1999 to present : (NO MONITORING OF TRADE ACROSS INTERNATIONAL LAND BORDERS WITH IRAQ) After 1999 there has been no monitoring of trade across the international land borders with Iraq. "King Abdallah [of Jordan] threw Lloyds of London out of the port of Aqaba, where they were supposed to monitor Iraqi imports," the former Iraqi intelligence officer says. "There are regular convoys of trucks to Baghdad from Jordan, and now a direct rail link from Syria carrying military spare parts and production gear, including equipment needed in Iraq's nuclear- weapons plants." - "How Saddam Got Weapons of Mass Destruction" By Kenneth R. Timmerman, Insight Magazine via WorldNetDaily.com , Tuesday, October 1, 2002
1999 : (CLINTON ADMINISTRATION, SUDAN'S OFFER TO TURN OVER BIN LADEN) The Clinton admin.spurned Sudanese help on two other occasions as well. In 1999, MSNBC.com reported that Sudan offered to turn over to the US two men who arrived on an airliner from Nairobi the day the U.S. Embassy there was bombed. The US declined, and the men were allowed to travel on to Pakistan. Why would the US be so resistant to help from Khartoum on such serious issues? In part, it was the belief that Sudan was playing a role in Iraq's chemical weapons program.
JANUARY 3, 1999 : (SADDAM OFFERS BOUNTY FOR DOWNING AN ALLIED JET) Saddam declares no-fly zones as “illegal” and says his people will resist them with “bravery and courage”. Offers $15,000 bounty to any unit that succeeds in downing an Allied jet.- Iraq - Scotsman says Saddam has weapons to wipe out world's population, nuclear bomb within 3 years "The Scotsman dossier - SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ" by Fraser Nelson, Westminster Editor
JAN.-JUNE 1999 : (CHANG, DNC, MCAULIFFE, TORICELLI) Mr. Chang makes a $10,000 donation to President Clinton's defense fund.
FEBRUARY 3, 1999 : (AFGHANISTAN, TALIBAN, US, BIN LADEN) U.S. Asst Sec of State Karl E. Inderfurth, the Clinton administration's point man for talks with the Taliban, and Michael Sheehan, State Dept counterterrorism chief, went to Islamabad to deliver a stern message to the Taliban's deputy foreign minister, Abdul Jalil: The US henceforth would hold the Taliban responsible for any terrorist act by bin Laden, by then already indicted for his alleged role in the embassy bombings. The officials reviewed the indictment in detail with the Taliban and offered to provide more evidence if the Taliban sent a delegation to NY, but theTaliban did not do so. Immediately after the U.S. warning, Taliban security forces took bin Laden from his Kandahar compound and spirited him away to a remote site, according to media reports at the time. They also seized his satellite communications and barred him from contact with the media. Publicly, the Taliban said they no longer knew where he was. Inderfurth now says the US interpreted such statements "as an effort to evade their responsibility to turn him over." Others, however, say the cryptic statements should have been interpreted differently. Bearden, for example, believes the Taliban more than once set up bin Laden for capture by the US and communicated its intent by saying he was lost. "Every time the Afghans said, 'He's lost again,' they are saying something. They are saying, 'He's no longer under our protection,' " Bearden said. "They thought they were signaling us subtly, and we don't do signals."
FEBRUARY 22, 1999 : (RATS, BONIOR, AL NAJJAR, PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD) Democratic House Whip Rep. David Bonior (D-MI) visited Mazen Al-Najjar in jail, Rep. Bonior is the first Congressman to visit Mazen. Rep. Bonior said he will ask Janet Reno to do away with the use of "Secret Evidence", he also promised to hand deliver a letter to President Clinton from Yara, Mazen Al-Najjar's ten year old daughter, calling for the release of her father.(This update from Mazen's Family & the AMC (American Muslim Council)
MARCH 29, 1999 : (CHANG, DNC, MCAULIFFE, TORICELLI) Mr. Chang goes to White House to watch N.C.A.A. championship game with President Clinton.
MARCH 4, 1999 : (RATS, BONIOR, AL-NAJJAR, PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD, 1996 ANTITERRORISM LAWS) Rep. Bonior met with President Clinton and not only brought up criticism of the 1996 Anti-Terrorism Law, but also hand delivered the letter from Yara, daughter of Mazen al-Najjar. He also added he will work with others in Congress to introduce legislation to bar the use of "Secret Evidence." (This update from Mazen's Family & the AMC (American Muslim Council)
MARCH 31, 1999 : (US AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL FAILURE) Air traffic controllers at Kennedy Airport, NY were forced to use portable, hand-held radios to guide pilots to safe landings and departures after a power failure knocked out the control tower's communication system for nearly two hours. The power failure, at the height of the evening rush hour, shut down a computer controlling eight radio frequencies and three telephone lines used to communicate with pilots in the air and on the ground. "It was hectic with the portable radios because we kept cutting each other off with our transmissions," said Barrett Byrnes, an official of the controllers' union who happened to be on duty.
APRIL 1999 : (AFGHANISTAN, AL-QEADA, BIOTERROR, COMPUTERS, 'CURDLED MILK' PLOT) A memo was written on a computer in Kabul soon after the US embassy bombings in Africa indicated that al-Qaida was embarking on potentially its most deadly project: the “curdled milk” biological- and chemical-warfare program. A memo written in April 1999, apparently by Zawahri, notes that “the destructive power of these weapons is no less than that of nuclear weapons.” The memo laments al-Qaida’s sluggishness in realizing the menace of these weapons, noting that “despite their extreme danger, we only became aware of them when the enemy drew our attention to them by repeatedly expressing concern that they can be produced simply.” As a first step, the memo suggests, militants must brush up on their reading. The memo gives a detailed precise American history of chemical and germ warfare. It lists a catalog of exotic killers, from anthrax to Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
MAY 7, 1999 : (AFGHANISTAN, AL-QEADA, BIOTERROR, COMPUTERS, CURDLED MILK PLOT) computer file later to be recovered in 2001 indicates that al-Qaida leaders had earmarked $2,000 to $4,000 for “start-up” costs of the "curdled milk" biological- and chemical-warfare program.
MAY 13, 1999 : (CUBA, CHINA, INTERFERING WITH US AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL) An incident recorded by the Federal Communications Commission in which Cuban electronic-warfare specialists penetrated the NY air-traffic-control system by simulating U.S. AF flight codes. The signals, which seriously threatened to disrupt air traffic, were traced to a 1,500 kilowatt transmitter operating west of Havana. (The Chinese have also established for themselves a sophisticated network of electronic espionage in Cuba to be used against the U.S. The bases are operating under the cover of Radio China short wave transmissions to Latin America and the U.S. Their principal bases are at Bejucal and near Havana. They are capable of interfering with U.S. air traffic control, according to the FCC. On the 13th of May at 4:48 p.m., the Chinese sent a communication to the air traffic control in New York, falsely identifying themselves as OPEC21, a U.S. Military C130 plane. )
MAY 23, 1999 : (AFGHANISTAN, AL-QEADA, BIOTERROR, COMPUTERS, ZAWAHRI, KHABAB, CURDLED MILK PLOT) A letter dated May 23 and written under one of Zawahri’s aliases is written (on the computer in Kabul recovered by a Wall Street Journal reporter later in 2001) and the author reports discussing some “very useful ideas” during a visit to Abu Khabab, the alias of an elderly Egyptian scientist. “It just needs some experiments to develop its practical use.” This was in reference to the al-Qeada "curdled milk" biological- and chemical- warfare program. "Particularly encouraging, " the letter in the computer files said, was a home-brew nerve gas made from insecticides and a chemical additive that would help speed up penetration into the skin. The writer said Khabab had supplied a computer disk that gave details of “his product” in a WinZip file, and “my neighbor opened it by God’s will.” U.S. officials, citing satellite photos and intelligence gathered from local residents, say Abu Khabab experimented with nerve gas on dogs and rabbits at a camp near the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. The camp, one of several in the area hit by U.S. bombs after Sept. 11, was known as Abu Khabab in honor of the scientist.
MAY 26, 1999 : (AFGHANISTAN, AL-QEADA, BIOTERROR, COMPUTERS, ZABADI) In a letter stored in the Kabul computer later discovered in 2001, under the same alias as earlier correspondence, the author says he was “very enthusiastic” about the Zabadi project and was especially pleased with Abu Khabab’s “significant progress.”
JUNE 1999 : (CAROLL, VISA FRAUD CASE IN GUYANA) Authorities wre tipped by confidential sources that someone had offered to sell visas out of the US embassy in Georgetown, Guyana to allow people to enter the US.http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/699887/posts
JUNE 1999 : (AFGHANISTAN, AL-QEADA, BIOTERROR, COMPUTERS, ATEF) date on a memo to be found on the Kabul computer hard drive to be discovered in 2001 and addressed to “Abu Hafs” — Atef’s alias — gave instructions for building a laboratory, ordering that walls be covered with oil paint and floors with tiles or cement “to facilitate cleaning with insecticides.” But, noted the memo, “construction should not start until electricity is installed.” It also called for evasive action to avoid detection: “Periodically (for example about every three months) one of the locations is to be canceled and replaced by another.” A progress report complained that the use of nonspecialists had “resulted in a waste of effort and money,” urging the recruitment of experts as the “fastest, safest and cheapest” route. A June 1999 memo said the program should seek cover and talent in educational institutions, which it said were “more beneficial to us and allow easy access to specialists, which will greatly benefit us in the first stage, God willing.”
JUNE 1999 : (SCOTT RITTER 'TURN') June 1999 interview with leaders of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a peace organization based in Nyack, New York, Ritter had changed his tune. "When you ask the question [does] Iraq possess militarily viable biological or chemical weapons? The answer is 'no.' It is a resounding NO! Can Iraq produce today chemical weapons on a meaningful scale? No! Can Iraq produce biological weapons on a meaningful scale? No! Ballistic missiles? No. It is 'no' across the board. So from a qualitative standpoint, Iraq has been disarmed. Iraq today possesses no meaningful weapons of mass destruction capability." Virtually every expert on Iraq and arms control disagrees. Ambassador Butler, Ritter's former boss with the U.N., says that Iraq never disarmed during the 1990s and almost certainly has weapons of mass destruction today. Charles Duelfer, Butler's number two, believes Iraq currently has biological and chemical weapons, and the means to deliver them. Arms control experts Gary Milhollin and Kelly Motz, with the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, detailed in the July issue of Commentary the steady and stealthy weapons trade with Iraq. In his less guarded moments, though, Ritter appears to acknowledge that Iraq retains weapons of mass destruction. Just minutes after he told the Fellowship of Reconciliation that Iraq has "no meaningful weapons of mass destruction capability," he qualified that assertion. More than that, he offered a justification for Saddam Hussein to repudiate the agreement that ended the Gulf War and rearm Iraq.Iraqi leaders, he said, "see their neighbors' weapons of mass destruction, they see the inevitability of conflict with the United States, and they're not going to give up their weapons. When Madeleine Albright made that awful statement in March of 1997, that economic sanctions would continue while Saddam was in power regardless of weapons disarmament, she basically closed the door on any hope that the Iraqis would get rid of their weapons." http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/000/524dplvk.asp
JUNE 15, 1999 : (N KOREAN VESSELS INVADE S. KOREAN WATERS) At least 17 and as many as 80 N. Korean sailors killed after naval firefight in which one of the North's vessels was sunk and others damaged. Clash followed nine consecutive days of North Korean incursions into South Korean waters. http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/06/29/korea.navy.timeline.reut/
JULY 1999 : (CUBA, IRAQ, TERRORISM) As recently as July 1999 Domingo Muchaustegui, a former Cuban government official said to have exceptional information about the Cuban government, wrote: "For U.S. interests, the closeness of the [Cuban] relationship with Iraq and some of the more militant terrorist groups in the Middle East is troublesome. Can Cuba be used to carry out terrorist acts against U.S. targets? Is there any cooperation between Sadam Hussein and Castro in the development of chemical and bacteriological weapons? What remains from the close cooperation between Castro and the more militant terrorist groups in the region?" (University of Miami Middle East Studies Institute, July 1999).
JULY 1999 : (CHANG, DNC, MCAULIFFE, TORICELLI) Mr. Chang receives letters endorsing his bid for Korea Life Insurance Company from Senator Torricelli, (left), Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Gregory W. Meeks and a New Jersey state finance official.
SEPTEMBER 1999 : (OR, PORTLAND GROUP MEMBER FORD IS AN INTERN IN THE PORTLAND MAYOR'S OFFICE) Patrice Lumumba Ford is an intern in Mayor Vera Katz's office.- "Terror suspect worked at Mayor Katz's office," story.asp-ID=50869 katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=50869
SEPTEMBER 1999 : (RUSSIA, CHECHNYA) On two separate days, Chechen terrorists bombed apartment buildings in Moscow, Russia. 212 were killed
SEPTEMBER 10 1999 : (RUSSIA, CHECHNYA) MOSCOW - A powerful explosion ripped apart a nine-story apartment building on the southeast fringes of the capital Thursday, killing at least 32 people, injuring more than 150 and burying more than 50 under the smoldering rubble. Emergency workers held out little hope of finding more survivors.
OCTOBER 1999 : (9/11 HIJACKERS, ATTA, BINALSHIBH, BAHAJI) Mohammed Atta and Binalshibh both attended the wedding of Said Bahaji, a 26-year-old German-Moroccan who vanished shortly before Sept. 11 and is thought to have been part of the Hamburg cell. At Bahaji's wedding, a lavish affair at a local mosque, at least three of the hijackers and their cohorts bumped shoulders with members of Hamburg's Muslim community, including a Syrian-born import-exporter named Mamoun Darkazanli. The Bush administration has accused Darkazanli of operating a front for al-Qaida, and Spain has named him in the indictment of Sept. 11 suspect Imad Yarkas, who comes from Darkazanli's home town of Aleppo, Syria. Atta also spent time in Aleppo during the mid-1990s while researching his dissertation on trade development there.
OCTOBER 1999 : (AFGHANISTAN) The Taliban take Mazar-i-Sharif. There are unconfirmed reports of mass arrests and executions (numbering in the thousands) of Shiites, especially of the Hazara ethnic group.
OCT.-NOV. 1999 : (CHANG, DNC, MCAULIFFE, TORICELLI) Mr. Chang receives letters supporting his company's position on the repayment of debts owed by North Korea from several members of Congress.
DECEMBER 17, 1999 : (UN SECURITY COUNCIL RELIEVES SANCTIONS ON IRAQ) The UN Security Council voted to relieve the sanctions on Iraq.
DECEMBER 1999 : (MILLENIUM PLOT, RESSAM, JORDAN, LAX) A terrorist cell linked to al-Qaida was discovered trying to carry out attacks inside the US. An Algerian, Ahmed Ressam, who had been admitted to Canada as an asylum applicant in 1994 despite being expelled from Algeria and France for suspicion of terrorist activities, was stopped at the US-Canadian border in Port Angeles, WA attempting to enter the U.S. from Canada with a carload of bomb-making materials destined for Los Angeles airport. Over 100 lbs of bomb-making material was found in his car. Ahmed Ressam admitted he was planning to set off a large bomb at LAX on New Year's Day. He said that he had received terrorist training at al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan and then been instructed to go abroad and kill US civilians and military personnel.
The CIA and other intelligence agencies identified and disrupted between five and 15 potential attacks on targets including a hotel in Jordan and the LAX airport. Several bin Laden supporters were rounded up in different countries. - info from "Yemeni Fugitive Was Critical To Unfolding of Sept. 11 Plot," By Peter Finn, Sunday, July 14, 2002, page A01, Washington Post
Al Qaida has attempted to attack U.S. and Israeli interests in Jordan on several occasions. The largest plot was in early 2000 when Al Qaida had hired Palestinians to blow up bridges that connect Israel and Jordan where U.S. Christians were arriving for millennium celebrations. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/759821/posts
The plot included a plan to blow up the Radisson SAS Hotel in Amman, Jordan, which is frequented by American tourists, and the infiltration of suspected Algerian terrorists from Canada, the officials said.
JANUARY 2000 : (MALAYSIA) In January 2000, Khalid Al-Midhar and Nawaq Alhamzi, two hijackers aboard the jet that hit the Pentagon, met with other al-Qaeda members in a condominium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The operatives included a suspect in the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000. That attack killed 17 U.S. sailors. The meeting was hosted by Sufaat, a member of the militant Muslim group Jemaah Islamiah, which U.S. officials say is linked to Osama bin Laden. Soon after the meeting, Al-Midhar and Alhamzi entered the USA and enrolled at a flight school in San Diego.- "Malaysia site of Sept. 11 plotting, FBI report says." By Jack Kelley, USA TODYusat-malaysia.htm
JANUARY 2000 : (IRAQI SHAKIR IS IN MALAYSIA TERRORIST SUMMIT WITH 9/11 HIJACKERS) The CIA and FBI are very interested in Ahmed Shakir. For one thing, he comes from Iraq and thus offers a potential connection to Saddam Hussein. For another, he was spotted by Malaysian intelligence at a terrorist gathering in Kuala Lumpur in January 2000 to discuss the suicide bombing plot on the U.S. destroyer Cole. Also at that summit meeting were two of the men who later hijacked the plane that flew into the Pentagon on September 11. - "Justice Kept In the Dark " by Evan Thomas and Michael Isikoff, Newsweek - MSNBC Wednesday, December 5, 2001 via Bint Jabeil bintjabail.com U.S. officials said Shakir was present at a January 2000 al Qaeda "summit" in Malaysia that was attended by two of the 9/11 hijackers. Authorities believe the summit may have been a planning session for both the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole and 9/11. - "IRAQI A MISSING LINK," By ALY SUJO, NY POST, SEPTEMBER 30, 2002
JANUARY 3, 2000: (USS THE SULLIVANS PLOT, AL-QEADA) A group of al-Qaida members and other terrorists who had trained in al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan attempted to attack a US destroyer, USS The Sullivans, with a small boat loaded with explosives. Their boat sank in the port of Aden, aborting the attack. ( Huh? Around the same time, U.S. law enforcement personnel arrested Ahmed Ressam, who they believed was planning several terrorist attacks on West Coast targets, including Los Angeles International Airport, coinciding with the Millennium celebrations. )
FEBRUARY 2, 2000: (? or 2001?) (CIA DIRECTOR TENET, AL- QEADA ) Before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, CIA Director George Tenet said Usama Bin Laden "is still foremost" among terrorists planning attacks against the US and that more than half of 24 terrorists brought to justice since July 1998 "were associates" of Bin Laden's Al-Qa'ida organization. He said that despite some disruptions, U.S. intelligence officials believe Bin Laden could strike without warning, and that the terrorist -- along with others -- is "placing increased emphasis on developing surrogates to carry out attacks in an effort to avoid detection."
FEBRUARY 2000 : (HIJACKING, BRITAIN, AFGHANISTAN ) At Stansted, England, 9 hijackers surrendered and released all hostages of the Afghan jetliner. Police arrested 21 [22] people and recovered arms. Half the hostages requested asylum. * (ISRAEL) Israeli jets fired 20 missiles in 8 raids in the Zillaya Valley following Hezbollah attacks on Israeli troops and militia. * (INDIA, KASHMIR) India, in Jammu-Kashmir a train explosion killed at least 5 people. In northern Kashmir gunmen burst into 2 homes in Pattan village and killed 6 people with 3 wounded. * (USA, CUBAN SPIES, FAGET OF INS IS A SPY) Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) official Mariano Faget, charged with using classified information for business purposes, a technical violation of the U.S. Espionage Act, and was subsequently sentenced to five years in jail. As of this time he was the higherst ranking Cuban spy known to operate in the US.
MAY 1, 2000 : (PORTLAND, OR : LIBERAL SCUM, MAY DAY PROTESTS) Activists met with the Police Chief Mark Kroeker and Mayor Vera Katz at Maranatha Church in northeast Portland with signs reading, “RIGHT WING CHRISTIAN GO BACK TO LA” and “CHRISTIANS ARE DIRT” it stung. “I’ve seen hurt in the chief’s eyes because people damn him for being a Christian and for being from LA,” says the mayor’s police liaison, Elise Marshall, who has constant contact with the chief. - "Can This Man Survive?" by Victoria Taft OCTOBER 2000
MAY 2000: (PLOT TO ASSASSINATE MASSOUD) Kabul, Afghanistan: someone sat down at an IBM desktop here and typed out a polite letter to a bitter foe of al-Qaida, the anti-Taliban leader Ahmed Shah Massoud and then printed out a request for an interview with Massoud, to be conducted by “one of our best journalists, Mr. Karim Touzani.” (Northern Alliance leader Massoud would later be assasinated by killers posing as journalists on Sept 9, 2001, a few days before the WTC and Pentagon attacks in the US.
MAY 2000 : (IAEA DISCOVERS IRAQI CENTRIFUGE) The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency, which also carried out inspections on Iraq until Dec 1998) discovered and destroyed an Iraqi nuclear centrifuge which had been stored in Jordan.- Iraq - Scotsman says Saddam has weapons to wipe out world's population, nuclear bomb within 3 years "The Scotsman dossier - SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ" by Fraser Nelson, Westminster Editor
MAY 18, 2000: (ATTA OBTAINS US VISA, BERLIN) Mohammed Atta obtained a visa at the U.S. Consulate in Berlin on May 18, 2000, and came to Newark, N.J. on June 3, 2000. - attributed to LA TIMES, not original source, "Hijacker Shuttled in and out of U.S. on Visas issued by Consulates" By CRAIG PYES, PATRICK J. McDONNELL and WILLIAM C. REMPEL, Los AngelesTimes la-atta.html
JUNE 2000 : (ATTA, GERMANY to CZECHOSLAVAKIA, back to GMNY, back to CZ, then to US) Mohammed Atta flies to Prague from Hamburg, only to be refused entry because he had failed to obtain a visa. Three days after being refused entry into Czechoslavakia, Atta returned to Prague equipped with the correct paperwork for a visit of barely 24 hours. He then flew from the Czech Republic to the US, where he began to train as pilot. In early April 2001, when the conspiracy's planning must have been nearing its final stages, Atta was back in Prague for a further brief visit - a journey of considerable inconvenience.
JUNE 2000 : (CLINTON , CIA, WOOLSEY, DEUTCH, "TORCH" TORICELLI, AFGHANISTAN) The National Commission on Terrorism delivered a 64-page report to Clinton on "Countering the Changing Threat of International Terrorism." Among the 37 recommendations, "The secretary of state should designate Afghanistan as a sponsor of terrorism and impose all the sanctions that apply to state sponsors." The Clinton Administration ignored the advice—along with most of the other recommendations, from the control of visas for foreign nationals entering the US to improvements in intelligence sharing and monitoring of terrorists’ financial transactions. Nobody noticed. What the Clinton-Gore Team did notice was the CIA—which suffered for the attention. When James Woolsey, the first Clinton-era spy chief quit in disgust in 1995, John Deutch replaced him. The White House directed Deutch to work with then-Rep. Robert Torricelli to rid the CIA’s Clandestine Service of anyone who had contact with foreign nationals less savory than Mother Theresa. Deutch also implemented "sensitivity seminars" to improve "tolerance"—apparently forgetting that terrorists don’t get "sensitivity training." By the time the thoroughly discredited Deutch departed in December 1996, CIA morale and the ability to collect human intelligence, "HUMINT," had hit rock bottom.
JULY 2000 : (SCOTT RITTER, IRAQ, AL KHAFAJI) Ritter was welcomed back to Baghdad in July 2000, with the blessing of Saddam Hussein. The reason for his trip? To produce a documentary film, "In Shifting Sands," that would chronicle the weapons-inspection process and, he says, "de-demonize" Iraq. The 90-minute film, which he says he is close to selling to a broadcast outlet, was produced with the approval of the Iraqi government and features interviews with numerous high-level Iraqi officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. U.S. intelligence officials and arms control advocates say Ritter has been played--perhaps unwittingly--by Saddam Hussein. "If you're Scott Ritter," says one arms expert, "the former 'cowboy' weapons inspector, kicked out by Saddam Hussein, you're not going to get back into Iraq unless Saddam Hussein invites you and wants you there." He acknowledges, as well, that the U.S. government doesn't like how the film was financed. Shakir al-Khafaji, an Iraqi-American real estate developer living in Michigan, kicked in $400,000. By Ritter's own admission, al-Khafaji is "openly sympathetic with the regime in Baghdad." Al-Khafaji, who accompanied Ritter as he filmed the documentary and facilitated many of the meetings, travels to and from Iraq regularly in his capacity as chairman of "Iraqi expatriate conferences." Those conferences, held in Baghdad every two years, are sponsored and subsidized by Saddam Hussein. - The Weekly Standard
AUGUST 2000 : (CIA REPORTS IRAQ ON IRAQI BIOCHEM DRONE DEVELOPMENT) The CIA reports to US Congress that Iraq is converting an L-29 trainer jet into an unmanned aircraft which could spread chemical and biological weapons. Work was suspected to be carried out at the Al-Faris factory, where Iraq built drop tanks to deliver weapons before the Gulf War.- Iraq - Scotsman says Saddam has weapons to wipe out world's population, nuclear bomb within 3 years "The Scotsman dossier - SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ" by Fraser Nelson, Westminster Editor
AUGUST 22 (or 20?) , 2000 : (ROYAL CAYMAN ISLANDS, BANKING, CUBA, TURKEY, AFGHANISTAN) 3 men claiming to be Afghan nationals reported that they were dropped off in the Cayman Islands, having arrived here by ship from Turkey. The Royal Cayman Islands Police (RCIP) detained them at the Central Police Station. The Immigration authorities conducted interviews with the individuals (with the assistance of a visiting Iranian doctor who was able to translate) in an attempt to establish their identities. (Who was this Iranian Doctor, by the way?) According to Cayman authorities, three men actually arrived in the Cayman Islands on a commercial flight from Cuba. Thay had Pakistani passports but the passports turned out to be fake, and the men were arrested in August. The men are believed to be Afghans. They were subsequently held in custody at Her Majesty's Prison at Northward, following an interview and processing by Immigration Officers. The Afghanis, who later would be become the subject of an intensive investigation by US authorities over 9/11/01 WTC attacks, were imprisoned for 10 months ( until May 2001) after trying to deposit $2 million in a bank in the Cayman Islands. (Some refugees, eh?) British authorities who arrested the three men believe that they were handling drug proceeds laundered in Havana. http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:ax3QC7Yc8h4C:www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/9/20/150543.shtml+terrorists+afghan+cuba+cayman&hl=en
SEPTEMBER 2000: (COLUMBIA, FARC, BOMB & CHEMICAL ATTACK) A FARC bomb that burned out the lungs of an entire police garrison in the Colombian town of San Adolfo contained chlorine-based poison gas, according to a lab analysis of the device.
SEPTEMBER 2000 : (GRENADA) Three Chinese diplomats on a private visit are deported for statements construed as interference in the internal affairs of Grenada. They were invited by the newly-formed Grenada-China friendship association of opposition leader Michael Baptiste. - BBC News "Timeline: Grenada"
SEPTEMBER 2000 : (SADDAM CALLS FOR HIS 'NUCLEAR MUJAHADEEN' TO DEAFEAT THE ENEMY) Saddam publicly calls for his “nuclear mujahedin” to “defeat the enemy.”- Iraq - Scotsman says Saddam has weapons to wipe out world's population, nuclear bomb within 3 years "The Scotsman dossier - SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAQ" by Fraser Nelson, Westminster Editor
SEPTEMBER 4-15, 2000 : (MALAYSIA, MOUSSAOUI) Hijacking suspect Moussaoui is in Malaysia.
SEPTEMBER 18, 2000 : (CUBA, CASTRO, QATAR) In an exclusive interview with the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television, Castro stated that "We are not ready for reconciliation with the United States, and I will not reconcile with the imperialist system.” He further added that his government had defended Cuba against "a Western cultural invasion,” echoing one of the key themes of fundamentalist Islamic groups in the region.
OCTOBER 2000 : (CUBA, IRAN, BIOTECH PLANT) Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage and the Iranian vice minister of health inaugurated a biotechnological research and development plant outside Tehran. Experts expressed doubts about the supposed medical objectives of the installation, because Iran already produces 97 percent of the medicines its population consumes.
OCTOBER 10, 2000 : (ROYAL CAYMAN ISLANDS) A further letter was sent to the FCO, indicating that the Government had considerable doubt concerning the account given by the three Afghan men about their arrival in the Cayman Islands. It appeared likely that the men had arrived here on 20th August on a flight from Cuba using Pakistani passports. The Government questioned the validity of the Pakistani passports (which were never located), and the ultimate goal of the men concerning their presence in the Cayman Islands.
OCTOBER 12, 2000 : (USS COLE BOMBING, YEMEN, EAST AFRICAN US EMBASSY BOMBINGS, Al'OWALI) Suicide bombers used a shaped charge mounted on a skiff to kill 17 US sailors and wound 39 others aboard the USS Cole while at port in Aden, Yemen. The USS Cole (DDG 67) was hit on port side near forward stack by an explosive-laden suicide boat while refueling, Aden, Yemen. As with other high profile bombings, the attack on the Cole will presumably lead to copycat attacks.
OCTOBER 2000 : (MALAYSIA, MOUSSAOUI) Sufaat met with Moussaoui in the same condominium. Law enforcement officials allege that he gave Moussaoui papers identifying Moussaoui as a "marketing consultant" for Infocus Tech, a Malaysian company. The papers were signed by "Yazid Sufaat, Managing Director." (Infocus Tech officials say Moussaoui never worked for the company.) Sufaat agreed to pay Moussaoui $2,500 a month and $35,000 up front, U.S. authorities say. Moussaoui arrived in the USA in February 2001 and deposited $32,000 in a bank in Norman, Okla. He attended flight schools in Norman and in Minnesota before he was arrested on immigration charges in August. FBI agents found the papers that mentioned Infocus Tech in Moussaoui's apartment in Minneapolis.
OCTOBER 2000 : (BELGIUM DIAMOND HEIST, AL-QUAIDA, TRABELSI, US EMBASSY PLOTS) Thieves steal five trunks of diamonds in a hold-up on the tarmac of Brussels airport, as staff were preparing to transfer the diamonds, valued at 6.5 million euro (US$10.93 million) to a Lufthansa flight from Brussels to Frankfurt. Later, VTM television in 2001 said Belgian investigators believe the haul by four robbers of five trunks of diamonds at Brussels airport had gone to fund al-Qaeda and Afghanistan's former Taliban regime. It said the investigators believed Nizar Trabelsi, a Tunisian arrested late in 2001 in Brussels and suspected of planning an attack on the US embassy in Paris, was linked to the robbery.
NOVEMBER 2000 : (US ELECTION, GORE WAR) US presidency hangs in the balance after Al Gore contests W. Bush's narrow margin of victory in a trio of south Florida counties in what would come to be known as the "Gore War." The turmoil would continue and even delay the critical US presidential transition.
DECEMBER 27, 2000 : (ATTA, AL SHEHHI, ABANDON PLANE ON RUNWAY IN MIAMI, FL) : An FAA official threatened to investigate Atta and another hijacking suspect, Marwan al-Shehhi, after they abandoned their broken-down small private plane on a taxiway at Miami International the day after Christmas. - The Miami Herald, "Atta faced questions about visa at MIA-INS,Police blew 4 chances to deport ringleader" , 10-19-01,| Alfonso Chardy