Terrorist Attack _______________ Information Only

Top 445. Nov 25, 2001 12:58 PM

» BPyles - Terrorism in Greece

November 17, an equal opportunity terrorist network, in Greece. Guess there isn't any country in the world completely safe.

EDITORIAL • November 25, 2001, The Washington Times

A reign of terror in Greece

Has Greece become a danger zone for Americans and
American businesses? So it would seem. The latest incident is
a bomb explosion outside an American Express bank branch
in a suburb of Athens. So far no arrests, and no claims of
responsibility. That's nothing new. In Greece, assassination of
Americans and attacks on American property have become
routine. Most recently, terrorists bombarded the U.S.
embassy in central Athens and assassinated the British
defense attache. Earlier, attempts on the lives of the Dutch
and German ambassadors were made. Within the last 25
years, there have been assassinations of an American
diplomat and three American military officers and
life-threatening attacks on 30 other U.S. officials. During this
reign of terror, there have been no arrests, no suspects and
no convictions.

If the Greek government has granted terrorists immunity,
the rest of the civilized world has a problem: Athens will be
the scene of the Olympics in 2004. Are we going to witness a
tragedy like the one on Sept. 5, 1972, at the Munich
Olympics, when 11 Israeli athletes were assassinated by a
Palestinian terrorist group that called itself Black September,
a covert unit of the Palestine Liberation Organization? All
competing athletes, especially American athletes, are potential
targets of the so-called November 17, a terrorist organization
that surfaced in 1975 to commemorate suppression of a
student uprising by an earlier military dictatorship.

We have the word of a former U.S. ambassador to
Athens, Thomas Niles, who told the New York Times that
there are links between Greece's ruling political elite and
November 17. He said he had given Greek authorities a list
of potential suspects linked to the terrorist organization, a
Marxist-Leninist group with sympathizers including
''prominent members of Greek society.''

November 17 is an equal opportunity terrorist network;
scores of Greek citizens have also been assassinated. Last
year, there were 100 political bombings. November 17 uses
high explosives, mortars and rocket grenades, mostly stolen
from Greek police and military arsenals. Same story: no
arrests, no suspects, no convictions and no serious
investigations.

Wayne Merry — a former State and Pentagon official
who worked in Athens — tried in vain to get the Greek
government to do something about this reign of terrorism.
"The chances the terrorists will be caught," he writes in the
Weekly Standard, "are very low, but the chances for more
American victims are high."

There is no question that American athletes and tourists
will be targeted by November 17. The Greek government
has demonstrated that it is incapable of stopping these
criminals. Two years ago, former CIA Director James
Woolsey and Ambassador L. Paul Bremmer III, who headed
a congressional inquiry into fighting terrorism, suggested that
Greece be put on the list of countries facing sanctions for
failing to do anything about November 17. The Bush
administration should seriously consider pressing to move the
Olympics to a country where Americans will be safer than
they will be in Athens.

-- posted by BPyles

Top 446. Nov 26, 2001 12:45 PM

» BPyles - Bin Laden Group

Bin Laden Group well advised to change the name of their conglomerate. Sounds like good advice.

Friday November 23 11:23 AM ET

Bin Laden Group Aims to Improve Image

LONDON (Reuters) - Bin Laden Group, the business empire owned by relatives of the world's most wanted man, is seeking advice from British
public relations firms on how to distance itself from the black sheep of the family.

London-based PR firm WMC Communications said on Friday it was one of several firms approached by the Saudi-based conglomerate which is seeking to remove the taint of association with the alleged architect of the attacks in the United States.

The bin Laden family has repeatedly condemned the September 11 attacks and has been quick to point out that it disowned Osama many years ago when he lost his Saudi Arabian citizenship.

But the bin Ladens have still suffered a severe backlash and several companies have severed ties with the family business despite no evidence of links to Osama and his activities.

The Bin Laden Group is one of Saudi Arabia's biggest companies and counts the Saudi royal family among its clients. The $5 billion empire
builds roads, airports and hotels with interests also spanning telecoms, media and manufacturing.

Osama bin Laden is one of 57 children of the late construction magnate Muhammad bin Laden. Osama inherited millions of dollars from the bin Laden empire after his father died but has since
become the pariah of the family.

``It is a big family. There is a black sheep in every big family,'' Osama's sibling Abdullah Mohammed bin Laden told The Boston Globe
newspaper last month.

Some public relations experts said the press-shy Bin Laden Group would be well advised to change its name as a quick fix to its problems. However, others said this could backfire.

``They need to be up front and open about who they are and not hide the fact they are from the same family,'' the head of one London-based public relations firm said.

-- posted by BPyles

http://www.afghanradio.com/news/2001/nov...

Top 447. Nov 26, 2001 8:10 PM

» Steven_Russell - Belgians arrest 12 in assassination of Afghan hero Masoud

The terror war actually began 2 days before 911, when 2 Egyptians with Belgian passports posing as documentary journalists killed Masoud in a pre-emptive strike suicide bombing, with bombs cleverly hidden in a film camera and battery pack.

Report: Belgium, France Arrest 12 in Masood Probe

Monday November 26 8:54 AM ET
PARIS (Reuters) - Belgian and French police on Monday arrested 12 Tunisians and Moroccans suspected of organizing the Sept. 9 bomb attack that killed anti-Taliban Afghan guerrilla leader Ahmad Shah Masood, French radio said.

Europe 1 radio said one of those held, a Tunisian, was an associate of Osama bin Laden, Washington's prime suspect for the U.S. hijacked airliner attacks two days Masood's assassination. Bin Laden is believed to be with Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan.

French police were not immediately available to confirm the report, which cited unnamed sources.

The arrests were made after raids at addresses in Brussels, the Belgian cities of Mons and Louvain, and an unspecified location in France, Europe 1 said. It added the action was also coordinated with British police.

The Belgian government said in September the two Arab suicide bombers who killed Masood in northern Afghanistan on September 9 had been in possession of stolen Belgian passports. Masood died in an Afghan hospital six days later.

-- posted by Steven_Russell

Top 448. Nov 27, 2001 12:35 AM

» JenL_2 - Re: Belgians arrest 12 in assassination of Afghan hero Masoud

In response to message posted by Steven_Russell:

Yes Steven - I posted an article about that suicide bombing on one of these threads earlier. As I remember on 9/9 all the Northern Alliance commanders were at this meeting in Belgium and the photographer kept trying to get them to pose for a group pic to show their solidarity.....but they were too busy to be bothered....so he had to settle with blowing up the leader and himself when he took the picture. Gawd - what treachery!.....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 449. Nov 27, 2001 11:29 AM

» BPyles - Saudi Taleban rescue

Looks like this was who the Pakistanian planes were picking up out of Afghanistan. Saudi said they will "imprison those who have committed crimes and rehabilitate those who have not.

Saudis fear prisoners will be massacred

From Michael Jansen , The Irish Times, 11-27-01

Fearing that foreign captives fighting with the Taliban face
massacre or detention and interrogation by the US, Saudi
Arabia has called for the return of its nationals and has asked
Pakistan to rescue and repatriate non-Afghans.

Pakistani military planes have, reportedly, been airlifting
escaping fighters from Kunduz to Pakistan.

Concern mounted following the discovery of the bodies of 600
fighters at Mazar-e-Sharif last week and the massacre by
Northern Alliance guards and US warplanes of prisoners
staging a revolt on Sunday.

The bombing and strafing of the prison compound indicated that
the US had decided to "get rid" of "Arab Afghans" in line with a
recent statement of its Defence Secretary, Mr Donald
Rumsfeld.

The Saudi Defence Minister, Prince Saud Abdel Aziz, said:
"We hope that all people who are of Arab or Islamic origin . . .
can return to their countries of origin. The matter is now under
the supervision of the United Nations and we believe that this
will mean human rights will be taken into consideration. We
hope that no one will be subjected to injustice."

The Qatari Foreign Minister, Shaikh Hamad Ben Jassem Ben
Jabr al-Thani, raised matter with the US Secretary of State, Mr
Colin Powell, who assured him that Arab fighters who
surrendered would not be "exterminated". A Kuwaiti member
of parliament, Mr Ahmad al-Rabei, said that while there was no
easy answer to the issue of the "Afghan Arabs", Arab states
would not sit back and let others handle the problem.

"Arab Afghans" are said to number between 1,000 and 2,000, a
large proportion of them being Saudi members of al-Qaeda or
the entourage of Osama bin Laden. The Saudi authorities are
expected to debrief returning Taliban supporters, imprison those
who have committed crimes and rehabilitate those who have
not.

-- posted by BPyles

Top 450. Nov 27, 2001 11:38 AM

» Lawhawk - Re: Saudi Taleban rescue

In response to message posted by BPyles:

The Saudis have had a penchant for protecting their own (which is what most other countries try to do - but the US sometimes acts meekly in this area). However, the Saudis usually do this when they have something to hide. They brought bin Laden's family home from the US after 9/11 and they're now requesting that the Pakistanis allow flights to go through for al Qaeda and Taliban supporters of Saudi origin.

I wonder if US interrogators will be able to speak with these folks. They're more likely to be aware of bin Laden's whereabouts or plans than the Afghan Taliban. Bin Laden did not trust non-Saudi or non-Egyptian members of his organization to the same degree as his Saudi or Egyptian followers.

This should be an interesting subplot to follow.

Also, the US noted that they've identified 40 areas in Afghanistan that may have been used for NBC training/testing. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011127... . I'm not sure what they'll find, but given al Qaeda's history and bin Laden they'll probably find some nasty bug, chemical, or other evidence that the terrorist organization was trying to prepare for use against the US.

-- posted by Lawhawk

Top 451. Nov 27, 2001 12:33 PM

» gdmoffitt - Possible link to anthrax attacks?

Police baffled by missing scientist

BOSTON, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- While authorities and colleagues remained baffled Tuesday over the disappearance of a Harvard scientist, the FBI reportedly is taking a closer look at the case because of his expertise in deadly viruses and heightened concerns over bioterrorism in the wake of Sept. 11.

Professor Don C. Wiley vanished nearly two weeks ago after dinner with friends in Memphis, Tenn. His rental car, full of gas and with a key in the ignition, was discovered early Nov. 16 on a bridge over the Mississippi River.

While the case is being treated as a standard missing person's case, his disappearance has attracted the FBI's attention because of recent incidents of bioterrorism in the United States.

Wiley, 57, an award-winning biochemist and cellular biologist who has been teaching at Harvard for 30 years, is considered an expert on such deadly infections as the Ebola virus.

"His line of work and field of expertise" are what prompted the FBI to contact Memphis police, acting assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Memphis office, William Woerner, told the Boston Globe.

Memphis Police Lt. Walter Norris said investigators at this point see no links between the professor's research and his disappearance.

"For that to change we'd have to find a body that showed evidence of foul play, or find out that he was missing for some other reasons" other than suicide, Norris told the Globe.

Investigators have been concentrating on the Mississippi River on the presumption that Wiley either jumped in or fell from the Hernando DeSoto Bridge linking Memphis to Arkansas. Experts said the river, deep, wide and swift, doesn't easily give up its secrets.

"It has the appearance of someone who drove down the bridge, got out of the car and took their life," Memphis police head Walter Crews said Tuesday on CNN. "After interviewing members of the family and friends of his, there seems to be no indications in his personality that he would do something like that."

Police, however, said no signs have been found that Wiley had been kidnapped or was the victim of a robbery.

Wiley's wife, Katrin Valgeirsdottir, said investigators should look deeper into his research for a possible motive for his disappearance, which she told the Globe "is still a complete mystery to me."

Wiley was a member of the scientific advisory board at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. He vanished the night of Nov. 15 after dinner with colleagues in a downtown hotel, the Peabody.

Colleagues at Harvard are also mystified over the disappearance.

"We are not speculating on anything," said spokeswoman Andrea Shen. "We are just waiting to hear."

-- posted by gdmoffitt

Top 452. Nov 27, 2001 1:28 PM

» BPyles - Canadian Journalist Kidnapped

Mike: Re Saudi Teleban - you might wonder if US will have chance to question them but I don't. Feel almost positive no one will ever know what happened to them and US will not be allowed in the country.

Kidnapped Journalist story:

Wednesday November 28, 3:15 AM

Western journalist kidnapped by
Taliban

The Taliban have kidnapped and
threatened to kill a Canadian
journalist in the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak, a
colleague said Tuesday.

Freelance journalist Ken Hetchman is being kept in a small
cell bound hand and foot, Jonathan Steele of Britain's
Guardian newspaper told AFP.

A local Pashtun man handed Steele one of Hetchman's
business cards at the border town of Chaman on Tuesday
evening, with an appeal for help.

The Pashtun man told Steele that the Taliban had warned
"that when we surrender, if we do not get money, maybe we
will kill you because these are the people we do not like."

Hetchman, who has worked for the Montreal Mirror and is
aged around 30, had met Steele while the pair were staying
together at the same hotel in Chaman three days ago.

The kidnap comes amid reports of widespread looting of aid in
Spin Boldak and conflicting claims as to whether the town
was still under the control of the Taliban.

One witness told Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) Tuesday
evening that Spin Boldak was no longer controlled by the
Taliban.

"The area is now under the control of forces of the Noorzai
and Achakzai tribes," he told AIP from the Pakistan-Afghan
border.

"I have seen people taking away blankets and other items in
their vehicles," he said.

However, Wakil Abdul Samad, an elder of the Nurzai tribe,
denied the Taliban had left the town.

He said the Taliban had agreed to hand over Spin Boldak and
the adjoining Wesh area on Tuesday morning "but after
receiving some message from Kandahar they refused."

Samad told AFP by telephone late Tuesday the Taliban had
not yet handed over the town to the tribal elders. "We have a
sent a delegation to Kandahar and we hope to get a reply
Wednesday," he said.

A Swedish cameraman became the eighth journalist killed in
Afghanistan on Tuesday after he was shot by armed bandits
in a night-time robbery on a house in the northern city of
Taloqan where he and other reporters were staying, witnesses
and colleagues said.

-- posted by BPyles

Top 453. Nov 27, 2001 5:59 PM

» BPyles - Arab/Muslim public image

Well, guess they are working on it so that must mean they realize they have some problems!!!

WASHINGTON (November 27, 2001 12:01 p.m. EST) - Ever since the United States began its war in Afghanistan, the world has paid growing attention to the power of Muslim, and particularly Arab, public opinion.

But now, with the Taliban crumbling much faster than envisioned and with
the fate of hundreds of so-called "Afghan Arabs" drawing global attention to the Arab role in the war, Arab governments are finding that world opinion is a two-way street.

From Jordan to Saudi Arabia, Arab regimes are concerned the world will place them on the "wrong" side in the conflict. They worry that this perception will hamper their ability to exert an influence on a conflict they see as vital to their interests.

And governments are acting accordingly - at least so far as to repair their
image with the Western world.

Jordan plans to take part in whatever international peace-keeping force is established to maintain order in Afghanistan while a provisional government is brokered. After weeks of doubts about its cooperation, Saudi Arabia is stepping up as a major player in the international effort to rebuild Afghanistan. Even the small, conservative state of Yemen is cooperating with efforts to battle terrorist organizations, U.S. officials say.

"There is an image of Arab people on the wrong side, on the side of a limited, unpopular group, and we feel strongly this has to be corrected,"says Jafar Hassan, deputy chief of mission at the Jordanian Embassy in Washington.

Arab concerns over global perception of their countries took hold after the Afghan capital of Kabul fell and news reports around the world showed Muslims celebrating what they themselves called their "liberation" from a
tyrannical regime. The push by Arab governments to play a more visible role has accelerated as people continue to watch what becomes of the "Afghan Arab" soldiers - Arabs who went to Afghanistan over the past decade or so to fight for an Islamic state.

Even as Kunduz, the Taliban's last stronghold in northern Afghanistan, appeared to be falling, questions swirled around the estimated 3,000 non-Afghans estimated to be fighting there on the Taliban side.

Many Pakistanis and other "locals" were thought to be willing or anxious to give up and head home, but many of the Arabs are said to prefer to fight to the death. Such brinkmanship may have been encouraged by reports that many "Afghan Arabs" were massacred by the Northern Alliance as it swept victorious across the north of the country. Foreigners also made up a large part of the Taliban prisoners who staged an uprising at a prison outside Mazar-e Sharif Sunday. Hundreds of the prisoners, including many Arabs, reportedly died in the fighting.

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz called over the weekend for allowing any non-Afghan Muslims fighting with the Taliban to return home.

The Saudis and other Arab governments are interested in debriefing their
own citizens as a way of tackling terrorist networks at home. But some specialists say Saudi Arabia in particular may also be interested in keeping
the fighters out of American hands, where those connected to the al-Qaida organization might spill sensitive information about links between regime supporters and international terrorist networks.

"There's a keen interest in doing damage control," says Emilio Viano, an expert in Arab relations at the American University here. Arab governments
in places like Saudi Arabia are sensitive to charges that they have exported Islamic extremism - and the financial and terrorist networks
associated with it - to all corners of the Muslim world, he says. "They want
to take this opportunity to show that Arabs want to stop" that spread.

But Arab countries have another motivation, Viano says. "They want to somehow be at the table, to have some say in what happens next."

Along with the U.S., Japan, and the European Union, Saudi Arabia will co-chair preliminary meetings planning Afghanistan's reconstruction. Those meetings are to culminate in a ministerial meeting in Japan in January.

Jordan has already announced it will contribute a field hospital and medical
personnel to Afghanistan, and it expects to support whatever multinational peacekeeping force is set up.

"The interest of the Jordanian state in participating in United Nations-sponsored forces is on two levels: It's for both institutional and foreign-policy reasons," says Hassan. Moreover, the Cairo-based Arab League is holding a conference this week to discuss how to improve Islam's image in the West.

Still, Arab states need to go beyond image repair to deeds at home such as political and economic reforms that create more inclusive societies, some U.S. experts say. Secretary of State Colin Powell hinted at this in a speech last week, when he called on governments to open up avenues to political participation.

Saudi Arabia is welcomed by Western governments at the table where
reconstruction will be hammered out, but critics say it and Egypt especially
must face up to the domestic conditions that breed extremist thinking.

-- posted by BPyles