Posted on 09/13/2003 7:11:35 AM PDT by JohnBerger
'1000 Years' Adds Detail To Possible OKC-Qaeda Links
New Book Puts Nichols In Chicago in 1994, 20 Miles From Known Al Qaeda Paymaster
A new book, 1000 Years for Revenge : International Terrorism and the FBI, contains significant new information on possible links between the Oklahoma City bombing and al Qaeda operatives working in the U.S. and abroad in 1994 and 1995.
The book devotes a chapter to the Oklahoma City bombing. Much of the material has been covered elsewhere, but author Peter Lance adds new details taken from FBI sources, court documents and interviews with authorities in the Philippines.
Of chief interest in the context of the theory laid out on this site, Lance definitively places Terry Nichols in Chicago, Ill., on Nov. 4, 1994, where he obtained a visa for travel to the Philippines. The Philippines consulate is about 20 miles from the headquarters of Benevolence International Foundation, an al Qaeda-linked charity operation with ties to Ramzi Yousef and alleged al Qaeda dirty bomber Jose Padilla. This site previously placed McVeigh in Chicago during a critical juncture, but this is the first information placing Nichols in the city during a significant time frame.
As previously reported here and elsewhere, the president of BIF at this time was Mohamed Loay Bayazid, whom federal indictments identify as an al Qaeda paymaster, primarily responsible for disbursing cash to terrorist operatives.
As reported on whoisjohndoe2.com based on multiple federal indictments, Bayazid was in contact with Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, who entered the U.S. on Dec. 1, 1994. Khalifa funded Yousef's Manila operation, and stayed in phone contact with the cell during November and into December, according to federal indictments.
Yousef was based in Manila, where he was planning a massive attack on U.S. airliners, including a component similar to the Sept. 11 attacks. Nichols obtained a 60-day visa while in Chicago, then traveled first to Arizona (where he allegedly robbed a gun dealer acquaintance of Timothy McVeigh) and then to Las Vegas, where his ex-wife and son lived. While in Las Vegas, Nichols secreted a extremely large amount of cash in his ex-wife's house and rented a storage compartment which held the loot from the robbery. From Las Vegas, Nichols flew to the Philippines on Nov. 22. His visa would expire on Jan. 21., the day that Yousef's massive attacks were scheduled for execution.
In early to mid December, shortly after Khalifa entered the country, Timothy McVeigh abruptly left his family's home in New York, where he had been assisting with the disposition of his grandfather's estate, and traveled first to Michigan, and then to Oklahoma City. While there, he idenfitied the Murrah Building as his target to an associate on or around Dec. 16. That same day, Khalifa and Bayazid were arrested outside San Francisco. They had bomb-making manuals in their possession, according to several federal and immigration court documents. Immediately after the arrest, McVeigh traveled to Chicago, allegedly for the purpose of buying supplies related to the OKC bombing plot.
Other information in Lance's book, either entirely new or reported with new detail, includes:
The guest log of the apartment building where Yousef and his co-conspirators worked includes visits to the apartment from a man named "Nick" during the period Yousef and Nichols were both in the Philippines.
A cell phone used by Yousef co-conspirator Abdul Hakim Murad was used to make calls to an Oklahoma area code as late as March 1995 (after Murad's arrest), which correspond to calls made to Cebu City using a calling card associated with McVeigh and Nichols. Lance cites as source exhibits from the Judicial Watch lawsuit which accuses Iraq of underwriting the OKC bombing. whoisjohndoe2.com has previously tried to make inquiries concerning these exhibits, but calls and e-mails were not returned.
Nichols obtained his visa one day after Yousef and a co-conspirator obtained final visas for travel in and out of the Phillipines.
Lance cites an FBI 302 report confirming that Yousef accomplice Abdul Hakim Murad confessed in prison on April 19, 1995, that Yousef's working group was responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing and further documents the claim with references to Murad's trial materials. Previous sourcing on this specific claim was less than ideal.
By J.M. Berger
Not anymore. I posted it on it's own thread HERE
Most alarming, in 1992, a confidant of Sheikh Rahman removed the plans for the World Trade Center from FDNY headquarters. Ronnie Bucca brought the information to the FBI in 1999 but he was ignored.
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