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Home Front: WoT
Timeline of Islamicist attacks for New York, 2001 to date
2013-04-19
Barry Rubin, posting over at Yid with Lid, posts an interesting timeline of attacks, planned and foiled, for the New York area since 9/11. When people ask "why would Chechnyan youths come to America and plan terror attacks?", the answer is that of the scorpion to the frog: it's what they do.

Full credit to Barry for the list and a big thank you to the Yid. Barry, in case you're wondering, is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal.
Since September 11, 2001, there have been 18 known terrorist attacks planned in New York City and they all have something in common: the worldview of the perpetrators. In some cases, they were called off by al-Qaeda:

  • In 2002, Iyman Faris, a U.S.-based al-Qaeda operative, planned to cut the Brooklyn Bridge's support cables at the direction of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

  • In 2003, al-Qaeda had planned to release cyanide gas in New York City's subway system and attack other public places.

  • In 2006, Uzair Paracha, a Brooklyn resident, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after he was convicted of attempting to help al-Qaeda operative Majid Khan enter the United States to attack gas tanks. Paracha's father worked with al-Qaida to smuggle explosives - including possibly nuclear weapons - into the United States using the New York office of Paracha's import-export business.

  • Dhiren Barot (aka Issa al-Hindi) was sentenced to life in prison by a United Kingdom court in 2006 after pleading guilty to planning to attack several targets both in the UK and the U.S., including the New York Stock Exchange, Citigroup's headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, and the Prudential Building in Newark, NJ.

  • Shahawar Matin Siraj and James Elshafay plotted in 2004 to place explosive devices in the Herald Square subway station in Manhattan.

  • In July 2006, the FBI revealed it had uncovered a plot involving an attack on a PATH commuter train tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey by Islamists, the placement of suicide bombers on trains, and the destruction of the retaining wall separating the Hudson River from the World Trade Center site in the hopes of causing massive flooding in the city's Financial District.

  • Beginning in 2006, four Islamists plotted to detonate the jet-fuel storage tanks and supply lines for John F. Kennedy Airport in order to cause wide-scale destruction and economic disruption in an attack they intended to dwarf 9/11.

  • In a series of three trials spanning 2008 to 2010, eight Muslims were convicted in Britain of attempting to simultaneously detonate explosives in seven airliners traveling from London to several North American metropolises, including New York.

  • Bryant Neal Vinas, of Long Island, New York, traveled to Pakistan with an intent to die fighting against American forces in Afghanistan. In summer of 2008, Vinas spoke to al-Qaeda about targeting the Long Island Railroad using a suitcase bomb that would be left in a car and set to detonate.

  • In May 2009, four Islamists placed what they believed were functioning bombs outside of Jewish targets in the Bronx neighborhood of Riverdale and additionally constructed plans to fire missiles at military transport planes at Stewart International Airport near Newburgh, NY.

  • In September 2009, the New York City subway system was targeted for attack by three individuals supporting al-Qaeda who planned to set off bombs in the subway during rush hour shortly after the eighth anniversary of 9/11.

  • Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-American residing in Connecticut, attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square on May 1, 2010.

  • Ahmed Ferhani, an Queens resident born in Algeria, along with Mohammad Mamdouh, a Moroccan immigrant, were arrested in May 2011 in an NYPD operation in which Ferhani purchased a hand grenade, three semi-automatic pistols and ammunition from an undercover detective. NYPD's investigation into the pair revealed their desire to attack a synagogue in New York City.

  • Jose Pimentel, a native of the Dominican Republic and convert to Islam, was charged with plotting to detonate bombs in and around New York City in November 2011.

  • Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, a 21-year-old native of Bangladesh residing in the U.S. on a student visa, was arrested in October 2012 as he attempted to remotely detonate what he believed was a bomb in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in lower Manhattan.

  • Raees Alam Qazi and Sheheryar Alam Qazi, Pakistan-born brothers, were arrested by federal authorities in Florida in November 2012 for charges relating to a plan to bomb popular New York City landmarks including Times Square, Wall Street and city theaters.

  • Jesse Morton, a New York City-based Muslim convert, was apprehended in Morocco and pleaded guilty in February 2012 to conspiring to solicit murder, making threatening communications, and using the Internet to place others in fear, most notably through his website Revolution Muslim.

  • Alessa and Carlos Almonte, both of New Jersey, pleaded guilty in March 2011 to conspiring to murder persons outside of the United States on behalf of al-Shabaab, the Somalia-based, al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group.

  • And even this list doesn't include the 2007 plot to attack nearby Fort Dix by a half-dozen Islamists since that was handled by the New Jersey authorities.
Link


India-Pakistan
Dr Aafia Siddiqui's husband tells all
2009-02-18
After six years of silence, Dr Muhammad Amjad Khan, ex-husband of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, has finally spoken up and says that most of the press reports that relate to his former wife as well as his children are false. In an exclusive talk with The News, he said that most claims are being propagated to garner public support and sympathy for Dr Aafia but are one-sided and in most instances untrue.
"That woman's crazy!"
Dr Aafia Siddiqui, suspected of having links to terrorist organizations, has been charged in a criminal complaint filed in a court of New York on account of attempting to kill US personnel during interrogation and on a charge of assaulting US officers and employees in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 17, 2008. Subsequently Dr Aafia was imprisoned in Bagram for 18 days before being taken to the US for a trial.

Due to pressure from Aafia Siddiqui's family, the Pakistan government has been trying to secure her release from the US claiming her to be innocent. Although the US government has guaranteed Aafia the best legal assistance and a fair trial, her family is adamant that she be sent back on grounds that the US authorities have been consistently torturing her for years.

"Aafia's release cannot be secured by propagating stories based on falsehood and deception," commented Dr Amjad Khan, in an interview with The News. Dr Amjad, who was married to Dr Aafia for seven years until their divorce in October 2002, said Aafia's family and supporters should not believe that truth will not be revealed and mere lies will help in securing Aafia's repatriation.

He added that he is disappointed with the government's disregard for the law when officials handed over his eldest son, Ahmad, to his aunt Dr Fowzia Siddiqui on his return from Afghanistan last year instead of his legal guardian, his father. "The government made no effort to locate me despite the fact that I am Ahmad's real and legal guardian. My address in Karachi has not changed for the past 30 years. Ever since I returned from the US after our divorce, I have been living with my family," he said adding: "Both the Minister for Interior Rehman Malik and Dr Fowzia have been taking credit for obtaining Ahmad's release even though there was not a stone I left unturned to locate my missing children and obtain their custody according to law."

Providing documentary proof of the legal agreement between him and Dr Aafia following their divorce, Dr Amjad said that he had been financially supporting his three children Ahmed, Marium and Suleiman until the family stopped accepting the cheques he had been mailing. "After the agreement they accepted my cheques till March 2003. After that my cheques were being returned from Aafia's home and that got me worried. Soon after I learnt that in April 2003, Aafia and our children had been 'picked up' by agencies." Meanwhile, he received disturbing reports from the family that Aafia chose to leave Karachi with her children as she feared an attack from him.

Curious to locate the whereabouts of his children, Dr Amjad sought the help of the police and government officials to find them. "I was aware of Aafia's violent personality and extremist views and suspected her involvement in Jihadi activities. My fear later proved to be true when during Uzair Paracha's trial in the US in 2004, the real purpose of Aafia's trip to the US (between December 23, 2002 and January 3, 2003) was revealed."

Elaborating, Dr Amjad disclosed that he later learnt from media reports that Aafia's family claimed she made this trip to the US for job interviews in December at a time when universities were closed for winter holidays. "I also found it very odd that on the one hand Aafia insisted on leaving the US after September 11, 2001, claiming the country was unsafe for us and our children because the US government was abducting Muslim children, and on the other hand took the risk of travelling to that country again without fearing that she may be captured and may never see our children again."

While Dr Aafia was in the US, the authorities had been closely watching her, added Amjad. They soon issued the first global "wanted for questioning" alert for the couple in March 2003. "At that time, the agencies did not know we were divorced and I was also unaware of Aafia's involvement with two other terror suspects, Majid Khan and Ammar Al-Baluchi. They wanted me to persuade Aafia to appear for the interview with them and clear the charges leveled against her just as I had done. That is when she went underground and it later became apparent why she chose to 'disappear'," disclosed Dr Amjad.

Sharing details of his unsuccessful marriage with Dr Aafia, Dr Amjad told The News that since their marriage was arranged, he was unaware of Aafia's violent behaviour. "She got hysterical fits when she became angry and would physically attack me, but I put up with it for the sake of our children."

Although Amjad and Aafia both were inclined towards religion, he found her opinion towards Jihad to be of an extreme nature that sometimes made him uncomfortable. He became particularly suspicious of his wife's intentions when soon after the 9/11 attacks, she compelled Amjad to leave Boston (where Amjad was completing his residency) and move to Afghanistan where she claimed "he would be more useful".

The couple, however, chose to come to Pakistan instead for a vacation and discuss the matter with Amjad's family. It was here that his parents noticed Aafia's violent behaviour towards their son on several occasions, particularly when she openly asked for khula (divorce) when Amjad declined to go to Afghanistan. Therefore Amjad decided to file for a divorce as Aafia was adamant she wanted to go. "I tried my best to save our marriage, but divorce was inevitable," he recalls.

However, after mutual consent, the couple signed a legal agreement whereby the custody of the three minors was given to Aafia, while Amjad was required to pay for their education and maintenance. "Although the agreement says I am permitted to meet my children once a week, I was not allowed to do so," claimed Amjad sharing a copy of the agreement during the interview.
Link


Home Front: WoT
Pakistani given 30 years in New York al Qaeda case
2006-07-22
A Pakistani convicted of supporting an al Qaeda plot to blow up U.S. gas stations was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday in a case Washington has called a victory in its war on terror. Uzair Paracha, 26, has said he falsely confessed under the pressure of three days of interrogation by the FBI, but U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Stein said Paracha "knew what he was doing" in lending support to al Qaeda. Paracha remained calm after the sentence was read and waved to relatives as he left the courtroom wearing a blue prison jumpsuit.
"G'bye, Mom! I'm off to jug for 30 years!"
"I'll wait for you, Sonny!"
A jury in November convicted him on five counts including conspiracy to provide and providing material support to al Qaeda. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales last year cited the case as one of the top U.S. legal victories in the fight against violent extremists. Prosecutors said Paracha attended several meetings in Pakistan with his father Saifullah Paracha and suspected al Qaeda members Majid Khan and Ammar al-Baluchi. They said Paracha agreed to mail travel documents to Khan in Pakistan and hold $200,000 in al Qaeda funds. The government believes Khan was planning to blow up gas stations in Maryland.

Little evidence of the suspected plot was presented at the trial, and the judge noted that FBI questioning revealed Paracha did not know details of any planned attack. "You are a very intelligent and particularly educated young man," the judge said. "You made a very serious mistake here. It is a loss to the American community and a loss to the Pakistani community."
Link


Terror Networks
Role of KSM nephew Ammar al-Baluchi in the 9/11 attacks comes into focus
2006-05-22
Until recently, Ammar al-Baluchi was considered a peripheral player in Al Qaeda, a functionary who made travel arrangements and wired money for terrorists.

But new government disclosures place Baluchi in a larger role in the Sept. 11 preparations and rank him No. 4 among the conspirators captured by U.S. forces after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Indeed, investigators say he was instrumental in acquiring a Boeing 747 flight simulator and a Boeing 767 flight-deck video for the hijackers to practice on before heading to the United States.

"He was turning up everywhere we looked — like a chameleon," recalled one federal agent who spoke on condition of anonymity because of ongoing investigations.

A man of many names, Baluchi seemed to have his hand in everything.

He allegedly served as travel agent, personal banker and mother hen for at least nine of the 19 hijackers, sending them off from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for their fateful rendezvous in the United States.

Baluchi also reportedly sent onetime "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla on his way to Chicago with thousands of dollars and travel documents, though Padilla was captured as he stepped off the plane.

He tried to sneak a terrorist into New York to blow up gas stations on the East Coast, according to evidence in another terrorism trial. And when he was captured in April 2003, he was found hiding in his native Pakistan with the man behind the suicide attack on the U.S. Navy destroyer Cole.

A few of Baluchi's activities were sketchily cited in the Sept. 11 commission report and elsewhere. He has been variously identified as Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and, more simply, as "Losh" in the Sept. 11 conspiracy. In the plot to blow up gas stations on the East Coast, he presented himself variously as "Habib" to one collaborator and "Mustafa" to another.

But it was not until the end of the sentencing trial of avowed Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui that a clearer portrait of Baluchi emerged.

The last piece of evidence in the trial was a four-page document in which the government, for the first time, officially identified the six top Al Qaeda figures captured in the Sept. 11 plot.

The captives were listed in order of importance, and Baluchi came in at No. 4.

Believed to be in his late 20s, Baluchi was born into the business. The man at the top of the list, Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, is his uncle. His first cousin is Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, architect of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Baluchi's multiple identities kept investigators at bay. Finally, it was his own slip-up in providing personal contact information for a wire transfer to hijacker Nawaf al Hamzi that "helped the FBI unravel his aliases," the Sept. 11 commission said.

Others on the list: No. 2, Ramzi Binalshibh, and No. 3, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, both Sept. 11 financiers; No. 5, Walid Muhammad Salih Bin al-Attash, also known as "Khallad," who helped formulate the Sept. 11 operation after his earlier success orchestrating the 2000 attack on the Cole; and No. 6, Mohammed al-Qahtani, the man now confirmed as the intended 20th hijacker who was denied U.S. entry by Customs officials in Florida shortly before the attacks.

Baluchi was reportedly hiding with Attash in Pakistan when both were captured in a raid by local officials in April 2003. A month earlier, Baluchi's uncle, Mohammed, was apprehended, and Baluchi and Attash were trying to take up his mantle and push ahead with new terrorism plots. One was the plan to blow up East Coast gas stations.

The government document described Baluchi as "a key travel and financial facilitator for the Sept. 11 hijackers," a role assigned to him by his uncle. His work on the Sept. 11 plot began as early as January 2000 when, at his uncle's request, "he purchased a Boeing 747-400 flight simulator" using the credit card of Marwan al Shehhi, who piloted the second plane into the trade center.

In spring 2001, Baluchi's uncle sent him to Dubai to organize "hotel reservations, future travel arrangements and local shopping needs" for the hijacking teams.

"In the end," the government said, "Baluchi assisted at least nine of the hijackers as they came through Dubai en route to the U.S. He helped them with plane tickets, travelers checks and hotel reservations. He also taught them everyday aspects of life in the West, such as purchasing clothes and ordering food."

The Sept. 11 panel said "Ali Abdul Aziz Ali," or Baluchi, also used funds from Shehhi's credit card to acquire a Boeing 767 flight-deck video and pilot literature, and had them shipped to his workplace, a computer wholesaler in the United Arab Emirates.

But the July 2004 commission report doubted that Baluchi was clued in to the magnitude of the Sept. 11 operation. Rather, the panel said, he would have "assumed the operatives he was helping were involved in a big operation in the United States." But "he did not know the details."

In footnotes referring to CIA and FBI intelligence documents, the commission said Baluchi asked his uncle if he could participate in whatever the suicide mission was. In May 2001 he "appears to have" contacted Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker, "to join the operation," the footnotes state.

Baluchi did apply in Dubai for a U.S. visa on Aug. 27, 2001, listing his intended arrival date as Sept. 4 — one week before the hijackings. But his entry was denied because the U.S. viewed him as an economic immigrant coming here to stay.

In summer 2004, then-Deputy Atty. Gen. James B. Comey testified on Capitol Hill about the Padilla case. Padilla was arrested in May 2002 at O'Hare International Airport, after allegedly returning to this country from Central Asia to scout for fresh bombing targets.

Comey said Padilla told interrogators that Baluchi was Mohammed's "right-hand man." He said Baluchi gave him $10,000 in cash, travel documents, a cellphone and an e-mail address to notify him once he landed in Chicago.

"Padilla also said something else remarkable," Comey said. "He said that the night before his departure, he attended a dinner with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, with Ramzi Binalshibh and with Ammar al-Baluchi. That is, the night before Jose Padilla left on his mission to the United States, he was hosted at a farewell dinner by the mastermind of September the 11th and the coordinator of those attacks."

And ultimately, there was the plot to blow up gas stations.

In November 2005, Uzair Paracha, a young Pakistani, was convicted in federal court in New York of conspiring to help Al Qaeda in its failed effort to bomb the stations.

At the trial, attorneys read written statements to the jury from secret interrogations with Baluchi and another Al Qaeda operative, Majid Khan, about a series of meetings over dinner and at an ice cream parlor in Pakistan with Paracha and his father, Saifullah Paracha. The father is now a detainee at the U.S. naval base prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The government's case centered on Baluchi and Khan offering to pay the Parachas $200,000 if they would falsify visa documents to get Khan into the United States so he could bomb the stations.

In his statement, Baluchi said he kept his cover with the Parachas and they never believed him to be a bona-fide Al Qaeda leader. But after Baluchi's uncle was arrested and his photograph seen worldwide, Baluchi showed Saifullah Paracha the "famous picture of KSM's capture, and Saifullah Paracha was surprised to learn that KSM was as important a man as he was," Baluchi boasted in his statement.

A month later, Baluchi was taken into custody in a crackdown in Karachi, Pakistan. About 25 operatives were rounded up, including Attash, the man behind the Cole bombing.

It was the capture of Attash that seized the headlines that day. Even President Bush trumpeted the arrest, proclaiming: "He's a killer."

Baluchi went largely unnoticed.
Link


Terror Networks
Bin Laden called himself a "prophet"
2006-03-05
A Pakistani millionaire held at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay testified that he met Osama bin Laden twice, and the al-Qaida leader called himself "a prophet."

The testimony of Saifullah A. Paracha was included in thousands of pages of transcripts released Friday by the Pentagon because of a successful Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by The Associated Press. The material was also released last year in a U.S. case against his son.

Paracha, a New York Institute of Technology graduate, testified in English. He said he owns seven businesses, including a news agency, a construction agency and a manufacturing company in Pakistan and travel agencies in New York, Chicago, Washington and San Francisco.

In 1999, Paracha said, he met bin Laden in Afghanistan. The following year, he returned to Afghanistan to interview bin Laden for his news agency, Universal Broadcast Ltd.

"He delivered (preached) the Quran, and said he was a prophet," Paracha said. "He said very nice things, very impressive."

But Paracha denied all the accusations raised in the January 2005 tribunal, conducted to determine whether he was properly classified as an "enemy combatant." Those accusations included money laundering for al-Qaida, plotting to smuggle explosives into the United States and recommending that nuclear weapons be used against U.S. soldiers.

Paracha's son, Uzair Paracha, facing up to 75 years in prison after his November conviction in New York for providing material support to terrorists, was arrested in May 2003.
Link


Home Front: WoT
Gitmo Inmate: Osama Called Himself Prophet
2006-03-04
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A Pakistani millionaire held at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay testified that he met osama bin laden twice, and the al-Qaida leader called himself "a prophet."
The testimony of New York Institute of Technology graduate Saifullah A. Paracha was included in thousands of pages of transcripts released Friday by the Pentagon

because of a successful Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by The Associated Press.
F*ck the associated press.... they are hurting this country, b/c they only really print bad news. And worse yet, all for the sake of making President Bush look bad. The associated press and many Americans don't fully realize we are at war.
Paracha testified in English, beginning with a joke about a doctor, an engineer and a politician. He said he owns seven businesses, including a news agency, a construction agency and a manufacturing company in Pakistan and travel agencies in New York, Washington, San Francisco, and Chicago
His son has been convicted in New York of aiding terrorists.

In 1999, Paracha said, he met bin Laden in Afghanistan. The following year, he returned to Afghanistan to interview bin Laden for his news agency, Universal Broadcast Ltd.

"He delivered (preached) the Quran, and said he was a prophet," Paracha said. "He said very nice things, very impressive."

But Paracha denied all the accusations raised in the January 2005 tribunal, conducted to determine whether he was properly classified as an "enemy combatant." Those accusations included money laundering for al-Qaida, plotting to smuggle explosives into the United States and recommending that nuclear weapons be used against U.S. soldiers.

Paracha said he had written to President Bush and other U.S. officials when his son, Uzair Paracha — who faces up to 75 years in prison after his November conviction in New York for providing material support to terrorists, was arrested in May 2003.

Saifullah Paracha said he was "illegally, immorally" arrested at Bangkok's airport in July 2003 and held for several days with his hands and legs bound and his eyes and ears covered before being flown to Afghanistan. He was detained there for 15 months.

"I was never in hiding, and offered my availability. It was very ugly and unprofessional how I was picked (up)," he testified.

Paracha, who said he lived in the United States from 1971 to 1986, said he repeatedly offered his services to his interrogators.

"I can help control terrorism," he said.

The U.S. Air Force colonel running the hearing, whose name was crossed out in the transcripts, told Paracha he eventually would have a chance to pursue his case in American courts.

"I've been here 17 months — would that be before I expire?" Paracha asked.

"I would certainly hope so, especially since you are under the care of the U.S. government," the colonel said.

Paracha said he did not know why he was arrested, and that none of the charges against him were valid.

"Am I being considered human being or animal, or is USA my god?" he wrote in a handwritten plea to the tribunal. "I am not your slave."
this guy should be happy he is not shot in the head immediately and that we have law and order in America.
Link


Terror Networks
Human Rights Watch's list of "ghost prisoners"
2005-12-02
Take a good, long look at the people on this list and you can decide for yourself whether or not you have any problems with this. I sure don't.
1. Ibn Al-Shaykh al-Libi
Reportedly arrested on November 11, 2001, Pakistan.
Libyan, suspected commander at al-Qaeda training camp.

2. Abu Faisal
Reportedly arrested on December 12, 2001

3. Abdul Aziz
Reportedly arrested on December 14, 2001
Nationality unknown. In early January 2002, Kenton Keith, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, produced a chart with the names of senior al-Qaeda members listed as killed in action, detained, or on the run. Faisal and Aziz were listed as detained on Dec. 12 and 14, 2001.

4. Abu Zubaydah (also known as Zain al-Abidin Muhahhad Husain)
Reportedly arrested in March 2002, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Palestinian (born in Saudi Arabia), suspected senior al-Qaeda operational planner.

5. Abdul Rahim al-Sharqawi (aka Riyadh the facilitator)
Reportedly arrested in January 2002
Possibly Yemeni, suspected al-Qaeda member (possibly transferred to Guantanamo).

6. Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi
Reportedly arrested in January 2002
Nationality unknown, presumably Iraqi, suspected commander of al-Qaeda training camp. U.S. officials told Associated Press on January 8, 2002 and March 30, 2002, of al-Iraqi's capture.
This is a different Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi who was placed in command of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan yesterday (who had previously been in command of Brigade 055 rather than a training camp), for those keeping score.
7. Muhammed al-Darbi
Reportedly arrested in August 2002
Yemeni, suspected al-Qaeda member. The Washington Post reported on October 18, 2002: "U.S. officials learned from interviews with Muhammad Darbi, an al Qaeda member captured in Yemen in August, that a Yemen cell was planning an attack on a Western oil tanker, sources said." On December 26, 2002, citing "U.S. intelligence and national security officials," the Washington Post reports that al-Darbi, as well as Ramzi Binalshibh [see below], Omar al-Faruq [reportedly escaped from U.S. custody in July 2005], and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri [see below] all "remain under CIA control."

8. Ramzi bin al-Shibh
Reportedly arrested on September 13, 2002
Yemeni, suspected al-Qaeda conspirator in Sept. 11 attacks (former roommate of one of the hijackers).

9. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri (or Abdulrahim Mohammad Abda al-Nasheri, aka Abu Bilal al-Makki or Mullah Ahmad Belal)
Reportedly arrested in November 2002, United Arab Emirates.
Saudi or Yemeni, suspected al-Qaeda chief of operations in the Persian Gulf, and suspected planner of the USS Cole bombing, and attack on the French oil tanker, Limburg.

10. Mohammed Omar Abdel-Rahman (aka Asadullah)
Reportedly arrested in February 2003, Quetta, Pakistan.
Egyptian, son of the Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted in the United States of involvement in terrorist plots in New York. See Agence France Presse, March 4, 2003: "Pakistani and US agents captured the son of blind Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel Rahman. . . a US official said Tuesday. Muhamad Abdel Rahman was arrested in Quetta, Pakistan, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity." David Johnston, New York Times, March 4, 2003: "On Feb. 13, when Pakistani authorities raided an apartment in Quetta, they got the break they needed. They had hoped to find Mr. [Khalid Sheikh] Mohammed, but he had fled the apartment, eluding the authorities, as he had on numerous occasions. Instead, they found and arrested Muhammad Abdel Rahman, a son of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind Egyptian cleric. . ."

11. Mustafa al-Hawsawi (aka al-Hisawi)
Reportedly arrested on March 1, 2003 (together with Khalid Sheikh Mohammad), Pakistan.
Saudi, suspected al-Qaeda financier.

12. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Reportedly arrested on March 1, 2003, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Kuwaiti (Pakistani parents), suspected al-Qaeda, alleged to have "masterminded" Sept. 11 attacks, killing of Daniel Pearl, and USS Cole attack in 2000.

13. Majid Khan
Reportedly arrested on March-April 2003, Pakistan.
Pakistani, alleged link to Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, alleged involvement in plot to blow up gas stations in the United States. Details about Khan's arrest were revealed in several media reports, especially in Newsweek: Evan Thomas, "Al Qaeda in America: The Enemy Within," Newsweek, June 23, 2003. U.S. prosecutors provided evidence that Majid Khan was in U.S. custody during the trial of 24-year-old Uzair Paracha, who was convicted in November 2005 of conspiracy charges, and of providing material support to terrorist organizations.

14. Yassir al-Jazeeri (aka al-Jaziri)
Reportedly arrested on March 15, 2003, Pakistan.
Possibly Moroccan, Algerian, or Palestinian, suspected al-Qaeda member, linked to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

15. Ali Abdul Aziz Ali (aka Ammar al Baluchi)
Reportedly arrested on April 29, 2003, Karachi, Pakistan.
A Pakistani, he is alleged to have funneled money to September 11 hijackers, and alleged to have been involved with the Jakarta Marriot bombing and in handling Jose Padilla's travel to the United States.
U.S. Judge Sidney Stein ruled that defense attorneys for Uzair Paracha could introduce statements Baluchi made to U.S. interrogators, proving that he was in U.S. custody. Former Deputy Attorney General James Comey also mentioned Baluchi during remarks to the media about the case of Jose Padilla on June 1, 2004

16. Waleed Mohammed bin Attash (aka Tawfiq bin Attash or Tawfiq Attash Khallad)
Reportedly arrested on April 29, 2003, Karachi, Pakistan.
Saudi (of Yemeni descent), suspected of involvement in the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, and the Sept. 11 attacks. See Afzal Nadeem, "Pakistan Arrests Six Terror Suspects, including Planner of Sept. 11 and USS Cole Bombing," Associated Press, April 30, 2003. His brother, Hassan Bin Attash, is currently held in Guantanamo.

17. Adil al-Jazeeri
Reportedly arrested on June 17, 2003 outside Peshawar, Pakistan.
Algerian, suspected al-Qaeda and longtime resident of Afghanistan, alleged "leading member" and "longtime aide to bin Laden." (Possibly transferred to Guantanamo.)

18. Hambali (aka Riduan Isamuddin)
Reportedly arrested on August 11, 2003, Thailand.
Indonesian, involved in Jemaah Islamiyah and al-Qaeda, alleged involvement in organizing and financing the Bali nightclub bombings, the Jakarta Marriot Hotel bombing, and preparations for the September 11 attacks.

19. Mohamad Nazir bin Lep (aka Lillie, or Li-Li)
Reportedly arrested in August 2003, Bangkok, Thailand.
Malaysian, alleged link to Hambali.

20. Mohamad Farik Amin (aka Zubair)
Reportedly arrested in June 2003, Thailand.
Malaysian, alleged link to Hambali.

21. Tariq Mahmood
Reportedly arrested in October 2003, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Dual British and Pakistani nationality, alleged to have ties to al-Qaeda.

22. Hassan Ghul
Reportedly arrested on January 23, 2004, in Kurdish highlands, Iraq.
Pakistani, alleged to be Zarqawi's courier to bin Laden; alleged ties to Khalid Sheikh Mohammad.

23. Musaad Aruchi (aka Musab al-Baluchi, al-Balochi, al-Baloshi)
Reportedly arrested in Karachi on June 12, 2004, in a "CIA-supervised operation."
Presumably Pakistani. Pakistani intelligence officials told journalists Aruchi was held by Pakistani authorities at an airbase for three days, before being handed over to the U.S., and then flown in an unmarked CIA plane to an undisclosed location.

24. Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan (aka Abu Talaha)
Reportedly arrested on July 13, 2004, Pakistan.
Pakistani, computer engineer, was held by Pakistani authorities, and likely transferred to U.S. custody. (Possibly in joint U.S.-Pakistani custody.)

25. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani
Reportedly arrested on July 24, 2004, Pakistan
Tanzanian, reportedly indicted in the United States for 1998 embassy bombings. U.S. and Pakistani intelligence officials told UPI that Ghailani was transferred to "CIA custody" in early August.

26. Abu Faraj al-Libi
Reportedly arrested on May 4, 2005, North Western Frontier Province, Pakistan.
Libyan, suspected al-Qaeda leader of operations, alleged mastermind of two assassination attempts on Musharraf. Col. James Yonts, a U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, "said in an email to The Associated Press that al-Libbi was taken directly from Pakistan to the U.S. and was not brought to Afghanistan."
Link


Home Front: WoT
Paracha convicted
2005-11-24
A Pakistani man who claimed he was pressured into a false confession was convicted Wednesday of trying to help an al-Qaida operative slip past U.S. immigration officials.

A federal jury deliberated for about five hours before finding Uzair Paracha, 25, guilty of providing material support to terrorists and of other related charges. He could face up to 75 years in prison.

The government accused Paracha of trying to help Majid Khan, an alleged al-Qaida member, sneak into the country using fake travel documents.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karl Metzner told the jury Paracha wanted to help Khan and "did so knowing that a terrorist was coming here for one purpose: to kill Americans."

Paracha testified he was pressured into confession and only told investigators "what I thought they wanted to hear." His defense attorney Edward Wilford said the FBI denied his client food and sleep during hours of questioning -- "the ideal conditions to create a false confession."

The man Paracha is accused of trying to help, Khan, is presumed to be in overseas jails.

Paracha's father, Saifullah Paracha, is also being held as an enemy combatant in the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He has not been charged with a crime, but documents indicate he is suspected of laundering money for terrorists and associating with al-Qaida figures. He has repeatedly denied any knowing involvement in terrorism.

Uzair Paracha grew up in Pakistan, but has lived off and on for many years in New York, where his family has several business ventures.

After his detention in 2003, he told agents that Khan had tried to recruit him to al-Qaida and made clear that he wanted to come to the United States as part of a plot to attack Americans.

Paracha told the agents he had no personal interest in al-Qaida but cooperated because Khan and others related to the terrorist network had promised to invest $200,000 in one of the family's businesses.

Just before the trial began two weeks ago, U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein denied Paracha's request to call as witnesses Khan, Ammar Al-Baluchi and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, al-Qaida's No. 3 leader, who was in U.S. custody after he was captured in Pakistan.

Paracha's sentencing is set for March 4.
Link


Home Front: WoT
NY case ends for al-Qaeda supporter
2005-11-22
Closing arguments were given on Monday in the case of a Pakistani accused of aiding al Qaeda, with the prosecution and defense debating whether prolonged questioning by FBI agents produced a false confession by the accused man.

Uzair Paracha, 25, is charged with agreeing to smuggle travel documents and pose as al Qaeda member Majid Khan, who prosecutors believe was planning to blow up gas stations in the United States.

If convicted in U.S. District Court, Paracha faces a maximum of 15 years on each of the five charges he faces.

Paracha testified that he confessed to FBI agents that he helped Khan after three days of questioning in March 2003 because he was scared and wanted to go home.

Prosecutors say Paracha attended several meetings with his father Saifullah Paracha and al Qaeda members Khan and Ammar al-Baluchi and that he agreed to mail travel documents to Khan in Pakistan, knowing the men were al Qaeda members.

"He (Paracha) decided to help an al Qaeda operative get into the United States, and he did so knowing that that terrorist was coming with one purpose -- to kill Americans," prosecutor Karl Metzner said during closing arguments.

The prosecutor said "the heart of this case comes down to one question" -- whether Paracha knew Khan and al-Baluchi were al Qaeda members.

"The answer is simple. He knew. He wasn't lying," said Metzner. "What he said on that witness stand doesn't change that fact one little bit."

Defense attorney Edward Wilford called Paracha a "dupe in every sense of the word."

"His street smarts and common sense were not that sharp," his attorney said. "He told you he did not know, did not participate, was not a part of any al Qaeda plot."

Paracha was strip-searched and deprived of food, sleep and contact with his family during the three days of questioning, the attorney said.

"These conditions were ideal to create a false confession," he said.

The defense attorney urged jurors to believe statements made by Khan and al-Baluchi to U.S. authorities, submitted during the trial, that said neither Paracha nor his father knew either one was an al Qaeda member or knew of a chemical attack plot.

Both Khan and al-Baluchi are being held in U.S. custody in undisclosed locations, and Saifullah Paracha has been held for two years in U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after being arrested in Bangkok in 2003.

Jurors are expected to begin deliberations on Tuesday.
Link


Home Front: WoT
Accused al-Qaeda supporter testifies in New York trial
2005-11-18
A Pakistani accused of supporting an al Qaeda plot to attack the United States testified at his trial on Thursday that he knew of no such scheme and was forced into a false confession by FBI agents.

Uzair Paracha, 25, is accused of agreeing to smuggle travel documents and pose as another man, purported al Qaeda member Majid Khan, who prosecutors believe was planning to blow up gas stations in America.

Paracha told jurors in Manhattan federal court that he eventually confessed to FBI agents that he helped Khan during three days of questioning in FBI offices and Manhattan hotel rooms in March 2003.

"I was scared, and I wanted to go home. Every time I told them the truth, they told me I was lying," Paracha said. "So I told them what I thought they wanted to hear."

Paracha, who said he was strip searched and told he would be arrested if he requested a lawyer, said he agreed to help Khan with his travel documents "as a fellow Pakistani Muslim" and did not know he was a member of al Qaeda, which masterminded the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

"I am not a supporter of taking innocent lives," said Paracha, who if convicted faces a maximum of 15 years in prison on each of the five counts he faces, including document fraud and supporting al Qaeda.

"The truth is I did not know these people were al Qaeda," he testified. "The truth is if I knew that, I would not have agreed to help them."

Prosecutors allege Paracha attended a series of meetings in Pakistan in 2003 with his father Saifullah Paracha and al Qaeda members Khan and Ammar al-Baluchi and agreed to mail travel documents to Khan in Pakistan, knowing he was planning to carry out an attack.

Both Khan and al-Baluchi are being held in U.S. custody in undisclosed locations, and Saifullah Paracha has been held for two years in the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Sworn statements made to U.S. authorities by Khan and al-Baluchi read aloud in court on Thursday said neither Paracha nor his father knew either of the men was an al Qaeda member or knew of a chemical attack plot.

Khan said in the statement he gave Paracha only a 5 to 10 percent "recruitment suitability assessment" because "Uzair Paracha has no extremist views and was not really a practicing Muslim."

Under cross examination by prosecutor Karl Metzner, Paracha admitted that during the FBI questioning he was granted sleep and food.

Also under cross examination, Paracha testified that he told FBI agents on the third day of questioning he wanted to help Khan as a favor to al Qaeda.

Paracha's trial began on November 9.
Link


Fifth Column
B'KLYN MAN CONFESSED TO (chemical attack) PLOT: FEDS
2005-11-11
Via frontpage.com
A Pakistani man living in Brooklyn confessed in "chilling detail" how he tried to sneak an al Qaeda operative into the U.S. to carry out a deadly chemical attack, a prosecutor charged in opening statements yesterday.

Jurors in Manhattan federal court heard how Uzair Paracha, 25, allegedly agreed to further the terror plot during a series of meetings in Pakistan attended by two al Qaeda members and his father, a businessman now held prisoner at Guantanamo Bay.

"This trial is about the defendant's role in helping al Qaeda penetrate this country and attack the United States from within its own borders," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Bruce.

Paracha faces up to 75 years behind bars if he is convicted of providing material support to al Qaeda and related conspiracy charges.

After his arrest in March 2003, Paracha confessed to helping al Qaeda operative Majid Khan in a scheme to obtain U.S. travel documents "knowing full well that he was plotting a terrorist attack," Bruce said.

Khan — a Baltimore resident with political asylum status — had left the U.S. illegally and needed help re-entering in order to carry out his diabolical scheme, the prosecutor said.
Link


Home Front: WoT
Pakistani sought to aid in terrorist attack
2005-11-10
A Pakistani man went on trial Wednesday on charges alleging he agreed to help an al-Qaida operative planning a chemical attack against Americans sneak into the United States.

Uzair Paracha, 25, is accused of agreeing to support the plot during meetings with two al-Qaida operatives and his father, a businessman held at Guantanamo Bay.

"This trial is about the defendant's role in helping al-Qaida penetrate this country and attack the United States from within its own borders," Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Bruce said in his opening statement.

Bruce said Paracha was trying to help Majid Khan, an al-Qaida member who was granted U.S. asylum and living in Baltimore. Khan needed Paracha's help to return after leaving the country improperly to go to Pakistan, Bruce said.

The prosecutor said Paracha made deposits into a bank account in Khan's name to make it appear he was in the U.S. and posed as Khan to try to obtain an immigration document.

Khan and the other al-Qaida operative are presumed to be in U.S. custody overseas, though the U.S. government has refused to acknowledge it.

On Wednesday, Bruce repeatedly referred to a planned chemical attack by Khan but never described the plot or when and where it would occur.

Prosecutors have said Paracha admitted he believed that Khan was an al-Qaida operative and that by helping Khan he was assisting al-Qaida.

Paracha lawyer Edward Wilford told jurors Wednesday the government's claims stemmed from a false confession Paracha gave after he was subjected to 72 hours of interrogation without being told he could consult a lawyer.

"At no point did Uzair Paracha agree to help al-Qaida do anything," Wilford said.

Paracha was arrested in March 2003 and charged with conspiring to support al-Qaida, conspiring to violate laws barring economic support for al-Qaida and committing identification document fraud in aid of terrorism. If convicted of all charges, he could face up to 75 years in prison.
Link



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