Posted on 08/02/2004 7:04:18 AM PDT by ganeshpuri89
A Pakistani official appeared via telephone on Fox News Channel about 30 minutes ago and said another top Al-Qaida operative was being questioned by Pakistani authorities. The official added that the individual being questioned was arrested in the July 25 raid that netted Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani. The official also noted that the individual being questioned was one of seven persons the FBI announced in May it was seeking information on in relation to attacks on the United States.
DEVELOPING
Wonderful if true, though I thought he was supposed to be in Somalia ...
Then again, so was Ghailani ;)
I wonder if the officers questioning him play background music from "The Nutcracker Suite"?
As long as they don't put underwear on the guy's head.
Nothing on the wires yet. The Pakistani's accent was so thick and was speaking so fast it was difficult to catch all he said. He did reiterate that the individual being questioned was one of the seven.
The dude is some computer & communications expert - he is singing like a canary, according to the AP story. Supposedly, he is in charge of sending out coded e-mails to Al-Quaida operatives. This could be a huge catch.
We should arrest everyone in the world whose name contains either "Mohammed" or "Ali," unless he was born "Cassius Clay."
Why him?
It's my prayer that after the horrors of Abu Ghraib were shown, our government is now going to display sensitivity and tact and respect for human dignity when questioning people like this. We will never again see underwear on a suspect's head, demeaning his personhood.
No, they should stick strictly to questioning guys like this with a Sears Diehard and a pair of jumper cables.
Any info on conflicting claims by WaPo and NYTimes on source of intel that led to terror warning?
Walter Pincus and John Mintz said it was from Ghailani capture and Douglas Jehl and David Rohde said it was from Muhammad Khan.
Also, NY Newsday says Bank of America Tower in San Fran was one of targeted sites listed in seized 'doucumentary evidence."
except now the cover is blown and the codes are being changed.
I hope they rounded up whoever they wanted to get in the last 24-48 hours because the roaches are going to scatter with this news.
The timing is suspicious. Obviously, Bush is ignoring Kerry's plea not to capture any more terrorists from now until November.
Hah!
FBI Remarks on Fazul Mohammed: "He is very good with computers."
Yeah, but I had thought the computer guy in question was Abu Talha, who's Pakistani. Mohammed is from the Comoros, IIRC.
The Pakistanis, with help from the CIA, have been rounding arresting little fish for the past couple of months in Kerachi and Punjab. Probably the only reason all this info was announced yesterday is that the raid in Gujrat on July 25th netted the big fish.
maybe it's zarcowi...remember all those posts....
Yeh Abu Talha is the guy the Times named. This announcement this morning said it was another high level op who was being questioned and he was on of the May BOLO seven.
Only person that is likely to be is Fazul, who the FBI says "is good with computers."
You at work?
"This could be a huge catch."
You are forgetting that Kerry can make a safer America. He even said so.
I thought the computer guy was Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan.
Angelus Errare mentioned Abu Talha. That's an AKA for Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, the computer geek the NY Times fingered today as source of "documentary evidence."
fyi
Answered my question 4 seconds after I asked!
#20
LOL
Remember that Abu Talha was part of the team of al-Qaeda leaders that received training from Hezbollah back in 1993, so he's also a valuable catch for many reasons entirely apart from his computer.
My understanding is that the comp in question had all kinds of different landmarks and financial institutions listed with a great deal of recon data on each of them. Which is bad, because that means that there was somebody here doing the recon.
This person was arrested earlier in July not the 25:th.
Isikoff on Fox now talking about terror warning.
"...casing going on for several years."
paraphrasing:
stunning that counter-terror efforts of last three years didn't uncover the people doing the casing.
we don't have an idea who any of these people are doing the casing. stunning.
Two words: Iranian diplomats.
LOL, see #27. You and Isikoff were saying the same thing at the same moment.
Question:
KSM's nephew arrested in June: He hasn't appeared in a Pak court. Do we have him? Diego Garcia?
Ahhh. Are you saying what I think you're saying?
In context:
Isikoff: "...casing going on for several years."
Angelus Errare: "Two words: Iranian diplomats."
Yep. Look into it, and I think you'll find that two recently got kicked out. Keep in mind that in the Buenos Aires bombings, it was the Iranian diplomats who did the casing for Hezbollah before the bombing took place.
Yeah, the two Iranians who were kicked out immediately sprung to mind when you posted "two words..."
Dan Rather - "In what can only be described as a highly orchestrated leak the Bush administration has announced that yet another alleged terrorist has been captured ..."
Michael Moore - "He's a Bushco operative. All these so-called terrorists are hired by the Saudis and take their orders from the White House."
John Fn Kerry - "We can all be thankful that this man has been caught but I wouldn't have done it this way. The way we did it in Viet Nam was ..."
Howard Dean - "This story is highly exaggerated and I think it was done for political gain. There is no such thing as Pakistan."
Sen. Clinton - "Did the administration have prior knowledge that this man was a terrorist and keep it from us? We have a right to know!"
Tom Daschle - "The timing is very suspicious. Why would the administration catch a terrorist now during an election cycle?"
Algore - "How can one poor dark skinned soul like this be a threat to the United States of America? He's (Bush's) playyyyyiiiiiing onnnnn ouuuuuurrr feaaaaaarrrs!!!"
LOL!
Grill him. Another Jihadi on the barbie.
That's a darned uncooperative group of thugs, huh?
U.S. expels 2 Iranian guards at United NationsPair accused of taking 'sensitive' photos of New York landmarksUNITED NATIONS (CNN), June 29, 2004 -- Two Iranian security guards at the Iranian mission to the United Nations have been expelled from the United States, the State Department said Tuesday. The two were seen taking still photos and video of New York City subways, buses and tunnels, and were expelled last weekend for conduct inconsistent with their official duties, the State Department said. But an Iranian official said: "Like anybody who visits New York, they visit tourist sites -- sightseeing and videotaping themselves, looking at the Metropolitan Museum [of Art], places like that." Adam Ereli, deputy spokesman at the State Department, said the guards were expelled after being observed by the FBI "videotaping various locations from New York deemed to be sensitive." Ereli called the activity a "recurring problem, as this was the third time the United States has required the departure of Iranian security guards for videotaping and photographing landmarks in New York. "In the case of the Iranian mission to the United Nations, it represented a unique pattern that raised concerns of law enforcement," he said. "And it was our view that, based on previous behavior and what we were seeing, that this was the appropriate action to take." Ereli added that Iranian diplomats had been previously told about U.S. concerns. "This was the option that we were left with," he said. An official at the Iranian mission confirmed that two security guards have left the United States but said "it is not accurate that they have been videotaping anything illegal." He added that their photography "was nothing of the sensitive type that the U.S. contends." CNN's Richard Roth, Liz Neisloss and Elise Labott contributed to this report |
how is it "stunning"? some muslim sits in a starbucks across from the citibank building, observing what is going in and out. what can we do to him? can we arrest him?
bttt
ping per request
I was right....they caught someone else.
fyi..
Michael Isikof is being an a$$h0le for pretending not to remember that we've caught and deported at least two sets of Iranians casing NYC landmarks and videoing "places of interest".
That sort of journalistic dishonesty deliberately conveys the impression that we are inept instead of on the ball. Michael and his buddies no doubt b!tched and moaned about our deporting those Iranians as being unfair and unjust and unwarranted, too.
5 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires
Does he use WINDOWS or an OS software?
Lol
Ok, from my POV, it appears to have gone down like this:
1. Musaad Aruchi was captured in Karachi on July 12th as a result of US wiretaps and intercepted communications.
2. Mohammed Nareem Noor Khan was captured in Lahore on June 13th as a result of information provided by Musaad Aruchi. He has been described as a foot soldier, not a top leader. Some sources report that he is also known as "Abu Talha" or "Abu Talaha". Other sources report this as a different person, captures "a few weeks ago".
3. Farida Goolam Mohamed Ahmed was captured at the airport in McAllen Texas on July 19th when she failed to produce the required stamp in her visa, after crossing the Mexican border illegally.
4. Ahmad Khalfan Ghailani was captured on July 25th in Gujrat Pakistan on the basis of information provided by Musaad Aruchi.
5. (???) Some sources claim that an additional top Al Qaeda member was captured along with Ghailani in Gujrat on July 25th, a computer expert largely responsible for secret Al Qaeda communications. Some have speculated that this person may be Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a long time member of the US 22 most wanted noted for his computer expertise.
Other sources attribute the computer/secure communications personage to Musaad Aruchi, captured on July 12th, while still others attribute this knowlege to Muhammed Nareem Noor Khan, and/or Abu Talha, depending on whether these two are the same person or not.
There are two obstacles between us and the truth of this matter.
1. Al Qaeda typically uses aliases for its operations staff, making it difficult to keep track of individuals.
2. The intelligence services are issuing conflicting reports, from non-attributable sources speaking off the record, and what the reporters print depends on who they have talked to. There are not yet official statements to work from, because the intelligence services are playing this close to the vest.
Essentially, we are working with "early reports" in this case, and early reports are often wrong. If there is a need to force a decision regarding when the computer/security expert was captured, and which captured prisoners are driving current attack warnings, then it is important to note that such assignments may be arbitrary and inaccurate.
It is my opinion that the first captured prisoner, Musaad Aruchi, alerted investigators to an impending US attack, which triggered vague warnings.
These were possibly amplified by the Muslim woman captured in Texas, perhaps not.
These warnings were crystalized by information obtained from Ghailani, Khan, and possibly Fazul Mohammed (or another person with similar skills) or obtained from their computer hard drives.
However the above represents a best guess based on admittedly unconfirmed information.
I am reasonably sure that Aruchi set off vague warning bells, and I am reasonably sure that recent information from unknown sources specified the targets, and beyond that, the rest has to be classified as speculation.
I would note that when Farida Ahmed was captured in Texas, she was carrying approximately $7,000 in US currency. Usualy Al Qaeda practice is to move funds into an area of operations during the planning and early execution stages, and then move it out shortly before an attack.
Before using this information for complacency, it should be also noted that funds for the 9/11 attacks came in late in the game, was used for purchasing the airline tickets, and the refunds only went out when the attacks were imminent.
Any "protection" offered by the incoming funds has expired, since she was captured more than two weeks ago.
Very interesting connection. She hasn't been mentioned much in the reports that have come out so far, but from what you say it certainly seems that she was on her way to do something, and do it soon.
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