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| Arabia |
| Cole Attack Suspect 'Had Top-Level Security Clearance' |
| 2004-08-25 |
| A lawyer defending five Yemenis charged with the October 2000 attack on the warship USS Cole told a court in Sanaa yesterday that authorities had granted a security clearance to the main suspect in the attack. The lawyer, Abdul-Aziz Al-Samawi, presented a document to the court giving the suspected mastermind of the attack Abdul-Raheem Al- Nashri a permit to pass military checkpoints without being subjected to inspection. Al-Samawi said the laissez passer was issued by the office of the former Interior Minister Hussein Muhammad Arab. Al-Nashri and five other Yemenis were charged with the attack when the trial began on July 7. Five of the suspects were present in the court, while Al-Nashri is being tried in absentia. Currently in US custody, Al-Nashri was arrested in the United Arab Emirates in November 2002 and handed over to US authorities. He was described at the time as Al-Qaeda's chief of operations in the Gulf. Al-Nashiri is also suspected of involvement in attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998 that killed 224 people, and in the October 2002 attack on the French supertanker Limburg off south Yemen in which one Bulgarian crew member was killed and 12 were wounded. The security clearance, valid from April to December 2000, was granted to Muhammad Omar Al-Harazi, an alias for Al-Nashri, the document showed. "Sheikh Muhammad Omar Al-Harazi shall be permitted to pass through all military checkpoints along with his three bodyguards, and he shall not undergo checks or be obstructed," the document read. It urged all security bodies to cooperate with Al-Harazi and extend facilities to him. Al-Samawi told the court the document was clear proof that there were other people behind the attack. The next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 1. |
| Posted by:TS(vice girl) |
| #1 âSheikh Muhammad Omar Al-Harazi shall be permitted to pass through all military checkpoints along with his three bodyguards, and he shall not undergo checks or be obstructed,â the document read. Hmmm, US military areas beyond a checkpoint (especially in Yemen) would probably be pretty secure, so it seems a bit odd that a clearance would include his three bodyguards. Who was this guy? A government official? A member of royalty? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-08-25 10:40:18 PM |