Sneak Preview of CNN's 'American Al Qaeda' Special

The series airs on AC360 this week, at 10 p.m. Eastern each night, and an hourlong documentary version will air on Saturday, May 15, at 8 and 11 p.m. Eastern. This features the first ever interview with the best friend of Bryant Neal Vinas, an American Al Qaeda operative.

Labels: American-Al-Qaeda, American-Jihadists, American-Terrorists, Bryant-Neal-Vinas, CNN, Weblog

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Bryant Neal Vinas Confession

In the fall of 2007, I left my home in Long Island to travel to Pakistan with the intention of meeting and joining a jihadist group to fight American soldiers in Afghanistan. When I arrived in Pakistan, I made contact with and was accepted into al-Qaeda, a jihadist group that I knew to be responsible for attacks against the United States, including suicide bombings targeting civilians.

As a member of al-Qaeda, I received training in courses in general combat and explosives. During my time in al-Qaeda, I took part, at the direction of al-Qaeda leaders, in two missions in September 2008 in which we agreed and planned to attack a United States military base near the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The first attack failed and we had to abort the mission before firing on the base, but a few days later, I took part in firing rockets at an American military base. Although we intended to hit the military base and kill American soldiers, I was informed that the rockets missed and the attack failed.

Finally, during my time with al-Qaeda, I consulted with a senior al-Qaeda leader and provided detailed information about the operation of the Long Island Rail Road system which I knew because I had ridden the railroad on many occasions. The purpose of providing this information was to help plan a bomb attack of the Long Island Rail Road system.

Full transcript

Labels: American-Al-Qaeda, American-Jihadists, Bryant-Neal-Vinas

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Bryant Neal Vinas Indictment and Transcripts

From the L.A. Times:

An American Muslim convert from Long Island, N.Y., who was captured while fighting for Al Qaeda in Pakistan is now cooperating with authorities, opening a rare window into the world of Western militants in the network's hide-outs, U.S. and European anti-terrorism officials said.

Bryant Neal Vinas, 26, is one of the few Americans known to have made the trek to Al Qaeda's secret Pakistani compounds, the officials said.

Vinas has admitted to meeting Al Qaeda chiefs and giving them information for a potential attack on New York commuter trains, conversations that resulted in a public alert in November, said the officials, who requested anonymity because the case was ongoing.

Here are the key court documents in the Vinas case:

All documents

November 14, 2008, First indictment

November 22, 2008, Court transcript

January 28, 2009, Superseding indictment

January 28, 2009, Court transcript

July 22, 2009, Order to unseal

Labels: American-Al-Qaeda, American-Jihadists, Bryant-Neal-Vinas

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink