.

"This fellow stood out in my mind and bothered me. I told my husband and others about him when I got home. But what could I do? Phone the police saying a man looked angry?" she said.

After the ferry arrived, she said another man, whom she now believes was Mr. Pervez, was taking photographs of the facility with a digital camera he held at chest height. "He continued to take photographs of the entrance to the ferry terminal, the ticket area and baggage area and escalator. He photographed the entire area -- and a tourist would just not want photos of that for souvenirs," she said.

"It was pouring rain and I thought, Why is he photographing the entrance to the ferry? It was unnerving to watch. He must have taken, easily, two dozen photographs. He then, together with another fellow, lifted a fairly large container -- about three feet by four feet -- into a van.

"The box bothered me because of the way it was wrapped and also the unusual size. It was poorly and cheaply wrapped. It looked like it was cardboard and wrapped in wrinkled brown paper and duct tape. I just found it odd. It took two of them to get it into the van."

She said she realizes her story seems strange but she said her career as a nurse requires her to be alert and observant.

"This piece of baggage, after taking the ferry for 12 years, bothered me when nothing else has; and so did these two people," she said.

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


TOPICS: Canada; News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: borders; fbi; torrorism
Is this creepy or what?
1 posted on 01/01/2003 10:46:28 PM PST by garjog
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Comment #2 Removed by Moderator

To: garjog
LINKS OF INTEREST:

CANADA.com (CANADIAN PRESS): "CHIEF REFUTES SMUGGLING REPORT" (010203)

FOX NEWS.com (AP): "PAKISTANI SAYS HE'S IN FBI WANTED PHOTO" (010203)

THE STAR.com (CANADIAN PRESS): "FBI HUNT STARTED AFTER TORONTO MAN'S ARREST: CBC" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Michael John Hamdani and another man were charged with committing fraud over $5,000 after police in Brampton, Ont., discovered the fake passports and phoney travellers' cheques. International police forces were contacted after detectives found $600,000 worth of phoney Thomas Cook and American Express travellers' cheques, fake Pakistan drivers' licences, counterfeit passports, stacks of passport photos, fakes of Canada's new permanent resident cards and printing machinery. Indian consulate officials were also called in after fake gold leaf stamped passports of Canada and India were seized by fraud squad officers. A man was initially arrested on suspicion of buying household furnishings and appliances with fake American travellers' cheques allegedly identified himself with a counterfeit driver's licence.") (January 1, 2003)

THE PLAIN DEALER (AP): "PASSPORT PROBE SPURS FBI MANHUNT" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Washington - Information from a passport-smuggling investigation set off a nationwide search for five men of Middle Eastern origin who may have entered the United States from Canada on Christmas Eve, an FBI official said yesterday. A White House spokesman said the intelligence came from an anti-terrorism investigation. However, the official, and an FBI spokesman, said they could not link - or rule out - a connection to a terrorist plot or cell.") (123102)

***NATIONAL POST.com: "FBI HUNTING FOR FIVE FROM CANADA Agency Believes Men Crossed Border from North, Have Information on Terrorist Threat" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Ottawa has faced sharp criticism on its immigration policies since Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian who had claimed refugee status in Canada, was stopped by a U.S. border guard in 1999 trying to enter the state of Washington from British Columbia with a trunkload of explosives. He was later found to be a member of a Montreal cell of the Algerian Armed Islamic Group, which has strong ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, and was convicted of conspiring to blow up Los Angeles International Airport. There have also been calls to tighten immigration procedures after it was recently revealed that growing numbers of criminal and suspected terrorists were allowed into Canada last year on special permits issued by the federal government. At least 11 people who authorities believe have engaged in "terrorism, espionage or subversion by force" were granted permits that let them enter Canada despite having backgrounds that would normally keep them out -- a number that increased from two in 2000. Another 600 people convicted of a serious crime here or abroad were also among those admitted in 2001, up from 377 in 1999.") (123002)

FYI RESOURCE...GOOGLE Search Term: "ALGERIAN ARMED ISLAMIC GROUP"

~FBI IS SEEKING INFORMATION:~
****FBI.gov - SEEKING INFORMATION: POSTER (Please click here NOW to view photos) (122902)

***FBI.gov - Press Release (CLICK HERE to read the text of the official FBI Press Release.) (122902)

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking the public's assistance in determining the whereabouts of the following individuals:

ABID NORAIZ ALI, DOB AUGUST 15, 1977
IFTIKHAR KHOZMAI ALI, DOB SEPTEMBER 20, 1981
MUSTAFA KHAN OWASI, DOB NOVEMBER 12, 1969
ADIL PERVEZ, DOB DECEMBER 12, 1983
AKBAR JAMAL, DOB NOVEMBER 1, 1974

The above identified individuals, whose names and dates of birth may be fictitious, are believed to have entered the United States illegally on or about December 24, 2002. Although the FBI has no specific information that these individuals are connected to any potential terrorist activities, based upon information developed in the course of on-going investigations, the FBI would like to locate and question these persons.

The FBI has been working with Homeland Security Agencies (U.S. Customs, INS, TSA) to locate these individuals. The above information has also been disseminated to the appropriate law enforcement agencies around the United States and throughout the world.

Anyone with any information pertaining to these individuals is asked to contact their nearest FBI office. Photographs of the these individuals can be found on the FBI's web site at www.FBI.gov." (122902)

~END~

***THE STAR.com - THE TORONTO STAR (CANADIAN PRESS): Ottawa. "CANADA ALLOWS IMPORT OF BOMB BOOK" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The federal government has approved the importation of a book that gives detailed instructions for making bombs and blowing up bridges, the Ottawa Citizen reported yesterday. Even the author of The Anarchist Cookbook has renounced it as "misguided and potentially dangerous." But the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency says there is nothing to prevent its sale in Canada because it violates neither the hate law nor obscenity law, the newspaper reported.") (121502)

***FBI.gov: SEEKING INFORMATION: "AMER EL-MAATI" akas "Amro Badr Eldin Abou El-Maati, Amro Badr Abouelmaati" (SEEKING INFORMATION POSTER SNIPPET: "Amer El-Maati is being sought in connection with possible terrorist threats in the United States."..."SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS")

***FBI.gov: MOST WANTED TERRORISTS: "IMAD FAYEZ MUGNIYAH" aka "Hajj" (WANTED POSTER SNIPPETS: "Mugniyah is the alleged head of the security apparatus for the terrorist organization, Lebanese Hizballah."..."The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $25 million for information leading directly to the apprehension and/or conviction of Imad Fayez Mugniyah."..."SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS")

PAK TODAY.com - PAKISTAN TODAY: "THE FRANCHISING OF HEZBOLLAH" by Avi Davis (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Western intelligence has now revealed a high level of cooperation between Bin Laden and Imad Muganiyeh, the Hezbullah terrorist who masterminded some of Hezbollah's most spectacular atrocities and kidnappings in Lebanon. Reports have Muganiyeh first meeting with Bin Laden as early as 1995 and those meetings have continued. More than this, since al-Qaida fled Afghanistan at the end of last year, the Sunday Telegraph reports, between 80 and 100 al- Qaida fighters were provided with false passports by Hezbollah before being relocated to southern Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The same report acknowledges that Hezbollah, working hand in hand with al-Qaida, has set up cells in the Far East - including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. It is well known that Hezbollah has operated in Gaza and the West Bank for years, but the recent revelation by the Shin Bet in Israel that al- Qaida has now also joined them there, is chilling evidence of a level of cooperation previously unsuspected. Such news comes as a dire warning to American, Israeli and Jewish communities throughout the world.") (122702)

ALBAWABA.com: "IS HIZBULLAH INVISIBLE LEADER INVOLVED IN ACTIVITIES IN CANADA?" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "In the United States, authorities believe that perhaps one of the world's most wanted men is behind the Canadian organization, which has raised funds, falsified documents and purchased military equipment for Hizbullah. In Washington, officials currently suspect that the agents sent to Canada to gather support for the Hizbullah work for Mugniyah, a top-level Hizbullah leader and the suspected mastermind of numerous attacks worldwide.") (120102)

NATIONAL POST.com: "LEADING TERROR SUSPECT TIED TO CANADIAN CELL Imad Mugniyah: Academic Fears Operations Could Be Launched 'In and From' Canada" by Stewart Bell (111202)

stepping back in time...SEATTLE TIMES.com: "THE TERRORIST WITHIN The Story Behind One Man's Holy War Against America" (ARTICLE NOTE: The "terrorist" is identified as Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian.) (June 23 - July 7, 2002)

stepping back in time...US DOJ.gov - Attorney General Transcript (TRANSCRIPT SNIPPET: "As of last week, we had identified four of the individuals: Ramzi Binalshibh, Abd Al-Rahim, Muhammad Sa'id Ali Hasan, and Khalid Ibn Muhammad Al-Juhani. At that time, the identity of the fifth suspected terrorist remained unknown. Over the last week, we've received hundreds of leads from conscientious citizens across the nation and around the world. With these leads and further analysis of evidence recovered from the rubble of Muhammad Atef's house in Afghanistan, we have gained additional information about the fifth suspected terrorist. The name of the fifth terrorist is Al Rauf bin al Habib bin Yousef al-Jiddi. Al-Jiddi, who is a Canadian citizen, was born in Tunisia and is 36 years of age. He has black hair; is approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall and may weigh approximately 220 pounds. We identified al-Jiddi through discovery of a suicide letter found in the ruins of the Atef residence by the U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan. The letter, which is still being fully analyzed, was recently translated. In addition, the Canadian government assisted us by identifying Al-Jiddi. We have also identified an associate who may be traveling with Al-Jiddi. His name is Faker Boussora. He is 37 years of age, is approximately five feet, eight inches and weighs approximately 160 to 170 pounds, has a round face and prominent ears. We believe Boussora may also be involved in a martyrdom mission. Boussora is also a Canadian citizen, born in Tunisia. The FBI has alerted law enforcement authorities across the United States and is also working closely with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Both individuals should be considered extremely dangerous.) (NOTE: See photos in the FBI.gov - Seeking Information: "Martyrdom Messages.") (January 25, 2002)

stepping back in time...FBI.gov - Seeking Information: "MARTYRDOM MESSAGES"

WASHINGTON TIMES.com (AP): Islamabad, Pakistan. "AFGHAN WARLORD TO AID AL-QAEDA" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "An Afghan rebel leader yesterday said that his forces have allied with Taliban and al Qaeda fugitives, and that a "holy war" would be stepped up to target international forces and peacekeepers. "We are together" with the fugitive fighters, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar said in a Pashto-language message distributed in Pakistan by his followers.") (122602)

GOOGLE Search Term: "GULBUDDIN HEKMATYAR"

***SEATTLE TIMES.com: "FEARING ATTACK BY SEA, U.S. TRACKING 'SHIPS OF CONCERN'" by John Mintz, Washington Post (123102)

3 posted on 01/05/2003 8:38:39 PM PST by Cindy
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To: Cindy
Do you think that the report by the nurse is a fraud too, I wonder?
4 posted on 01/07/2003 10:37:55 PM PST by garjog
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To: garjog
When I read the nurse's account, what came to mind is Eunice Stone. Remember Eunice Stone? She overheard a conversation between 3 middle eastern men and reported it to the authorities. And... the rest is history. Unfortunately, only time will tell what becomes of the nurse's report and Eunice Stone's report.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/search?s=Eunice+Stone&ok=Search&m=exact&o=time
5 posted on 01/08/2003 12:02:09 AM PST by Cindy
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