New 9/11 Suspects In California, New Questions About Awlaki's Role

New questions about the role of Yemeni-American cleric Anwar Awlaki in the September 11 attacks have emerged in the wake of a Wikileaks cable naming previously unknown Al Qaeda operatives who may have been intended as a fifth team of hijackers.

According to the cable, first reported by The Telegraph newspaper, Meshal Alhajri, Fahad Abdulla and Ali Alfehaid were Qatari citizens who flew into New York on Aug. 15, 2001. According to the cable, "They visited the World Trade Centre, the Statue of Liberty, the White House and various areas in Virginia."

The men flew to Los Angeles, where their behavior aroused suspicions. On Sept. 10, 2001, they booked seats on American Airlines Flight 144, bound for Washington. The plane used in that flight was designated American Flight 77 the next day, when it was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon. But instead of boarding the flight, they booked another trip to Doha, Qatar, leaving the country before the attack.

Two of the hijackers on Flight 77, Nawaf Al-Hazmi and Khalid Al-Mihdhar had a close relationship with Anwar Awlaki, a Yemeni-American cleric who is today affiliated with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. As many as two other hijackers may have met with Awalki in Virginia.

Awlaki has long been suspected of playing a role in the September 11 hijacking. Several of his disciples in San Diego and Virginia assisted the hijackers with rides, lodging and in obtaining IDs, as detailed in my forthcoming book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go To War In The Name Of Islam. An FBI agent interviewed by the 9/11 Commission said "if anyone had knowledge of the plot, it was Awlaki."

Although suspicion has long focused on Omar Al-Bayoumi, a Saudi government facilitator who initially met Al-Hazmi and Al-Mihdhar in Los Angeles, virtually everyone who helped the hijackers -- including Bayoumi himself -- was also linked to Awlaki. And at least one disciple of Awlaki's on the East Coast, who did not know Bayoumi, also assisted some of the hijackers.

According to the Wikileaks cable, the Qatari suspects were assisted by Mohamed Ali Mohamed Mansoori, "who is [as of February 2010] under investigation by the FBI for his possible involvement in the 11 September 2001 attacks. He is suspected of aiding people who entered the US before the attacks to conduct surveillance of possible targets and providing other support to the hijackers."

Mansoori was a resident of Los Angeles and Irvine, California, through at least 2001.

Awlaki was in Virginia around the time the Qataris visited the state, and he was in Southern California when the Qataris were there, just prior to September 11.

Awlaki told a reporter for the Copley News Service in 2001 that he had attended an event in Irvine, California, just days before September 11. Irvine is about 40 miles from Los Angeles, where the Qataris were staying, but more than 80 miles from San Diego, where Awlaki caught his flight to Washington.

The event Awlaki attended was a September 9, 2001, benefit dinner for Jamil Al-Amin, at the Muslim Students Union of the University of California, Irvine. Also attending the event were Muzammil Siddiqi, then-President of ISNA, who worked for the Muslim World League during the 1970s. Both Siddiqui and Awlaki had lectured in separate panels at ISNA's national convention near Chicago just days earlier (click for video).

Also attending the benefit was Maher Hathout, founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Jamil Al-Amin is an American Muslim activist convicted in 2002 of killing a police officer.

Just after the Qataris left the country, Awlaki flew from San Diego to Washington, arriving at Reagan International Airport on the morning of September 11, shortly after the hijackers he had assisted departed from Dulles on their suicide mission. [Joe Cantlupe and Dana Wilkie, "Former San Diego Islamic spiritual leader defends mosque," Copley News Service, Sept. 28, 2001]

Awlaki was also reportedly in Yemen during the summer of 2000, around the same time as hijacker Khalid Al-Mihdhar and Al Qaeda facilitator Ramzi Al Binalshibh, who assisted a group of hijackers not believed to be connected to Awlaki.

More INTELWIRE Exclusive Documents On Awlaki

The Commission was informed about the Qatari suspects, but former commission director Philip Zelikow told the New York Daily News that the lead "had not panned out." Families of the 9/11 victims expressed outrage to the Daily News today about the withholding of this information from the public.

Labels: 9-11, 9-11-Commission, American-Al-Qaeda, American-Terrorists, Anwar-Awlaki, Wikileaks

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Declassified Cable From INTELWIRE Expands Wikileaks Revelation Of Iranian Arms Smuggling

One of the State Department cables released by Wikileaks this week claimed that the Iranian government has used the Red Crescent charity to smuggle arms to Hezbollah and the Balkans.

If you were wondering exactly what that means, you'll have to go beyond Wikileaks. A State Department cable obtained by INTELWIRE using the Freedom of Information Act describes an intercepted 1992 arms shipment from Iran to Bosnia in eye-popping detail.

According to the cable, the Croatian government intercepted a plane from Iran which was bound for Bosnia and inspected its contents. Croat President Franjo Tudjman called in his local U.S. consul for advice about what to do. The U.S. eventually advised him to send the flight back to Iran.

The plane was "fully loaded with arms," including a number of barrels believed to contain chemical or biological weapons. It was not the first Iranian shipment of arms to Bosnian Muslims either.

The Iranian and Bosnian governments had previously asked permission from Tudjman to ship arms through Zagreb. The last time, Tudjman had said no, so this time all the supplies in the plane was labeled as humanitarian aid from the Red Crescent.

The 20 to 40 mujahideen fighters on the plane were more difficult to conceal. It's important to note that these were probably not all (or even mostly) Iranians. Iranian nationals in Bosnia functioned more as trainers and intelligence agents, but Iran helped smuggle in fighters from around the Muslim world.

American military veterans were also flying into Bosnia to serve as trainers to the Bosnian mujahideen during the same period. Never-before-reported details of this program will be revealed in my forthcoming book on American jihadists, scheduled for release in spring 2011.

Read the whole cable

For thousands of pages of additional State Department cables, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, click here.

This document was obtained during the course of reporting Sarajevo Ricochet, a documentary about the Bosnia war, including new information about Srebrenica and about the activities of Islamic extremist networks in Bosnia during the war. For an excerpt from the documentary focused on illegal arms shipments from Iran to Bosnia, click here.

Labels: Bosnia, Iran, Red-Screscent, State-Department, Wikileaks

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Wikileaks: KBR employs 35 "bad guys" at Bagram Air Field

February 2007: Afghan Army official tells U.S. Army task force Gladius that KBR is employing 35 criminals and/or insurgents at Bagram Air Field:

7DA8A3D1-8430-4933-8DAC-82E547622CCB 2/12/2007 14:30 Non-Combat Event Meeting 2007-044-070121-0363 "Key Leader Engagement. Parwan PSC. Governor Taqwa, Bazir Selangi (Deputy GOV), GEN Salim (ANP Chief), GEN Khalil Amil (NDS Chief)." "Key Leader Engagement

Date of meeting: 121000LFEB07

Date of Report: 131100LFEB07

Derived From: Parwan PSC. Governor Taqwa, Bazir Selangi (Deputy GOV), GEN Salim (ANP Chief), GEN Khalil Amil (NDS Chief).

Summary: (S//NF) During a scheduled weekly meeting with the head Parwan Provincial Government officials TF Gladius was given the following information in reference to the BAF Security Zone (BSZ) and areas around Parwan Province: background information on the new Deputy Governor of the Parwan District, confirmation of Engineer Hamidallah being in the AO and the Governors want to employ him to work for the local government, possible Criminal or Insurgents working on Bagram Air Field (BAF) for KBR, HIG plans in the Kohi Safi and BSZ area, IED TTP to be employed against Government Officials in the Parwan Province, and plans for ANP in the Kohi Safi District.

(S//NF) Background information on the new Deputy Governor of the Parwan Province. The new Deputy Governor of the Parwan Province is Bazir Selangi (NFI). He is from the Selang area of the Parwan Province which is located in the northern portion of the province. DEP GOV Selangi was the commander of the United Front during the Taliban rule. He was also the Chief of Police (CoP) for Kabul (date of office wasnt given). Selangi was a Division Commander for troops in Wardak and Jalalabad during the Taliban Regime and was a Chief of Police (CoP) in Nangahar as well (NFI).

(S//NF) Confirmation of Engineer Hamidullah being in the AO and Governor Taqwas willingness to hire him. Governor Taqwa speaks frequently with Engineer Hamidullah on the telephone and believes that he is of good nature and wants to hire him to work for the government of Parwan Province. Earlier reporting shows that Engineer Hamidullah is spreading anti US/Coalition/IRoA sentiments within the Parwan and BSZ area. With this information known by the Parwan government leaders, they still believe that he is good natured and want to employ him. GEN Salim (Parwan ANP Chief) will investigate and confirm if Engineer Hamidullah is still conducting these operations before he is employed.

(S//NF) Possible criminals or insurgents working for KBR at BAF. GEN Salim informed TF Gladius that there are approximately 35 bad guys working for KBR on BAF. GEN Salim may be referring to criminals or low level insurgents who are working as local contracts on BAF. If the individuals mentioned were Taliban or HIG, GEN Salim would have mentioned the groups by name (NFI).

(S//NF) Taliban and HIG plans in the Kohi Safi and BSZ area. There are two Taliban (TB) commanders in a refugee camp in Pakistan (NFI) that are believed to be targeting the Kohi Safi and BSZ area. These two individuals are named Perferoq and Qari Nazr Gul (NFI). These TB Commanders are reported to be developing IED TTPs using motorcycles as SVBIEDs targeting Parwan Provincial government officials and offices (NFI).

(S//NF) Plans for the ANP in the Kohi Safi District. The Parwan leadership believes that the Kohi Safi ANP Chief, Gul Said is uneducated and not aggressive. In order to support the Kohi Safi ANP Chief, GEN Salim is committing up to 200 ANP into the Kohi Safi District. These men will be trained, equipped and sent to work in the Kohi Safi District (NFI)." RC EAST NEUTRAL FALSE TF GLADIUS (DSTB) TF GLADIUS None Selected 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 42SWD1528774655 35.01441956 69.16755676 UNKNOWN UNKNOWN NEUTRAL GREEN SECRET

Labels: Bagram-Air-Base, KBR, Wikileaks

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Wikileaks Document: Afghan Intelligence Said In June 2007 That Osama Bin Laden Died In Peshawar Hospital

Updated 7/26/2010, 2:30 p.m. Eastern

Don't assume this is correct (I am assuming it is not), but a single-source intelligence report from the Afghanistan National Directorate of Security reported in June 2007 that Osama bin Laden had died in a Peshawar hospital.

According to an intelligence report leaked by Wikileaks:

NDS is also reporting that UBL had been transported to Peshawar hospital in Pakistan for treatment, where he has died. NDS stressed that this was a single source report and had not been verified.

Interestingly, there is virtually no other information about Osama bin Laden or Ayman Al Zawahiri to be found in the files, at least not by name. (There are a few more references to bin Laden in the remaining 15,000 or so records which Wikileaks has not yet issued but which select news organizations have viewed.)

One finds only the barest scraps of intelligence; nothing that points to bin Laden or Zawahiri being located in Afghanistan (no surprise there), and nothing that points to any degree of operational control over Afghan forces by either man. There are less than five references to each man in 76,000 records.

Compare that to almost 400 references to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (an Al Qaeda ally) and his network of fighters, and at least 85 references to Jaliluddin Haqqani (a Taliban Ally) and his network of fighters. There are 70 references to high-value targets -- including a handful of named Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders.

There are fewer than 200 references to Al Qaeda. Compare that to 6,000-ish references to the Taliban. Most references to enemy forces refer to ACM (Anti-Coalition Militia) or INS (insurgents), but the comparison between Al Qaeda and Taliban references is very interesting and perhaps telling. I've been one to argue that the estimate of 50 to 100 Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan is too low. Does this call that into question? It's hard to say. There are a number of factors that could skew this sample. But this is certainly one of the most important data points to date.

(Here's a contrarian point of view citing some documents I haven't seen in my download from the Wikileaks site and others which I feel are being overrepresented in the article.)

Importantly, there are more than 200 references to Iran -- more than there are to Al Qaeda, although dozens are in longish diplomatic cables. Most non-diplomacy citations were in reference to weapons and dozens of reports of IED components which were manufactured in Iran. Additionally, there are references to smuggling routes for both trained fighters and weapons coming from Iran into Afghanistan. One record describes an alleged terrorist facilitator moving Al Qaeda personnel and other militants through Afghanistan to Iran.

Other tidbits:

November 2006: AQ (NFI) trained 30 women (NFI) to execute suicide attacks against all foreigners in AFGHANISTAN. The women trained at a base located in MIRALI/MIRAMSHAH/ PAKISTAN (NFI); they are Chechens, Uzbeks, Arabs and Pakistanis. Seven of them are now located in KABUL (NFI) and they will execute suicide attacks against CF/ISAF (NFI).

Speaking of bombs, there were around 14,000 reports of IED encounters, which is an extremely worrisome number. Even allowing for the numerous false alarms, we're talking about IED production at a staggering level. With so many incidents, Darwin tells us that IED makers are learning a lot about what works and what doesn't, and the fittest who survive the war will be extraordinarily dangerous.

Fortunately, thus far, the IED production capacity has been pretty focused on the actual war/insurgency. But eventually we're going to be gone, or at least less engaged, and the survivors will turn their eyes in a systematic way to training foreigners or traveling abroad to ply their skills. We've been lucky that we haven't had a second Ramzi Yousef yet -- a super-competent bomb builder with both ambition and ancillary skills such as language and disguise. But we won't be lucky forever.

One of the memos records a non-combat meeting in November 2006 attended by military personnel during which a supposedly pro-government fatwa was read on the permissibility of killing Muslims.

a). First if some one kills Muslims, he should be revenged for

b). If a person is married and do have illegal sexual affairs with some one else, then he should be punished to death for that.

c). the third thing is if a Muslim convert to other religions, then he/she should be punished to death.

Labels: Afghanistan, Osama-Bin-Laden, Wikileaks

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink