BEN LADEN WAS IN IRAN, PREPARING NEW TERRORIST OPERATIONS

Iran Press Service ^ | 6.25.2003 | Ahmad Ra’fat

[DoctorZIn]

ROME 25 June (IPS) Master terrorist Osama Ben Laden was in Iran during the month of May, where he has meeting with at least seven high-ranking members of al-Qa’eda, discussing details of organising terrorist operations in several European countries as well as against American and British interests, according to the Italian military intelligence SISMI.

In a secret report to the Italian government and the Parliament’s National Security Committee, the SISMI says that Mr. Ben Laden, alleged to have masterminded several daring terrorist operations against the United States, including the 11 September attacks on New York’s World Trade Center twin towers and the Pentagon in Washington D. C., had left his base in Afghanistan for Iran days before the 11 September operations, that killed more than 3.500 people.

As a result of the 11 September operations, in which three passenger planes hijacked by highly trained members of the al-Qa’eda crushed on the World Trade Center towers and on the Pentagon, the United States attacked Afghanistan and toppled the Islamist fundamentalist Taleban government that had provided sanctuary to al-Qa’eda, but its search for Osama Ben laden, a Saudi national, has so far remained unsuccessful.

Though there were reports that some of Mr. Ben Laden’s family were hiding in Iran, however, this is the first time that a European secret service has located the network’s boss.

Iran has always denied any link with al-Qa’eda and rejected as "baseless" allegations that Ben Laden was hiding in Iran, but at the same time admitted that up to five hundred members of the network who had crossed the porous Iran borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan had been detained, some of them handed over to the countries they had their passports, including Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Afghanistan, Belgium or Italy.

Details of the report, under study by the Italian government, the Parliament and the Senate, are sketchy, but a source close to the opposition Ulivo coalition at the Parliament has confirmed the report, stopping short of revealing more details due to the secret nature of the document.

"Though I can not tell more on the details of the report, but I can confirm that based on what our security organisation has stated in the report, firstly Osama Ben Laden is alive and secondly he has left Afghanistan, hiding in another country that could be the Islamic Republic of Iran", he said, confirming that al-Qa’eda planned terrorist operations in Italy.

"Mr. Ben laden was seen in the Islamic Republic, more precisely in Tehran in May, where he met with seven members of the network, planning attacks on American and British interests, but also some European and Asian countries like Italia, Pakistan and Turkey", the SISMI reported.

According to the report, in order to facilitate their travel to Europe, some of the al-Qa’eda members have been provided with Iranian passports using different names, the SISMI warns, naming two members as Khaled Amin and Moosa Jaber. ENDS IRAN AL-QAEDA 25603

[DoctorZIn]

He does get around....

[mhking]

Elvis has left the building...

[DoctorZIn]

Thought you might find this interesting...

BEN LADEN WAS IN IRAN, PREPARING NEW TERRORIST OPERATIONS
Iran Press Service ^ | 6.25.2003 | Ahmad Ra’fat
Posted on 06/25/2003 5:26 PM PDT by DoctorZIn

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/935595/posts

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”

[demsux]

Kind of like a noose around the neck. If in Iran, Bush is brilliant...we've got him surrounded.

Also, W already told us that Iran is on our list.

Beautiful...

[Dog]

fyi..

[backhoe]

Locator ^... dropping offline on a few minutes, will pick this up later.

[InvisibleChurch]

but where is bin laden ... i think ben is a cousin who works down to the bomb factory

[Angelus Errare]

I've been saying this for awhile. Jacob, you have the FReepMail in question to prove it ;)

He's probably holed up at that damned "hunting lodge" out in Kerman province with his lieutenants, protected by the IRGC.

[DoctorZIn]

Sound like a possibility to me as well.

[blam]

Does anyone know how reliable is the SISMI.
Italy has been 'kicking butt' with the Radical Islamists in Italy.

[Dog]

Maybe all the recent attacks in Iraq recently directed at us by Saddam supporters are really AQ attacks.

[Tamzee]

Bin Laden in Iran... why am I not surprised?

Thanks for the heads-up!

[Angelus Errare]

Ping

[Dog]

Italy just took down a cell in Milan I wonder if this report is based on intel gathered from that raid..

[YoungKentuckyConservative]

I hear war drums beating for Iran. The noise is steadily growing less and less faint, week by week. 2004?

[f.Christian]

Just prior to 9 - 1 - 1 ...

castro was in iran saying they were going to bring America down on it's knees !

[Angelus Errare]

Actually, Robert (ganeshpuri89) and I have figured that for awhile:

http://www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=486

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/172/nation/Islamic_militants_may_be_regrouping+.shtml

http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SA1003

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MewNews/message/12993

[BOBTHENAILER]

He's probably holed up at that damned "hunting lodge" out in Kerman province with his lieutenants, protected by the IRGC.

The hunting lodge occupants need to meet Mr. JDAM, and his cousins Mr. Cruise and Ms. Hellfire.

[Normal4me]

Wasn't there just a story about Iran turning over some al-queda over to Saudi? Hmmmmm.....

[Angelus Errare]

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=2980763

The cell the Italians busted worked for the GSPC.

http://www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=450

One of the major GSPC leader is Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who runs their leadership council in Niger:

http://windsofchange.net/archives/003621.html

Belmokhtar got a message from bin Laden back in December:

http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=237623&lang=e&dir=news

Depending on how high up in the food chain the GSPC cell was, they might have known where the guys who delivered the message to their boss was from.

[Angelus Errare]

There was, but only in return for the MKO leadership. If these guys become too much of a hot potatoe for the ayatollahs to handle, they're passed on to the Saudis and given the revolving door jail treatment:

http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.asp?D=6/19/02&ID=5204

[Angelus Errare]

There was, but only in return for the MKO leadership. If these guys become too much of a hot potatoe for the ayatollahs to handle, they're passed on to the Saudis and given the revolving door jail treatment:

http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.asp?D=6/19/02&ID=5204

[Dog]

I didn't know Bin Laden could call on 27 groups to do his bidding....this war could take a generation or more to fight.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

...Former personal White House Political Advisor to HILLARY and BILL CLINTON during the 1990's DICK MORRIS confirmed for the first time anywhere on National Talk Radio over the Weekend that...

...BILL CLINTON did indeed refuse 2 Presidential Offers from the Sudan in 1996 (with a 3rd Offer made in 2000) to extradite OSAMA bin LADEN to the United States for a Trial that would have prevented the attacks of September 11, 2001 on US.

...How interesting it is that no sooner did these words come out of DICK MORRIS' mouth on the air then CLINTON Friend Associated Press cranked up an unsubstantiated "Story" about BUSH not taking out OSAMA bin LADEN 3-Times by Drone Aircraft..?

...Sort of reminds one of AP's bogus Pulitzer Prize Story about a Massacre at the Bridge of NO GUN RI in the opening weeks of the Korean War by our U.S. 7th Cavalry that has since been PROVEN to NEVER have happened at all..?

...Perhaps its time for AP to finally return its bogus NO GUN RI Pulitzer Prize and now apologize for 2 bogus stories instead of just one..?

[adam_az]

[Angelus Errare]

I believe there are something like forty terrorist groups that are part of bin Laden's International Islamic Front, which is al-Qaeda for all practical purposes. This is why accounts of the group having only 3,000 or 4,000 members are so wrong-headed, the actual total when you combine the members of the affiliate groups makes it much, much larger. MILF down in the Philippines has 12,000 fighters just in of itself.

Read Rohan Gunaratna's "Inside Al-Qaeda" for probably the best treatment on the organization.

[firewalk]

Thank you for the ping
bump to read in the morning

[adam_az]

Seems to be a FRENCH spelling...

[the Real fifi]

At the outset of the war in Afghanistan reports circulated that OBL was in Iran. I have no idea if this report--or the others were true. This report cites no one by name respecting the existence of such a report. I will take it with a Big grain of salt for the time being.

[b4its2late]

I can vouch for that.... I was over there too. I believe it was around the same time he was there because I heard people talking. They were in concentric circles in the wheatfields of Iran. Yep. Swear to God, heard it with my own two ears.

Also, airport security at that time was sub par to say the least. Walked on the plane with no hassles, no x-ray, no removing of the shoes, no questions...... and that was in the US.

Now Iran was a different story. I looked a bit out of place there, and their screeners asked me if I was from Iraq. At first, I hesitated to answer, but finally say "NO". They bought it, at first, then they looked like they were a little suspicious. Then I said, "Did you know that in 2003 it'll be the Yankees 100 year and that they have won 26 championships?"

From that point on, I was with the in crowd. And it was a a disco bar in Tehran that I heard than Ben Laden was in country....

My ears perked up after that and I figured that I was on a mission. With that in my head what came next you might ask yourself?

POP. I was hit on the head as John Travolta was singing in the background. I came to with a bunch of radical islamists praying pointing east and I figured that was the best time to make a break for it.

I found myself in some mountains in Southern Iran. Don't ask me where I was because I had no friggin' idea at that point in time.

So I walked and walked and walked some more. I finally came across a bridge that crossed a great gorge. There was a guard on the bridge and of course it was a rope bridge. The guard asked me what my favorite color was. I said Indigo, and boom, he said go across.... No problem there.

I walked in what I thought was northerly direction, but sands storms messed up my sense of direction and I, as a male, refused to stop and ask for directions. So, consequently, I ended up at the damn rope bridge again, but on the other side of course.

The guard on that side asked me what my favorite color was and I said I don't have one, how about yours? And he said greeen and I said, nope wrong, and threw him into the gorge.

So I turned around and said, I have to investigate this Ben Laden thing further and a look of utter determination came across my face. The next woman I stumbled across, I decided I was going to ask for directions. I found one, in a burka of course, and said, Where mam may I find a disco? She said, over that hill you will find what you are looking for....

I thought, kewl, I'm on my way. Sure enough over the next hill was a 70's sytle disco bar. With music blarring from it, (I think it was Staying Alive by the Bee Gees) I walked to the door of the establishment. The cover charge was $5.00, but you get a coupon for a drink, so I called it even. Anyway, I get in there and sure enough, Staying Alive was blarring over the Bose speakers and in the middle of the dance floor who did I see?

You guessed it..... Ben Laden.

That's how I know he's still with us......

[JustPiper]

Thanx for the ping AE? I have one question...was he 'truly' there or do we need an excuse to start with them right now?

[yooper]

He's friggin' dead.

[InvisibleChurch]

Seems to be a FRENCH spelling...

figures

[Angelus Errare]

Given that it was the Italians who broke this, probably based on data taken from al-Qaeda sleepers in Europe, my guess is that it's legit. We know that his son, Saif al-Adel (the military commander), and Zarqawi (the operations chief) are all holed up at a military base in Kerman province.

Just follow the rats ...

[SandRat]

Does anyone think that these Mullahs will remember G.W. saying: "Either you are with us in this war on terror or you are against us! Any nation that harbours inside its borders a terrorist is a terrorist nation. Any nation that does not help us bring these terrorists to justice is a terrorist nation. Terrorists and terrorist nations will either be brought to justice or have justice brought to them."

Can anyone out there say;

"Hey Iran!"

"You're Next!"

[plusone]

Goldstein...

[JulieRNR21]

WOW......if this is true....we better go get him ASAP!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Agree but, not to throw cold water on the parade, we also have Iraq more than surrounded and we are having a difficult time finding WMD and Saddam. We will, in time, but this stuff is not trivial. Finding OBL in Iran would be easier if they simply turned him in, but in the aftermath of an invasion, I would not have high hopes.

[Imal]

Interesting that a "secret" SISMI document is being discussed by the Iran Press Service. I guess in Italy, as apparently here in the U.S., "secret" means "I can't show you this document, I can only tell you what it says". Usually such "leaks" are quite intentional and calculated, so I note that with interest here.

As for those suggesting that Iran is our next military target, I find it extremely unlikely that we will handle Iran the same way we handled Iraq, and think it would be a tragic blunder of major proportions if we tried.

Instead, Iran is a textbook example of a country that can be handled with "black bag" operations, and probably doesn't require very many at all to achieve the desired results. No doubt, "responsible parties" in Washington are assessing which way the Iranian apple cart is going to fall, so they can give it a little push.

Iran is overdue for another revolution. I suspect it is scheduled for election season 2004.

[mjaneangels@aolcom]

Thanks for the ping. Interesting reading here.

[jraven]

Actually, he was in Iran to attend a bar mitzvah.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I would bet that they are al Qaeda.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I think I heard on Fox that the Villagers said they were people they didn't know.

So it is very possible they were connected with Al-Queda or the Iranians!

[AdmSmith]

"Though I can not tell more on the details of the report, but I can confirm that based on what our security organisation has stated in the report, firstly Osama Ben Laden is alive and secondly he has left Afghanistan, hiding in another country that could be the Islamic Republic of Iran", he said, confirming that al-Qa’eda planned terrorist operations in Italy.

I do not think that this report is correct, read the vague "confirmation" above.

[Angelus Errare]

There have been stories for the last several months that high-ranking members of al-Qaeda are being sheltered by the IRGC. According to Time Magazine, documents recovered from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed indicate bin Laden's family was turned over to the IRGC for safekeeping. His son Saad was sighted in Tehran in February and based on data recovered from the plane crash as well as the Riyadh bombings, the CIA evidently believes that numerous al-Qaeda leaders are holed up at an IRGC base out in Kerman province that used to be one of the Shah's old hunting lodges.

The Iranians have also granted a safe harbor to Ansar al-Islam and have allowed them to reconstitute from within their territory. Your belief is, as I understand it, that only elements of the IRGC are involved in all of this, but even if that is in fact the case the rest of Iranian government appears to be doing little to stop said policies or the harboring of the leadership of the organization that calls for our destruction. And if the Iranian government won't act on this one, then the US will have no choice but to deal with that non-compliance.

[AdmSmith]

I agree with most of your description of the situation. However, my estimate is that there are parts (minority) of IRGC that are supporting al Qaeda. This type of support is as well provided by some people in the iranian intelligence community.

The Iranian state is run both by the Iranian government and the maniac clerics and it is not always clear who is in command of what. This is the main reason for the conflicting information from Iran regarding foreign policy etc.

This situation will prevail until the clerics will return to the Mosques and return to the pre-Khomeini interpretation of Islam.

[AdmSmith]

I just read another article quoted here http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/935805/posts?page=8#8
that claims "As President Khatami has said, a government has been formed inside the government, and some organizations are arresting citizens,” Hadi Qabel, head of the reformist Participation Front party in the city of Qom told Tosea."

It seems to be a violent summer in Iran this year.