Secret Service Document Describes Missing Scenes From FBI Release of Oklahoma City Bombing Videos

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

A Secret Service timeline of events around the Oklahoma City bombing describes video surveillance tapes that show the Ryder truck used in the terrorist both before and during the detonation.

The FBI last week released security camera footage of the moments after the bombing. The videotapes, which the FBI claims were not edited, do not show the Ryder Truck, McVeigh or the explosion.

The Secret Service document, dated May 1, 1995, and provided to INTELWIRE by Attorney Jesse Trentadue, describes:

"Security video [that] shows the Ryder truck pulling up to the Federal Building and then pausing (7-10 seconds) before resuming into a slot in front of the building."

"Security video tapes from the area show the truck detonation 3 minutes and 6 seconds after the suspects exited the truck"

The word "suspects" in plural refers to a witness report that two men exited the truck. It is not entirely clear from the document whether the security tape shows anyone exiting the truck. Witness reports also described a third suspect, a woman believed to have been directing the truck into position for detonation.

Timeline document (excerpt)

The videotapes were released to Trentadue under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Trentadue sued the FBI to force it to disclose information about the Oklahoma City bombing after the death of his brother, Kenneth Trentadue, in federal custody on Aug. 21, 1995. Kenneth Trentadue's death was initially declared a suicide by prison officials, but the family discovered signs of numerous injuries when preparing him for burial. The family was awarded more than $1 million after winning a wrongful death suit against the government. Trentadue believes his brother was mistaken for a suspect in the case.

For more information on Trentadue's lawsuit including documents he has obtained through his FOIA lawsuit, click here.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Oklahoma City Bombing Witness Linked to CIA, New Filing Reveals

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

A potential witness in the Oklahoma City bombing investigation had contact with the CIA.

That is just one of dozens of revelations in a document released by the CIA, in response to a lawsuit by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue.

Trentadue has been seeking government documents related to Oklahoma City through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as part of an investigation into the death of his brother while federal custody (story).

Trentadue sought documents from the CIA under FOIA. Although the Agency released some documents (story, documents), it withheld many more. In response to Trentadue's lawsuit, the CIA filed what is known as a Vaughn Index, describing the withheld material in detail. While much of the material was classified, the CIA also refused to disclose several unclassified documents.

Among the documents described in the index:

A document written by a CIA attorney to the Justice Department that "responds to request for information as to whether a potential witness in the Oklahoma City Bombing trial was at any time associated with the CIA." The document describes "contacts between the CIA and the potential witness," which also contains information on "the location of a covert CIA facility."

A letter to an FBI agent describing CIA records searches related to Timothy McVeigh and co-conspirator Terry Nichols.

A 10-page fax describing a name trace search conducted by the CIA on Terry Nichols.

A one-page cable dated April 19, 1995, with the subject line "Bombing in Oklahoma City," which contains information about "the location of a covert CIA facility, a CIA cryptogram, and CIA intelligence limitations and capabilities."

A two cable dated April 19, 1995, and titled "Identity of US Citizens Who Attended the PAIC [Popular Arab Islamic Conference]." The annual Sudan-based conference was known as a nexus for Islamic terrorist leaders including Al Qaeda members. The document also contains information about "CIA intelligence collection requests, the location of a CIA covert facility, and cryptonyms."

A one-page cable dated April 19, 1995, and titled "Call From Foreign Liason Contact," which describes "the identity of a foreign government that provided information to the CIA in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, the location of a covert CIA facility, and information regarding another agency's sources, information sharing, and analysis of source information. Release of the classified information reasonably would be expected to result in serious damage to the national security of the United States."

A three-page cable dated April 20, 1995, and titled "Planned Correspondence With Foreign Government Liaison Partners," which describes contact between the CIA and "an asset regarding the Oklahoma City bombing."

A two-page cable dated April 20, 1995, and titled "Explosion at Federal Building in Oklahoma" which describes "the location of a covert CIA field station, the identity of a human source, information sharing, and information credited to a representative of a foreign government."

Multiple documents dated April 20, 1995, describing claims of responsibility for the Oklahoma City bombing. As previously reported on INTELWIRE, there were several such claims in the aftermath of the bombing (story, story).

A two-page cable dated April 20, 1995, and titled "Possible Suspect" which "provides information about a possible person of interest in the Oklahoma City bombing."

A two-page cable dated April 20, 1995, and titled "Name Trace Results" which describes "a person named in connection with the Oklahoma Bombing investigation, but whom was not the object of plaintiff's FOIA request." Trentadue's FOIA request specifically requested information on Andreas Strassmeir, a German national linked to McVeigh.

A two-page cable dated April 21, 1995, and titled "Investigative Lead."

A two-page cable dated April 21, 1995, and titled "Possible Lead."

A two-page cable dated April 21, 1995, and titled "Information Regarding Possible Suspects." It contains "the identity of an intelligence source and details regarding inter-agency coordination with respect to the intelligence as well as to protect the location of a covert CIA field station and foreign liaison"

The Vaughn Index lists numerous other leads generated by human intelligence sources.

Read the full document

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Bombing Investigation: ATF Raids White Supremacists;Three States In One Day

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

An undercover ATF sting raided white supremacists in at least three states on Thursday in an investigation connected to the 2004 letter bombing of Don Logan, an African-American who worked for a diversity program in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms infiltrated "several" undercover agents into white supremacist circles as part of the investigation, according to court records.

In Arizona, Dennis and Daniel Mahon were arrested this week by the ATF on a sealed indictment issued June 16.

In Missouri, Robert Neil Joos was arrested by the ATF on a firearms charge. An ATF affidavit said the arrest resulted from a multi-year investigation into the Logan bombing.

According to the affidavit, Dennis Mahon called Joos on the morning of the bombing.

"The subsequent investigation has focused on several persons involved in the white
supremacist movements throughout the United States," according to the affidavit. The probe included "several ATF undercover agents" and at least one informant.

The informant and one undercover agent made close contact with the Mahon brothers, who described Joos as the owner of a "retreat" used as a training camp by the white supremacist movement.

Undercover operatives subsequently made contact with Joos and toured his facility, according to the affidavit. The retreat included a system of caves which Joos claimed were ideal for evading law enforcement.

"The ATF's investigation of Robert JOOS utilized covert tactics, to include undercover meetings with JOOS while on JOOS' Missouri property," the affidavit states.

ATF conducted a third raid yesterday at the home of Thomas Metzger, one of the chief advocates of "leaderless resistance," in Warsaw, Indiana. Metzger was not arrested.

Metzger told the Warsaw, Indiana-based Times-Union that the raid was linked to the Mahon arrests. Metzger is considered a leader of the White Aryan Resistance, an organization to which the Mahons also reportedly belong.

"I've known them [the Mahon brothers] for years," Metzger told the newspaper. "I've talked to them on the phone, but it was usually about the weather or their invalid mother.

David Paul Hammer, an inmate who spent about two years on death row with convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, said McVeigh told him that German national Andreas Strassmeir and convicted bank robber Michael Brescia planned the Oklahoma City bombing at a white separatist compound known as Elohim City.

An ATF informant named Carol Howe also allegedly heard Mahon and Strassmeir discussing plans to bomb federal buildings, including one in Oklahoma City, prior to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing (document). According to court testimony by Howe in 1997, she heard Strassmeir discussing these plans prior to the actual bombing.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Oklahoma City Bombing Videotapes Release May Be Imminent

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

A dozen or more surveillance videotapes related to the Oklahoma City bombing may soon be released by the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act.

The unreleased tapes have long been the subject of controversy. Some have argued the tapes may contain images of additional conspirators in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred E. Murrah federal building, for which only Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols have been convicted.

The videotapes are described in documents newly released to Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue, who is also seeking the release of the tapes themselves. Click here to read the original documents.

The actual tapes "are due any day," Trentadue said this week.

(Click here and here for more about Trentadue's battle to force FBI to disclose information about the Oklahoma City bombing.)

Separately, Trentadue released more than 50 pages of heavily redacted documents relating to the bombing, which he obtained from the CIA under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Click here to read the original documents.

Trentadue had petitioned for a number of documents relating to the bombing itself, communications between the CIA and the FBI over the bombing, and records related to Andreas Strassmeir, a German national linked to McVeigh who is alleged to have played a role in the bombing.

The CIA referred 26 documents it found during its search to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a division of the Air Force responsible for satellite imagery intelligence.

"Release of this information could cause grave damage to our national security," the Agency wrote in a letter to Trentadue.

The withheld documents likely relate to satellite images of the Murrah building.

As previously disclosed by an INTELWIRE FOIA request, the CIA provided imagery of the Alfred E. Murrah Federal Building for use by the FBI in evaluating the bomb blast.

The imagery included both before and after images. The documents released to INTELWIRE do not indicate when -- or why -- the "before" pictures were taken.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Terror Plot Targeted Newburgh Air Base Where High-Value Al Qaeda Detainees Landed

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

An Air Force based that was allegedly targeted by terrorists in Newburgh, New York, was used as a landing site to transport high-value Al Qaeda detainees into U.S. custody.

According to a criminal complaint filed by the Justice Department, four Newburgh Muslims were planning to use "surface-to-air missile system to destroy military aircraft at the New York Air National Guard Base located at Stewart Airport in Newburgh, New York."

That air base was used in August and October of 1998 to receive two key operatives in the 1998 East African Embassy Bombings case -- Al Qaeda members Khalfan Khamis Mohamed and Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-'Owhali, according to trial testimony in the landmark case, U.S. v. Bin Laden.

After landing at the base in Stewart, the terrorists were transported into the custody of the Justice Department's Southern District of New York where they stood trial.

Ahmed Ghailani, a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, is also accused in the 1998 bombing plot against U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. This week, Ghailani was indicted in the Southern District of New York and is expected to be transferred into Justice Department custody.

It is not known exactly when or how Ghailani will be transported to U.S. soil or whether Stewart Air Base would have been one of his stops. Stewart Air Base is also used "to transport military supplies and personnel to the U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan," according to the Justice Department.

Nothing in the complaint suggests the four suspects -- James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen -- were aware that the base had been used in the past to transport arrested Al Qaeda members.

Nevertheless, the nexus of events points to the potential significance of even small, home-grown terrorist plots, while highlighting some of the challenges faced in dealing with Al Qaeda suspects on U.S. soil.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

OKBOMB and The Order: New Documents Don't Add Up

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

New Oklahoma City bombing documents released by the FBI say a domestic terrorist group known as "The Order" had been defunct for 10 years, even though the Bureau was conducting two active investigations on related groups from 1990 to 1993.

One of those two groups, the Texas Reserve Militia, was linked to Andreas Strassmeir, an associate of Timothy McVeigh.

The new documents were released as part of a FOIA lawsuit by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue (story).

According to one of the new documents (link), "documents written by Timothy
James McVeigh in the past contain references to 'The Turner Diaries,'" a white supremacist novel that "outlines, in detail, the
establishment of a terrorist group known as 'The Order.'"

The original Order (external link) was formed during the mid-1980s and carried out a criminal spree that included bank robberies, an assassination and counterfeiting.

"The group has not been active in almost a decade," the document says.

But in reality, the FBI investigated outgrowths of The Order just two years earlier in two separate locations -- Benton, Tennessee, and Austin, Texas.

In 1993, the FBI had an active investigation of The Order of St. John, based in Tennessee. According to an FBI document obtained by INTELWIRE (link), the head of that group was also the head of an organization known as the American Pistol and Rifle Association. APRA members were directly linked to the original Order, the document says.

"During the mid-1980s, several members of the white supremacist terrorist group known as 'The Order' were current or former members of APRA," the document states.

Perhaps even more significantly, a group known as the Texas Reserve Militia -- the subject of a domestic terrorism investigation -- was also calling itself "The Second Order." According to an FBI letterhead memorandum dated 12/26/1991 (link), "it is known that the 'first' Order was involved in murder, armored car and bank robberies, and counterfeiting. When [name redacted] talks about the group being the 'Second Order,' it is assumed from that that the same kind of criminal activities may be carried out."

A January 1993 FBI memorandum further indicated that a leader of the Texas Reserve Militia had "made statements about The Second Order such as the Government 'has no idea what's in store for them. The Second Order, The Second Front is in place.'"

One member of this "Second Order" was Andreas Strassmeir, a German national associated with the Elohim City white separatist compound in Vian, Oklahoma. McVeigh and Terry Nichols apparently visited the compound on at least one occasion, and McVeigh telephoned Strassmeir shortly before the Oklahoma City bombing took place.

A great deal of suspicion has revolved around Strassmeir as a possible co-conspirator in the bombing. Some have also speculated that he acted as a government informant. Strassmeir was also an associate of the bank robbery gang the Aryan Republican Army (story and documents). The ARA, long suspected of playing a role in the Oklahoma City bombing (story and documents), robbed banks with the idea of using the proceeds to support anti-government activity -- the same game plan used by the original Order.

Danny Coulson, an FBI agent who worked on both the Oklahoma City bombing and the Texas Reserve Militia investigation, said he believes Strassmeir may have been some kind of government informant but was not working for the FBI. He suggested Strassmeir might have been working for a foreign intelligence service.

"I think there are people who know the answer to that and I think they're in the FBI," Coulson said.

One of the newly released documents is an interagency communication from the FBI which addresses that question to the CIA (link).

"This inquiry concerns [name redacted, belived to be Strassmeir based on description provided] and whether he has ever been a CIA confidential source or asset," the communication states. No corresponding response was released.

The full collection of new documents obtained by Trentadue can be read by clicking here. They include previously unknown discussions of phone threats and a communication, largely redacted, concerning an April 20 interaction between the FBI and the CIA.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Jesse Trentadue Offers Reward In Brothers' Death

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

On August 21, 1995, Kenneth Michael Trentadue was found dead in his cell, at a federal prison in Oklahoma City.

After 13 years of battling the government in search of answers, Trentadue's brother is offering a $250,000 reward for the truth.

Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue is offering the reward for "new evidence resulting in final felony murder convictions" of those responsible for his brother's death.

Details on the reward can be found at kmtreward.com. The reward was also published in newspapers today and will be advertised in a corrections industry magazine.

Kenneth Trentadue's death was ruled a suicide by hanging by the Bureau of Prisons and the FBI. But Jesse Trentadue believes his brother was murdered because of his resemblance to a bank robbery suspect connected to the Oklahoma City bombing.

That suspect, Richard Lee Guthrie Jr., died in prison less than a year later, also the result of a hanging. Guthrie's death was also ruled a suicide (documents). Jesse Trentadue has sued the government under the Freedom of Information Act seeking more information on the bombing conspiracy (documents).

Kenneth Trentadue was in prison awaiting a hearing on an alleged parole violation. Trentadue had been convicted in 1982 of playing a role in a bank robbery and was released on parole in 1987.

Two days after arriving at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City for processing on August 18, Trentadue asked to be placed in protective custody telling a prison official he had "stepped into some shit" and may have had a problem with "mistaken identity," according to a Justice Department internal investigation into the death.

Trentadue was moved into a special unit for closer supervision later that day. He was found dead in his cell early the following morning.

Prison officials did not attempt to revive him and subsequently misrepresented various aspects of the case to Trentadue's family. In 1999, a Justice Department internal investigation found that the Bureau of Prisons employees "inappropriately delayed entry into (Trentadue's) cell, did not examine him properly, and did not immediately provide medical attention to him."

The investigation also found that the BOP "inadequately processed the cell for evidence and inappropriately rushed to clean the cell."

According to the report of the investigation, the FBI "did not investigate the case adequately, (...) mishandled evidence, failed to document the case adequately, and made various mistakes in its investigation."

The investigation also found that at least three BOP employees and one FBI employee had made false statements about the case under oath.

Despite all this, however, the investigation concluded Trentadue's death had been a suicide, explaining the trauma to the body as the result of a sequence of events in which Trentadue "attempted to hang himself, fell from the sink during this attempt, attempted to cut his throat with a toothpaste tube, then successfully hanged himself with a bed sheet he put around his neck and attached to the vent grate above the sink."

Jesse Trentadue sued the government for wrongful death and won. The family was awarded about $1 million. The court ruled that the death was a suicide, but said the government mishandled the case so severely that it merited an award for intentionally inflicting emotional distress.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Trentadue OKC Lawsuits Expand To CIA, Add Demand For Videos

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Salt Lake City Attorney Jesse Trentadue today sued the CIA for records relating to the Oklahoma City bombing, including any documents related to Andreas Strassmeier, a German national believed by many to have played a role in the terrorist attack.

In the same court action, Trentadue also sued the FBI for copies of all surveillance videotapes related to the bombing, including several videos known to exist which have never been released.

Both actions demand the release of the cited documents under the Freedom of Information Act.

In addition to the new lawsuit, Trentadue has an ongoing case against the FBI. Last week, the FBI filed an appeal attempting to overturn a court order allowing Trentadue to take a videotaped deposition from convicted OKC conspirator Terry Nichols in order to help resolve outstanding questions about the bombing and the existence of conspirators in the plot who have not been charged.

Trentadue, a Salt Lake City attorney, became involved in researching the Oklahoma City bombing after the death of his brother, Kenneth Trentadue, in federal custody on Aug. 21, 1995. Kenneth Trentadue's death was initially declared a suicide by prison officials, but the family discovered signs of numerous injuries when preparing him for burial. The family was awarded more than $1 million after winning a wrongful death suit against the government.

Jesse Trentadue's lawsuit over the FBI's disclosure stems from a belief that his brother was killed because of his resemblance to Richard Lee Guthrie, a white supremacist and bank robber who has been credibly linked to the Oklahoma City bombing by numerous reports, including those from the Associated Press, J.D. Cash of the McCurtain Gazette and In Bad Company, a 2001 book by criminology professor Mark S. Hamm.

Read the new lawsuit

Read documents previously obtained in Trentadue's lawsuits

Terry Nichols Affidavit Claiming Additional Conspirators

Documents Tighten Net Around Additional OKBOMB Conspirators

INTELWIRE Documents on OKC and Strassmeier, Gammat Islamiyah

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

U.S. Had 'High Confidence' Of UBL Attack In June 2001

Taliban Warned By Powell That Afghanistan Would Be Held Responsible For Harboring Terrorists Who Killed Americans

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Less than three months before September 11, Secretary of State Colin Powell warned the Taliban that American intelligence had "high confidence" that "Afghan-based and other operatives are now planning on carrying out attacks against Americans."

Powell's warning was conveyed to the Taliban by U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan William B. Milam, who specifically discussed Osama bin Laden with the Taliban's representative Abdul Salam Zaeef.

After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, Zaeef was arrested as an "unlawful combatant" and detained at Guantanamo Bay for three years before being released into house arrest in Afghanistan.

Two cables obtained by INTELWIRE under the Freedom of Information Act detail the warnings, as well as the specific concern about an impending attack against the United States.

A June 27, 2001, demarche from Powell outlined several specific warnings of consequences for the Taliban, which the U.S. would later fulfill. The language of the communication strongly foreshadows the "Bush doctrine" which would emerge after 9/11.

According to the communication, the Taliban were told:

"We believe that Afghan-based and other operatives are now planning on carrying out attacks against Americans. We have a high degree of confidence in the seriousness of this threat.

"You should immediately put an end to these activities."

"We will hold you directly responsible for any actions against American citizens taken by the terrorists you harbor."

"You will also be held responsible by the international community for having harbored these terrorists."

"The U. S. reserves the right to defend itself."

"[The Taliban] will be held directly responsible for any loss of life that occurs from terrorist actions related to terrorists who have trained in Afghanistan or use Afghanistan as a base of planning or operations."

Elsewhere in the communication, the threat is specified to pertain to "Americans abroad," but this does not appear to be specified in the segment communicated to Zaeef.

During the actual meeting, Milam walked through each point slowly, "pausing after each one to ensure that the Taliban notetaker understood," according to a June 29, 2001 cable.

Zaeef denied that the Taliban presented any threat to the U.S.

Although the June 27 demarche did not mention bin Laden by name, it was clear to Zaeef that the message pertained to Al Qaeda. Zaeef told Milam that the Taliban hosted Osama bin Laden for "cultural" reasons and not because they shared his emnity toward the U.S.

Zaeef lobbied for direct U.S. involvement in providing aid to Afghanistan, but Milam told him that was impossible "as long as Afghanistan continues to be a safehaven for terrorists."

"There is no danger to a single American in Afghanistan," Zaeef told Milam.

"We shall hold you to your word," Milam responded, concluding the meeting.

The substance of the communication was also transmitted to the governments of Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, who were each asked to repeat and emphasize the message to the Taliban.

Interestingly, the Saudi government was not asked to transmit the same message despite a face-to-face meeting between Powell and then-Prince Abdullah just days later.

That meeting focused mainly on Iraq and the Palestinian territories, according to a cable obtained by INTELWIRE, although the document was substantially redacted, leaving open the possibility bin Laden or the Taliban were discussed.

6/27/2001: State Dept. cable, threats to U.S. by Bin Laden

6/29/2001: State Dept. cable, threats to U.S. by Bin Laden

7/5/2001: State Dept. cable, meeting with Saudi Prince Abdullah

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Al Qaeda Suspect Aafia Siddiqi Diagnosed With Depressive Psychosis

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Al Qaeda suspect Aafia Siddiqui has been diagnosed with depressive psychosis, a disorder which has been used in the past in arguments over whether a defendant is competent to stand trial.

A court-appointed doctor evaluated Siddiqui as suffering from Axis I diagnosis of Depressive Type Psychosis.

During the initial interview, Siddiqui "reported depressed mood, anxiety and ruminative thoughts concerning her son's welfare; poor sleep; and moderate appetite," according to court documents.

During a second interview, Siddiqui "spoke through a blanket she had placed over her body, including her face," according to court records. "She politely reported that she did not wish to speak wth a psychiatrist or a psychologist. She also reported that she did not wish to be medically examined, stating, 'I'm fine; no one cares about me here.'"

9/3/2008: Letter to the court describing Aafia Siddiqui arrest and treatment in detention, injuries, strip-search issues

9/11/2008: Psychiatric Evaluation of Aafia Siddiqui

Depressive Type Psychosis can involve suicidal thoughts and behavior, confusion and delusions. The diagnosis has some history as a basis for a defendant to be declared unfit to stand trial. It is not immediately clear how much of a factor that will be for Siddiqui's defense team.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Behind the Handshake: The Rumsfeld-Saddam Meeting

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Around the time of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a photo of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein began circulating on the Web.

Declassified documents recently obtained by INTELWIRE under the Freedom of Information Act reveal details of the discussion behind the handshake, and how the meeting came to be.

Rumsfeld was appointed special envoy to the Middle East by President Ronald Reagan in November 1983. Rumsfeld was dispatched on a tour of the region shortly thereafter.

In December 1983, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq William L. Eagleton Jr. proposed a meeting between Rumsfeld and Iraqi officials as part of that trip. The Iraqis responded that the proposed timing of the visit "would not be convenient." A schedule change was offered on the condition that Iraq's president would receive Rumsfeld during the trip.

"The Iraqis will be aware that by meeting their scheduling needs he will expect to see Saddam Hussein," the Dec. 7 cable states. "The atmosphere for such a visit should be positive."

State Department Cable, Dec. 7, 1983

A message from President Reagan was drafted for the trip.

"I have become convinced of the important role Iraq can play in helping bring greater peace to the Middle East," Reagan wrote in the Dec. 8 draft.

"The United States strongly desires an end to the Iran-Iraq war. I have no illusions that the many differences between Iraq and the United States can be easily or quickly resolved," the message stated. "However, I am gratified that the dialogue between us, laboriously and patiently nurtured, has improved our understanding of each other.

"The United States stands ready to exchange ambassadors to make formal recognition of this fact whenever you decide that such a step will support the interests of your country. Until then, I want you to know that I attach great importance to continuing and improving our dialogue," the message said.

Coming in the middle of the Iran-Iraq war, the initiative was considered highly sensitive.

"Do not, repeat not, discuss letter outside embassy or with non-American personnel," the cable states.

State Department Cable, Dec. 8, 1983

The presidential message also proposed formalizing relations between the U.S. and Iraq.

I have no illusions that the many differences between Iraq and the United States can be easily or quickly resolved. However, I am gratified that the dialogue between us, laboriously and patiently nurtured, has improved our understanding of each other," the message stated. "The United States stands ready to exchange ambassadors to make formal recognition of this fact whenever you decide that such a step will support the interests of your country."

The Iraqis arranged accommodations for the trip.

State Department Cable, Dec. 10, 1983

In contrast to the friendly tone of the presidential message, a secret cable to Rumsfeld from Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger spelled out U.S. concerns about the ongoing Iran-Iraq war.

"Successful Iraqi disruption of Iranian oil exports could prompt Iran to take reprisals against third countries or shipping in the Strait of Hormuz," the cable stated, strongly urging Iraq to exercise restraint but pointedly and repeatedly refusing to suggest any negative consequence if Saddam failed to do so.

Rumsfeld's visit was presented as an unambiguous sign of support for the Iraqi dictator.

"We are willing to take more symbolic steps in bilateral areas, if Iraq believes these can give any morale boost to war effort or impetus to its diplomatic efforts. Ambassador Rumsfeld's visit could be seen in this (context) and of course, we remain ready to exchange ambassadors with Iraq without preconditions," Eagleburger wrote.

However, such offers were left to Rumsfeld's discretion.

"You should mention symbolic bilateral moves in the context of the war only if you sense that the atmosphere is correct," the cable said.

The cable makes clear that U.S. support for Iraq came without preconditions for good behavior from the Hussein regime.

"We are not making increased U.S. support for Iraq contingent upon Iraqi behavior in the Gulf," Eagleburger wrote.

If that wasn't clear enough, Eagleburger added, "A defeat for Iraq would be a strategic defeat for the U.S. ... We have an interest in Iraq's survival as a strong and independent state that can promote the stable development of its region."

Eagleburger also indicated it would intervene with the Reagan administration's allies in the oil industry to build Iraq's oil exports.

"We are talking with oil industry representatives about their plans for
construction of new alternative facilities for Iraq's oil exports," the cable stated.

State Department Cable (1), Dec. 14, 1983

State Department Cable (2), Dec. 14, 1983





A meeting with Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz was held prior to the meeting with Hussein, on December 19, 1983.

State Department Cable, Dec. 20, 1983

The unredacted State Department cable describing the meeting, as released to INTELWIRE, notably omits mention of Rumsfeld discussing Iraqi use of chemical weapons and violations of human rights, points which were described in an earlier FOIA release to George Washington University.

External link: George Washington University National Security Archive

The earlier document, written by Rumsfeld, was not included in the FOIA release to INTELWIRE although it falls within the scope of INTELWIRE's FOIA request.

The meeting with Saddam Hussein took place the following day.

"In his 90-minute meeting with Rumsfeld, Saddam Hussein Showed obvious
pleasure with president's letter and Rumsfeld's visit," a summary of the meeting stated.

"Our initial assessment is that meeting marked positive milestone in development of US-Iraqi relations and will prove to be of wider benefit to US posture in the region," the cable stated.

"Iraqi TV photographed Saddam's initial greeting of Rumsfeld and presentation of President Reagan's letter," the cable said.

"Rumsfeld told Saddam US and Iraq had shared interests in preventing Iranian and Syrian expansion," the cable stated. Rumsfeld also expressed interest in "seeing Iraq increase oil exports."

Saddam offered an ironic analysis of the Middle East conflict between Syria and Lebanon.

"(The) US had originally acted with indifference both toward Syrian invasion of Lebanon and toward the (Iran-Iraq) war, for which it decided to 'let this group of lunatics bash each other,'" the cable quoted Saddam as saying. "What ... would have happened to the states of the Gulf and Arabian peninsula if Iraq had not stood fast? No one would have been able to put out the fire. Zionism was in fact encouraging it to burn."

Rumsfeled responded with a lengthy statement largely endorsing Saddam's stated world view.

"Nations, Rumsfeld said, were better off taking long-sighted view and US had to try to take a comprehensive view. Our understanding of the importance of balance in the world and the region was similar to Iraq's."

If Rumsfeld made a direct response to Saddam's statements about "Zionism," it was not recorded. However, he did discuss Israel.

"To the extent there was excessive focus on Lebanon, Rumsfeld continued, it could distract attention from need to address more fundamental problems, such as security of the Gulf and circumstances of the Palestinian people." Rumsfeld added that the U.S. wanted to "promote a fair peace between the Arabs and Israel, one that recognized the circumstances of the Palestinian people."

Rumsfeld also suggested that the U.S. would consider guaranteeing the security of a possible Iraqi oil pipeline through Jordan against attack from Israel.

In another statement filled with retrospective irony, Rumsfeld said "Nations which export terrorism and extremism ought to be recognized as such. People should know that terrorism has a home -- in Iran, Syria and Libya."

State Department Cable, Dec. 20, 1983

Additional documents relating to U.S. support for Iraq during this time frame were obtained as part of the same INTELWIRE Freedom of Information request and will be published soon.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

New Documents Tighten Net Around Additional OKBOMB Conspirators

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

A warning about the impending Oklahoma City bombing may have been delivered three days in advance to a white supremacist tied to suspected additional conspirators in the terrorist attack.

Newly released documents reveal a detailed timeline of events that strengthens the case for additional conspirators in the bombing that killed 168 people on April 19, 1995 (timeline).

The new documents also corroborate key testimony from other sources regarding a wider conspiracy. The documents were obtained by Salt Lake City lawyer Jesse Trentadue through the Freedom of Information Act.

The documents were obtained by Salt Lake City lawyer Jesse Trentadue through the Freedom of Information Act (related story).

Mark Thomas, a former Christian Identity minister and Aryan Nations member, pleaded guilty in 1997 to conspiring with the Aryan Republican Army (ARA) bank robbery gang, which was led by white supremacists Richard Lee Guthrie and Peter Langan.

Thomas was staying in Elohim City, a white supremacist compound in rural Oklahoma, just days before the bombing, at the same time as other ARA associates with suspected links to the bombing and at the same time that Timothy McVeigh called the residence where some of the ARA members were staying.

ARA members and associates have long been eyed by journalists and investigators as possible accomplices in the bombing plot.

The ARA's activities were the main focus of the book In Bad Company: America's Terrorist Underground by Mark S. Hamm. The new documents corroborate key claims regarding the ARA's connection to the Oklahoma bombing which were put forth by Hamm. They also corroborate claims made by ARA member Peter Langan in an affidavit given to Trentadue.

As part of an ongoing FOIA lawsuit by Trentadue, the FBI previously stated it could not locate documents linking the ARA to the Oklahoma City bombing. However, the new releases do just that.

An FBI letterhead memorandum dated June 20, 1995, indicates that a female informant cooperating with the FBI and the Pennsylvania State Police implicated Thomas as having advance knowledge of the bombing.

The memorandum reported a conversation with the informant which took place on May 1, 1995. There is no explanation of why the conversation was being reported more than a month and a half after it took place.

The FBI redacted the subject line before releasing it to Trentadue. However, the memorandum is addressed to a case file dealing with the United States Nationalist Party, a white separatist organization.

Read the June 20, 1995 FBI memorandum

Thomas maintained a home in Macungie, which was used as a meeting place for recruiting and gatherings of white supremacist and militia-oriented extremists. A careful comparison of existing documents from Thomas' court case and other documents obtained by Trentadue and by INTELWIRE confirm that Thomas is the subject of the June 20 memo.

According to the informant, a La Salle University college student had gone to Macungie to "house-sit for [name redacted] while [redacted] and his family were in Elohim City, Oklahoma. [redacted name or names] returned to Philadelphia on the day of the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City saying that 'They were warned three days in advance.'"

Mark Thomas and his family were in Elohim City as late as April 17 and traveled back to his farm, arriving some time on April 19, according to "In Bad Company," court records and an April 2007 affidavit given to Trentadue by ARA member Peter Langan.

The new documents corroborate several claims made by Langan in the affidavit.

Affidavit of Peter Langan

Langan said Guthrie (a wanted fugitive at the time) traveled to the Macungie farm in July 1995, just one month after the tip described in the FBI memorandum. According to Langan, two other members of the gang were already present at the farm -- Kevin McCarthy and Scott Stedeford.

This claim is confirmed by court records and some of the newly released documents.

Money raised by Guthrie and Langan was funneled to Thomas, for the purpose of financing domestic terrorism, according to testimony in Thomas' 1997 trial.

The FBI field office in Philadelphia may have suspended its investigation of Thomas around the same time that Guthrie, Stedeford and McCarthy arrived at the farm, according to a June 13, 1995 FBI airtel newly released to Trentadue.

The Philadelphia field office forwarded to headquarters a copy of a May 27, 1995, newspaper article linking Thomas to the bombing. The communication also included information about phone number searches conducted by the field office, apparently in connection with Thomas.

"Philadelphia will conduct no further action in regards to the attached subscriber information, unless directed to do so by" the OKBOMB Task Force, a special unit created specifically to lead the bombing investigation, according to the airtel.

Read the June 13, 1995, FBI airtel

Guthrie remained at large until he and Langan were arrested in January 1996.

Another document newly released to Trentadue says "information has been developed that [redacted name] and [redacted name] were at the home of [redacted name] Oklahoma when OKBOMB subject, Timothy McVeigh, placed a telephone call to [redacted name] residence.

Read the August 22, 1996 FBI teletype

In April 1995, McCarthy and Stedeford stayed at the Elohim City home of Andreas Strassmeir, a German national long associated with the militia movement, according to a June 17, 1996 FBI record previously obtained by Trentadue.

Read the June 17, 1996 FBI FD-302

Strassmeir is another figure suspected of playing a role in the bombing; he has never been charged and currently lives in Germany.

Timothy McVeigh made at least one phone call to Strassmeir prior to the bombing, which was discussed during the trial of Terry Nichols. A second call claimed in the June 17 FD-302 allegedly took place "several weeks" before the bombing.

The verified call was made April 5, according to court records. This corresponds to the period McCarthy and Stedeford were staying with Strassmeir, according to the Aug. 22, 1996 teletype.

According to Langan, Thomas was also present in Elohim City during this time frame.

The teletype states "[redacted] and [redacted] left [redacted] residence on 4/16/95, enroute to Pittsburgh [sic], Kansas where they joined [redacted] and Guthrie. [redacted] did not accompany (them) but rather returned directly to the Philadelphia division."

Based on a careful comparison of the Langan affidavit and court records to the newly released documents, the names in this redacted section likely read:

"[Stedeford] and [McCarthy] left [Strassmeir's] residence on 4/16/95, enroute to Pittsburgh [sic], Kansas where they joined [Langan] and Guthrie. [Thomas] did not accompany (them) but rather returned directly to the Philadelphia division."

The source for the April 16 date appears to be McCarthy, who turned states evidence no later than May 1996 (after being fingered by Guthrie) and became an FBI informant. McCarthy later testified against Thomas in exchange for a minimum sentence.

However, Stedeford and McCarthy did not actually arrive in Pittsburg, where the ARA kept a safe house, until April 20, 1995, according to Langan. Langan described them as "overdue" and said he speculated at the time that they (or other Elohim City residents) may have been involved in the Oklahoma City bombing.

According to Langan, Guthrie told Thomas in July 1995 that McCarthy was Timothy McVeigh's accomplice in the bombing.

"Your young Mr. Wizard took out the Murrah Building," Guthrie reportedly told Thomas, referring to McCarthy.

In 1997, Mark Thomas also became an informant and later that year pleaded guilty to conspiracy for his role in the bank robberies. He was released from prison in 2004.

Langan is currently serving a life sentence in federal prison.

UPDATE: Follow-up Filing Details New Claim Of Prior Warning

Timeline of events in this story

Reconstructed from FBI documents obtained by Jesse Trentadue and other sources as described above.

Early 1995: Aryan Nations minister and ARA accomplice Mark Thomas living in Elohim City, Oklahoma.

April 1, 1995 (approximate): ARA members Scott Stedeford and Kevin McCarthy arrive at the home of Andreas Strassmeir in Elohim City.

April 14-17, 1995 (approximate): Mark Thomas and his family leave Elohim City and head home to Macungie, Pa.

April 16-17, 1995 (approximate): Stedeford and McCarthy leave Strassmeir's home (this claim appears to originate with McCarthy).

April 19, 1995: The Oklahoma City bombing takes place. Around this time, Mark Thomas arrives back home in Macungie, Pa.

April 19, 1995: A college student who had been house-sitting for Thomas before his return tells an FBI informant that "they were warned three days in advance."

April 20, 1995: McCarthy and Stedeford arrive at the ARA's Kansas safe house, later than expected, where they meet ARA member Peter Langan.

May 1, 1995: The informant (above) reveals the claim about the warning to the FBI's Philadelphia field office and the Pennsylvania State Police.

June 13, 1995: The FBI's Philadelphia field office informs FBI headquarters that it intends to drop the investigation of Thomas unless instructed otherwise by the OKBOMB Task Force.

June 20, 1995: More than a month after the informant (above) disclosed the "three days in advance" warning to the FBI, the Philadelphia field office memorializes the conversation in a letterhead memorandum.

July 1995: Guthrie, McCarthy and Stedeford are all staying at Thomas' Macungie farm. During discussions at the farm, Guthrie discovers that McCarthy and Stedeford were connected to the Oklahoma City bombing (according to Guthrie).

Between August and December 1995: Guthrie tells Langan that "McCarthy and Stedeford were a danger to us because of their possible involvement in the Oklahoma City Bombing."

December 1995: McCarthy tells Langan "he and others unspecified did have legal 'liabilities' concerning the Oklahoma City Bombing."

January 1996: Langan and Guthrie arrested.

July 1996: Guthrie apparently commits suicide in prison.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

FBI Document: California Resident Who Helped 9/11 Hijackers Was Closely Linked To Saudi Government

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

An FBI memo details the phone records of Omar Al Bayoumi, a Saudi citizen who assisted hijackers Khalid Al-Midhar and Nawaf Al-Hazmi in relocating to San Diego in early 2000. Bayoumi helped them find an apartment and pay their rent and introduced them to people in the local community.

Bayoumi also kept in close contact with his apparent employer, the Saudi government. The exact nature of Bayoumi's employment has remained unclear, but numerous associates suspected him of being a Saudi intelligence officer.

Read the document: 2002-04-15: FBI Letterhead Memorandum, Omar Al Bayoumi Contacts With Saudi Government

According to the memo, local mosque members "believed there was always a covert employee of the Saudi Arabian government stationed at the mosque," and that Bayoumi may have been that person.

Bayoumi was "employed by the Saudi government to monitor the activities of Saudi dissidents that resided in the U.S.," the memo states, according to "a prominent Islamic leader in San Diego."

Other FBI interviewees said Bayoumi was "an employee of the Saudi Arabian Government (who) traveled to mosques throughout the world to monitor and observe Saudi citizens for signs of dissident behavior."

Another source said Bayoumi "was connected with a Saudi Arabian company that is equivalent to the Federal Aviation Administration," and said he was paid $5,000 a month to be a student.

The memo below details Bayoumi's phone contacts with the Saudi government over slightly less than two months in 2000, around the time the hijackers arrived in San Diego. Phone records revealed Bayoumi called local Saudi officials, including the consulate in San Diego, 34 times. He called Saudi officials in Washington D.C. 141 times in the same period, according to the memo -- more than twice a day on average.

Calls appear to be directed to the Saudi Cultural Mission, the Saudi Education Mission, the Saudi Embassy in Washington, the Saudi Consulate in San Diego, the Saudi National Guard, and the Saudi Islamic Affairs Department.

Although the notation is unclear due to FBI redactions, it also appears Bayoumi called a U.S. Department of State diplomat.

Extensive portions of the document were redacted by the FBI, including substantial portions of FBI interviews with Saudi government officials who had contact with Bayoumi.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

INTELWIRE Releases FBI Documents Given To The 9/11 Commission

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

INTELWIRE has obtained more than 1,700 pages of FBI documents cited in the end notes of the Final Report of the 9/11 Commission.

They reveal a wealth of new details about the hijacker's movements, possible links between the hijackers and the government of Saudi Arabia, and connections to extremist figures in the United States, including blind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman.

Related story: Document Indicates California Resident Who Helped 9/11 Hijackers Was Closely Linked To Saudi Government

The documents were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. If you are reporting from these documents, please credit INTELWIRE.com and link to this page or preferably to the INTELWIRE.com home page (http://www.intelwire.com).

The package covers a wide variety of topics, including the movements of the hijackers over more than 10 years, people who associated with the hijackers in the U.S., FBI interviews with the victims, transcripts of phone calls to the hijacked flights, intelligence obtained by overseas agencies and much, much more.

Documents are listed here both chronologically and according to the chapter of the 9/11 Report in which they appeared. The package totals more than 1,700 pages and is the largest online repository of 9/11 source documents on the Web (and still growing).

Additional FOIA requests were posed to the State Department and CIA. The CIA refused the entire request, which is under appeal; the State Department is still processing documents. Those documents will also be published hereon receipt.

These documents will also be posted individually and chronologically at INTELFILES.com, with descriptive text, and additional comment and analysis as appropriate, over the next several months.

Researchers, authors and documentary producers wishing to license or commission specific research based on these documents can contact INTELWIRE's J.M. Berger through this site. A chronologically ordered package is available to researchers, including multiple copies of documents with different redactions, INTELWIRE analysis of redactions to verify the identities of specific individuals, and broad analysis of contents.

FBI documents cited in 9/11 Report End Notes, Chronological

1995 to 2000

1/1/2001 to 9/10/2001

9/11/2001

9/12/2001

9/13/2001 to 9/30/2001

10/01/2001 to 12/31/2001

01/01/2002 to 04/30/2002

5/2002 to 12/2002

1/2003 to 12/2003

1/2004 to end of FOIA release

Documents Cited in the End Notes of the Final Report of the 9/11 Commission:

Chapter 1: We Have Some Planes

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Chapter 2: The Foundation of the New Terrorism

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Chapter 3: Counterterrorism Evolves

Part 1

Part 2


Chapter 5: Al Qaeda Aims At The American Homeland

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

Chapter 6: From Threat To Threat

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Chapter 7: The Attack Looms

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Chapter 8: The System Was Blinking Red

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

When reporting from these documents, you agree to cite and link INTELWIRE.com as the source.

Related:

9/11 Report End Notes (offsite, opens in new window)

Related story:

Document Indicates California Resident Who Helped 9/11 Hijackers Was Closely Linked To Saudi Government

Selected documents from the package:

Hijackers' Timeline

Hijackers' pal Omar al-Bayoumi and the Saudi government

More information on Omar Al-Bayoumi

Still more on Omar Al-Bayoumi

Analysis of 9/11 Hijacker's Cell Model

FBI Report on Conflict Diamonds and Al Qaeda

Summary of Information (1999): Khalid Shaikh Mohammed

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed's Education at American Colleges

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Jihadists Add Strong Encryption To Terrorist Toolbox

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Al Qaeda-linked militants have rolled out improved security software that provides above-military-grade encryption for terrorists communicating online.

A copy of the software, Mujahideen Secrets 2, was obtained by INTELWIRE and forwarded to Paul A. Henry, Vice President for Technology Evangelism at Secure Computing (www.securecomputing.com), for analysis.

According to Henry, the software is a significant upgrade to an earlier version program used by jihadists. The new software can be used to encrypt chat sessions, as well as e-mail, Web forum postings and electronic communications.

The software can easily be loaded on a USB stick, according to Henry, allowing militants to encrypt communications from otherwise insecure locations such as Internet cafes.

The software is extremely easy to use, Henry said. This is a significant factor, since the computer skills (and general intelligence) of al Qaeda operatives run the gamut from highly advanced to embarrassingly inadequate.

On the higher end of that spectrum, Al Qaeda has traditionally employed fairly sophisticated computer techniques, but until recently, its implementation has generally lagged industry standards.

During the early and mid-1990s, terrorists were early adopters of laptop computers, PDAs, online publishing and digital file archiving. But while their computer habits were savvy, they were usually less than professional-level.

For instance, a laptop computer recovered from Ramzi Yousef in 1995 contained deleted files that were able to be recovered by forensic analysis. Yousef was sophisticated enough to use passwords, but not strong encryption. He removed old and sensitive files, but he didn't know to run a file shredder.

With the new software, Yousef's hard drive would have been a much tougher nut to crack. In addition to its 2,048-bit encryption, Mujahideen Secrets 2 includes a shredder and file and folder encryption.

The move to stronger encryption may have been prompted by security breaches on jihadist Web sites back in September, when the U.S. government and counterterrorism analysts obtained copies of an Osama bin Laden video release before it was widely introduced on the Web. At the time, several key jihadist sites temporarily suspended operations to address the breach.

However, it's unlikely the bulk of those security issues will be solved by strong encryption. While the debut of the software represents a significant and dangerous new development for counterterrorism officials, encryption and straight-up network security do not appear to have been the key factors in earlier breaches. The best encryption in the world won't help if you give away your passwords and encryption keys.

Mujahideen Secrets 2 appears to have been assembled and compiled from both open-source and copyrighted material, according to Henry. The software may be detectable when operating over networks or on targeted machines. This could be useful for counterterrorism professionals tracking terrorist and militant Web usage.



Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

PATCON Revealed: An Exclusive Look Inside The FBI's Secret War With The Militia Movement

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Undercover FBI agents posing as white supremacists gathered alarming intelligence about the militia movement during the early 1990s, according to documents obtained by INTELWIRE.

But FBI headquarters abruptly terminated the undercover operation -- code-named PATCON -- just three months after the disastrous siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

The timing could hardly have been worse; the networks targeted by the investigation were inflamed to violence by Waco. At least one individual targeted in the investigation -- Andreas Strassmeier -- was later linked to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. Another target of the investigation was later linked to Eric Rudolph, perpetrator of the 1996 Olympic Park bombing.

PATCON was the centerpiece of an extensive investigation of militia and white supremacist groups in Arizona, Alabama, Tennessee and Texas.

From 1991 to 1993, at least three undercover agents working under the auspices of the FBI posed as members of a fictional white supremacist group seeking closer ties with established organizations.

The targeted groups "advocate violent overthrow of the U.S. government and the establishment of an Aryan nation," according to the documents.

Origins of the investigation

Texas Reserve Milita: Aims and practices

Informants in the Ranks

The PATCON Undercover Operation

Interlocking

Paranoia at the CMA Convention

The Order of Saint John

Names in the documents

The FBI documents linked below describe the PATCON operation as well as the Bureau's efforts to penetrate two secretive extremist groups, the Texas Reserve Militia (TRM), based in the Austin, Texas, area, and the Order of Saint John (OSJ), based in Benton, Tennessee.

Despite the operation's success in gathering intelligence on the militia movement, the PATCON undercover operation was officially terminated on July 15, 1993, six months after the disastrous siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

FBI field offices in Baltimore, Knoxville and San Antonio were ordered to shut down the PATCON operation in an FBI teletype, in which FBI headquarters deemed there was "insufficient justification" to continue the investigation. It is not clear from the documents that even one significant arrest resulted from the two-year investigation.

But the very same militia groups targeted by PATCON had been inflamed to violent action after Waco, in a wave of anger that led directly to the Oklahoma City bombing. At least one member of the Texas Reserve Militia -- Andreas Strassmeier -- has been linked to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

In 2005, INTELWIRE filed a request with the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act for all documents pertaining to a militia organization called the Texas Light Infantry, one of the names used by the Texas Reserve Militia. After reviewing the records, INTELWIRE filed follow-up requests for records concerning the a group known as the Order of Saint John.

The two FOIA responses contained documents that revealed the PATCON operation. Believing more documents exist, INTELWIRE filed a request specifically for records related to PATCON. Last month, the FBI claimed it was unable to located any such documents -- despite the fact that all the documents cited in this story were provided in response to previous FOIA requests. INTELWIRE is appealing the refusal.

ORIGINS

During the late 1980s, the Texas Reserve Militia was formed by some members of the Texas State Guard, a volunteer state military force intended for use when the National Guard is unavailable. The TRM broke away from the state organization when Texas officials determined they were forming an unconstitutional "private army."

The group was also known as the Texas Light Infantry, the Second Order and The Order. The latter names were inspired by a 1980s neo-Nazi gang that robbed banks and counterfeited money to fund attacks on the government and target ethnicities (external link).

The FBI believed TRM leadership was linked to the original Order and also closely tied to the Aryan Nations white supremacist network based in Idaho (external link). One TRM member reportedly received at least $250,000 in funds from armored car robberies by the original Order, according to the documents.

According to the FBI's case files -- including an FBI letterhead memorandum dated December 21, 1990 -- the TRM conducted monthly paramilitary training courses at a camp in the Austin, Texas, area. The camp provided training in firearms, explosive and guerilla warfare for volunteers from Texas and out-of-state, including skinheads from Las Vegas and Memphis. By the end of 1991, the TRM had about 50 members and a much larger number of informal associates, the documents said.

In or around July 1990, a member of the Texas Reserve Militia threatened to murder two FBI agents with the Austin field office, according to documents obtained by INTELWIRE. The person who threatened the FBI agents "is a major figure in the Aryan Nations," an FBI teletype stated. In response to the threat, the FBI initiated a domestic terrorism investigation against the TRM. Undercover agents were deployed to infiltrate the group, an operation that would later expand into PATCON.


AIMS AND PRACTICES

"Members of the group advocate violent overthrow of the U.S. government and the establishment of an Aryan nation," according to the FBI letterhead memorandum. At TRM training camps, military discipline was enforced and officers were saluted with the Nazi "Heil Hitler" gesture, the memo said.

At one point, the FBI searched the training camp and found one exploded and one partially assembled pipe bomb, the memo said. According to an FBI lab report, the pipe bomb found on the premises was created by a "skilled craftsman" with a high degree of sophistication.

TRM members also trained with firearms, including fully automatic weapons, the documents state.

Undercover agents were dispatched to investigate the group after the threat to murder two Austin-based FBI agents, the documents said. The threat was sparked by the FBI's arrest of an unnamed TRM member on an unspecified charge.

The undercover agents posed as "white supremacists who were willing to commit violence in order to further the white supremacy movement."

Informants were also actively recruited to penetrate the TRM's ranks. During the course of the investigation, mulitple informants provided information about the organization to the FBI.

In one instance, the FBI documented a meeting between TRM members and an Austin-area police officer, during which they discussed keeping the group's activity secret and paying bribes to the police officer to suppress complaints by the training camp's neighbors concerning the group's activities.

A confidential source of the Los Angeles FBI field office revealed that a prominent TRM member had set up a bulletin board network "in which persons with the right code numbers can dial [redacted] phone and enter his computer system and enter the names and addresses of homosexuals who live in the U.S. and Canada. The purpose of the list, according to the source, is to allow action to be taken against those homosexual individuals in the event of a takeover of the United States by the Aryan Nations."

In 1991, authorities authorities discovered a cache of explosives and paramilitary supplies in Alabama. The FBI believed the explosives were linked to the TRM, according to a February 1992 letter from FBI Assistant Director Larry Potts to the criminal investigative division of the U.S. Army.

The explosives were found next to a highway north of Birmingham and included ammonium nitrate, the primary explosive component later used in the Oklahoma City bombing. According to the letter, the material and other items found at the site were intended for a raid on a National Guard convoy.

INFORMANTS IN THE RANKS

Starting some time in 1990, a parade of informants from within the militia movement began talking to the FBI about planned activities by the TRM and other groups. Over the course of several months, the intelligence became alarming and expanded to include other militia groups around the country.

On November 21, an informant told the FBI in Phoenix about a shipment of various explosives, improvised military-style ordinance, detonators and assault rifles (illegally modified to be fully automatic).

The informant told FBI agents that the TRM was joining forces with an organization called the Texas Reenactment Group and that the combined organization would train using "old East German police uniforms which are being obtained by [redacted]." The merger was expected to increase membership of the TRM by at least 200 members. Members would be armed with fully automatic M-1 carbines.

The source said all members of the group "hate the current President, George Bush" and subcribed to conspiracy theories about a "New World Order" (external link).

On January 22, 1992, an informant revealed to the FBI that the TRM leadership had scheduled a meeting with a member of Civilian Material Assistance (CMA), "which started out as an anti-communist group supporting the Contras in Nicaragua, but has recently turned into a racist right-wing white supremacist group."

That meeting had its origins at the November 16-18, 1991, CMA convention in Decatur, Alabama, where a trend toward cooperation by diverse extremist groups began to emerge as a significant potential threat to U.S. domestic security. By the time of the convention, the FBI had infiltrated a number of sources into the mix.

PATCON

In March 1991, the FBI extended its investigation of the TRM into a undercover sting code-named "PATCON."

Details of the PATCON operation were included in a routine request for re-authorization of the TRM investigation. The January 1992 memo from San Antonio-based FBI Agent Daniel Coulson is addressed to Assistant FBI Director Larry Potts.

"During March 1991, a Group 1 Undercover Operation titled PATCON was approved, utilizing three undercover agents, in order to prevent the murder of (two FBI) agents," Coulson wrote, referring to the threat cited above.

PATCON initially targeted the TRM, but in January 1993, the undercover agents were also deployed to penetrate the Order of St. John, according to a follow-up memo from Coulson to Potts.

PATCON undercover agents posed as extremists who financed their activities through armored car robberies, according to an October 1992 teletype.

PATCON was a Group I Undercover Operation. According to Justice Department guidelines, Group I operations must be approved by FBI Headquarters and are used for investigation involving "sensitive circumstances" or significant financial investment.

"Sensititive circumstances" include investigating possible criminal misconduct or corruption by government employees, political and/or religious organizations. They may also describe optations "having a significant effect on or constituting a significant intrusion into the legitimate operation of a federal, state, or local governmental entity."

Group I undercover operations may involve "activity by an undercover employee that is proscribed by federal, state, or local law as a felony or that is otherwise a serious crime" and "activities that present a significant risk of violence, risk of financial loss, or a realistic potential for significant claims against the United States."

One possible factor in the Group I designation involves an investigation of military equipment stolen from Fort Hood, Texas. According to several documents, an active duty soldier at Fort Hood was an associate and possible member of the TRM. PATCON undercover agents tracked and in at least one case purchased some of the stolen equipment.

Another factor is only referenced in short asides among the documents currently released. A October 1992 teletype notes that part of the PATCON budget was reserved "for the purchase of Stinger missiles." Several documents refer to the possible theft and resale of Stingers by militia groups, but details are sparse. It's not clear whether the Stingers actually existed and whether PATCON recovered them.

INTERLOCKING

PATCON was fully operational by the time the CMA convention was held in November 1991.

The convention featured extremist speakers from around the country, most of whom were pursuing some sort of racial agenda. An FD-302 interrogation report dated November 21, 1991, provided an extremely detailed report on the event.

One speaker, described in the documents as a U.S. Marine, addressed the convention on the new cooperative strategy. Before beginning his speech, he requested that all cameras and recorders be turned off.

According to an informant, the Marine discussed a new strategy for the assembled extremists -- "interlocking anti-government groups so that the movement could be ready to fight the government when the government attempts to take over the rights of the citizens." The speaker believed this battle would take place within two years.

According to the informant, "interlocking" would connect extremist groups by "making members of one group members of another group" in order to "increase communication and cooperation among these groups" so that they could unite to violently oppose the government.

"This interlocking procedure ... allows groups with different viewpoints but with the same common antigovernment beliefs to join together," according to the informant.

After the Marine, a member of CMA also spoke about interlocking. One attendee objected to CMA interlocking with "hate groups such as the KKK" and was told that "come compromises had to be made" in order to fight the New World Order, according to the informant.

Another document reveals that CMA and the Aryan Nations were planning to interlock "for the purpose of fighting the U.S. government."

Under the interlocking scheme, "the CMA and the TRM are so closely related that officers in one have equal and dual rank in the other group," according to an informant cited in a December 26, 1991 letterhead memorandum.

PARANOIA AT THE CONVENTION

One member attending the convention attempted to interest people in a modified cannon launcher he had designed for long-range attacks (see story).

Another informant said the cannon's inventor wanted to use the cannon to "lob shells" into the FBI and IRS buildings in Phoenix, Arizona. The inventor was later arrested in relation to this threat, the documents said -- one of the only arrests documented in the case files in relation to any aspect of the investigation.

An informant who attended the convention said the inventor grilled attendees for names and addresses, leading many to suspect he was a government agent.

The informant and another who attended the conference said the attendees were paranoid about government surveillance. Although convention attendees aimed most of their mistrust at each other, they did come close to discovering one member of the FBI's actual surveillance team, according to one informant.

THE ORDER OF SAINT JOHN

A map of the Benton, Tenn., compound used by the Order of St. John, which the FBI penetrated in 1993.

One speaker at the convention, representing a group known as the American Pistol and Rifle Association, coached attendees on tactics for shooting police officers. PATCON agents would follow connections between CMA and the APRA to an armed compound in rural Tennessee.

The Order of St. John, based in Benton, Tennessee, was closely linked to APRA -- to the extent that they appeared to be the same group with adjacent mailing addresses. Both groups were tied to the TRM, according to several FBI documents.

Like the TRM, the Order of St. John also went by "The Order." FBI sources penetrated the group so effectively that they were able to draw maps of the Benton compound.

A PATCON agent met with the leader of the Order of St. John, John L. Grady, at the group's Benton compound in September 1992 and on at least one other occasion, according to an October 1992 teletype and June 1993 memorandum. (Please see notes below regarding allegations against named individuals in these documents.)

Grady told the PATCON agent that some members of the OSJ-linked American Pistol and Rifle Association had been members of the original Order, describing them as "hardcore types and having committed a number of indiscretions for which they were now serving prison terms," according to the documents.

The September 1992 meeting coincided with the APRA's annual conference. Security was tight at the conference, including patrols armed with semi-automatic pistols. The PATCON was told that a large stockpile of weapons was stored at the compound. Speeches were given at the event.

One attendee identified in the October 1992 teletype, was Tom Posey, a leader of the CMA who had been deeply implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal. The PATCON agent was shown five sets of night-vision goggles in the back of Posey's vehicle, according to the document. The agent bought the goggles for $7,500, the document states, and they "appeared to be part of the Fort Hood theft." Curiously, the FBI field office in San Antonio was instructed to check the serial numbers of the goggles "without revealing to Army authorities" that they had been recovered.

A document states that Grady told the undercover agent he was "aware of various law enforcement agency efforts to infiltrate his organization as well as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and that a group called 'Klan Watch' put out a publication which expressed views contrary to Grady." (KlanWatch was a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center.)

On a second visit, the PATCON agent and was "warmly welcomed," according to the memo. He received a tour of the compound, including a library "which contained over 30,000 books on topics ranging from religion to conspiracy."

"Grady talked about the aftermath of the Waco incident and stated that the Davidians shot in the compound had been killed by a Special Forces unit," the memo said. It was later revealed in mainstream media reports that Special Forces officers had been involved in planning the raid, but that was not public knowledge at the time of the visit. The leak of that story was linked to another underground group (external link).

NAMES IN THE DOCUMENTS

INTELWIRE is publishing a representative sampling of more than 2,000 pages of documents relevant to this story, which were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Additional documents will be published in the future, and additional related FOIA requests are in process.

The first batch of documents can be viewed by clicking here.

The documents name several figures in connection with the investigation. It is important to note that in almost every case, the individuals named in the documents have never been prosecuted for the acts alleged in these documents. INTELWIRE does not assert any claim as to the truth of the allegations contained in the documents.

Some individuals whose names are redacted or incomplete in the documents have been identified by INTELWIRE. Additional reports are planned to address this issue and the veracity of the claims made in the documents.

Members of the Texas Reserve Militia identified in the FBI's extensive case files included:

Watt (first name not given), a former member of the Texas State Guard (a legitimate government reserve group) who was described as one of the founders.

Louis Beam, a prominent neo-Nazi with ties to the Aryan Nations and the original Order, who ran an early white supremacist computer bulletin board network and published a newsletter called The Seditionist. (External link)

Someone who claimed to be a former Special Forces member; the person's name was redacted from documents by the FBI.

Associates of the Texas Reserve Militia who are named in the documents include:

John L. Grady, leader of another militia organization known as the Order of St. John. Grady was later linked to Eric Rudolph by prosecutors who tried Rudolph for a 1998 Birmingham abortion clinic bombing (New York Times).

Thomas Posey, leader of a paramilitary group known as Civilian Material Assistance. According to a January 22, 1992 teletype, CMA "started out as an anti-communist group supporting the Contras in Nicaragua, but has recently turned into a racist right-wing white supremacist group."

Another member of the group, described but not named in the redacted documents released by the FBI, was Andreas Strassmeier, a German national who would later be linked to the Oklahoma City bombing.

The son of a prominent German politician and a veteran of that country's army, he moved to the United States from Hamburg in the late 1980s or early 1990s, and established relationships with various racist and anti-government movements around the country. (US v Nichols, 96-CR-68, 12/10/97; In Bad Company, Hamm, pp. 116-117)

Members of the TRM suspected Strassmeier was a government informant, according to published reports. (McCurtain Gazette, FBI document links former Green Beret to McVeigh, bombing, Cash and Charles, Aug 31, 2005)

Shortly before the Oklahoma City bombing, an informant told the ATF Strassmeier was plotting to blow up U.S. federal buildings. The informant also said Strassmeier had traveled to Oklahoma City prior to the bombing.

Right after renting the Ryder truck used in the Oklahoma City bombing, Timothy McVeigh called the Elohim City compound and asked to speak with Strassmeier (US v Nichols). Another informant described at least one additional call (story and documents). After the bombing, Strassmeier fled the country and returned to Germany.

The FBI interrogated Strassmeier by phone in May 1996, but agents did not ask him about his association with the TRM (document).

The documents also name the official responsible for overseeing PATCON from FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. -- Larry Potts, then an assistant FBI director. During his tenure with the FBI, Potts was involved in the 1991 Ruby Ridge standoff and the 1993 Waco siege -- two events that created deep suspicion and hostility among members of the militia movement.

In addition to Strassmeier, several key events and figures encountered in the PATCON investigation overlap with the activities of the Aryan Republican Army, a white supremacist bank robbery gang that has been linked to the Oklahoma City Bombing. Like the Order, the ARA robbed banks with the stated purposes of financing an armed revolution against the U.S. government.

In a 2007 affidavit (story, document), one member of the gang said he suspected Richard Guthrie and other gang members of taking part in the Oklahoma City bombing. In July 1996, Guthrie appeared to commit suicide in prison, shortly before he was scheduled to testify about the ARA's activities (documents).

Shawn Kenney, a member of the gang and an FBI informant, had his criminal record "actively erased," according to an affidavit by former Cincinatti police officer Matthew J. Moning, who investigated the ARA, also known as the Midwest Bank Robbers.

Another FBI informant close to the ARA was Scott McCarthy, according to a 2006 Congressional probe of the bombing (story and full text). The report, written by U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, claimed the Justice Department was "unwilling to permit" investigators to speak with McCarthy.

Prior to their arrest, ARA members made a videotape outlining a proposed campaign of racial and antigovernment violence. According to a 2002 story in the McCurtain Gazette, two copies of the tape were seized by the FBI in mailing envelopes addressed to Richard Butler of the Aryan Nations and to Louis Beam, who is named in the Texas Reserve Militia documents.

The ARA videotape also threatened terrorist violence against the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, a threat that was later carried out by Eric Rudolph.

This story was updated on October 10, 2007.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Judge Michael Mukasey And A Curious Omission In The Omar Abdel-Rahman Trial

There's a new posting on the INTELWIRE Weblog concerning Attorney General Nominee Michael Mukasey, the Omar Abdel Rahman trial and al Qaeda spy Ali Mohamed. If you haven't added the blog RSS feed to your favorites, you can find it here.

The Al Qaeda Spy And The New Attorney General Nominee

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

The Alleged 1994 Assassination Attempt on Osama bin Laden

Declassified State Department Cable Adds Color To Little Known Sudan Incident

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Legend has it that a team of assassins tried to kill Osama bin Laden in the Sudan in 1994.

But a newly released State Department cable recasts that story as a cry for help gone wrong -- the outcome of a shouting match over Islamic ethics between a murderous Libyan militant and the world's most-wanted terrorist leader.

The assassination story appears to have originated with Ali Mohamed, bin Laden's chief of security through much of the 1990s.

"After an attempt to assassinate Bin Laden, I went to the Sudan in 1994 to train Bin Laden's bodyguards, security detail," Mohammed said when entering his guilty plea for conspiracy in the 1998 East African embassy bombings. The claim was later picked up on by various other media outlets and authors, some of whom claimed the Saudi government has sponsored the attack. Others alleged the attack was carried out by members of Takfir Wal Hijra, a secretive terrorist sect even more radical than al Qaeda.

But a declassified State Department cable, obtained by INTELWIRE under the Freedom of Information Act, offers an alternative view.

The cable includes a deposition allegedly given by one of four men who killed 16 in a shooting massacre at the Thawra mosque near Khartoum, then traveled to Osama bin Laden's home nearby, where the incident took place.

State Department officials could not absolutely vouch for the deposition. The cable said a reliable contact had authenticated it for embassy officials. However, "we cannot tell whether the document is authentic," said the cable's author, U.S. Foreign Service Officer Donald Petterson.

Two of the alleged assassins were killed. Two more were captured, including the alleged ringleader, Mohamed Abdel Rahman al-Khulifi, whose deposition is reproduced in the cable.

Al-Khulifi, a Libyan, said his team had been "assigned" to assassinate the leader of an Islamic sect based at the Thawra mosque. He met with his team in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, a notorious training site used by Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

Al-Khulifi said his team was trained by members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard in the late 1980s, following which they traveled to fight in Afghanistan. They subsequently met bin Laden in Peshawar.

On returning to the Sudan, the mujahideen joined the Islamic movement of Sheikh Hassan Al-Turabi, who invited bin Laden to move al Qaeda to the Sudan shortly afterward. The fighters also worked for bin Laden after the move.

The fighters "loved Sheikh Osama, for he has forsaken wealth and easy life and joined jihad and the endeavor to spread Islam," al-Khulifi said. Bin Laden was among the "dearest persons to me," he said.

Al-Khulifi said bin Laden and Turabi told him that members of the Sudanese Ansar al-Sunnar movement were not true Muslims, that they were "spies for the Wahabi ruling family of Saudi Arabian" and "agents for the crusader embassies."

In 1993, bin Laden sent al-Khulifi to Saudi Arabia on unspecified business. When he returned, al-Khulifi said, bin Laden tasked him to assassinate several Sudanese opposition figures who often visited the Thawra mosque.

According to al-Khulifi, the plan proceeded with the support of Sudanese intelligence, which had a close relationship with bin Laden.

The massacre "is an outcome of these services," he said. He said the mosque attack was ordered by Sudanese officials and endorsed by bin Laden.

"After we executed our operation, we ... thought it wise to go to bin Laden," whose house was nearby, al-Khulifi said. "We found bin Laden in a chair in the garden of his house. When he saw me, he said angrily, 'Why did you commit such a crime? That is not what we wanted.'

al-Khulifi defended his actions, saying they had "carried out God's wishes and that we were aware of all consequences."

After this exchange, "bin Laden left the garden and upon entering his house, shouted 'Stop him,'" said al-Khulifi.

"I knew that was an order to get rid of me, so we started shooting and bin Laden's guards did the same. There were three Iranians and an Egyptian called Jabr," al-Khulifi said.

"We killed three of them," he said. "Osama bin Laden went down the basement, where there are hideouts. I know because I used to go to the house," he said. "I was hit by Ahmed the Algerian, a guard of bin Laden I used to know in Peshawar."

Ahmed shot and killed another of the fighters and a wounded a third.

Interestingly, al-Khulifi said the Algerian "was trained by American intelligence until early 1983."

The deposition concludes with a strangely plaintive cry of abandonment, coming as it does from an admitted and unrepentant mass murderer.

"My sheikh accused me of being a killer, and God knows the truth," said al-Khulifi. "I am saying this to relieve my conscience and at the same time to explain what happened so I can die in peace. ... I am convinced now that there are Islamic leaders in Sudan, but that there are no Muslims."

Read the State Department Cable

Analysis: Although the author of the cable stops short of vouching for the deposition, which was circulating informally around Khartoum at the time, I am inclined to believe it's authentic.

If the document was forged for political purposes, it's quite ineffective as a propaganda tool. Although it implicates bin Laden and Turabi, it stops short of personally indicting Turabi as the author of the attack and casts bin Laden ambiguously, with his statement of moral dismay concerning the massacre.

So it doesn't serve the political purposes of those who would oppose bin Laden and Turabi (such as the victimized sect). But neither does it clear them, laying the attack pretty explicitly at the feet of the Sudanese intelligence.

Given the ambiguities about responsibility and considering the plethora of extraneous detail, the document has a strong ring of truth. Nevertheless, it should be treated with caution. INTELWIRE is continuing to investigate this incident.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

List of Al Qaeda Members, As Of July 27, 2007

INTELWIRE Sourcebook: List of Al Qaeda Members
INTELWIRE Sourcebook (Compact): List of Al Qaeda Members

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

INTELWIRE Publishes 'Al Qaeda In America' Sourcebook

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

INTELWIRE has released the Al Qaeda In America Sourcebook, the first volume in a series documenting al Qaeda's terrorist sleeper network in the United States.

The latest INTELWIRE Sourcebook presents more than 430 pages of court records and intelligence documents about al Qaeda sleeper agents in the United States, including American citizens Ali Mohamed, Wadih El Hage, Jose Padilla, and more. It also includes an exclusive, never-before-published analysis of al Qaeda's American sleeper network by INTELWIRE's J.M. Berger.

These primary sources are required reading for journalists, counterterrorism professionals, academics and independent researchers. The volume is also accessible to general readers.

The contents of this wire-bound collection were selected and compiled by INTELWIRE.com's J.M. Berger, lead researcher of the cable TV documentary on Ali Mohamed, National Geographic Presents: Triple Cross: Bin Laden's Spy In America.

Preview Table of Contents.

Click here to buy

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Full Text: July 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Al Qaeda Threat To U.S. Homeland

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has released
a summary of the latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) of
al Qaeda's current threat to the U.S. Homeland. The full text
of the NIE is reproduced below.

---

Key Judgments We judge the
US Homeland will face a persistent and evolving terrorist threat
over the next three years. The main threat comes from Islamic
terrorist groups and cells, especially al-Qa’ida, driven by
their undiminished intent to attack the Homeland and a continued
effort by these terrorist groups to adapt and improve their
capabilities. We assess that greatly increased worldwide
counterterrorism efforts over the past five years have
constrained the ability of al-Qa’ida to attack the US
Homeland again and have led terrorist groups to perceive the
Homeland as a harder target to strike than on 9/11. These
measures have helped disrupt known plots against the United
States since 9/11.

We are concerned, however, that this level of international
cooperation may wane as 9/11 becomes a more distant memory and
perceptions of the threat diverge.

Al-Qa’ida is and will remain the most serious terrorist
threat to the Homeland, as its central leadership continues to
plan high-impact plots, while pushing others in extremist Sunni
communities to mimic its efforts and to supplement its
capabilities. We assess the group has protected or regenerated
key elements of its Homeland attack capability, including: a
safehaven in the Pakistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA), operational lieutenants, and its top leadership. Although
we have discovered only a handful of individuals in the United
States with ties to al-Qa’ida senior leadership since 9/11,
we judge that al-Qa’ida will intensify its efforts to put
operatives here.

As a result, we judge that the United States currently is in
a heightened threat environment.

We assess that al-Qa’ida will continue to enhance its
capabilities to attack the Homeland through greater cooperation
with regional terrorist groups. Of note, we assess that
al-Qa’ida will probably seek to leverage the contacts and
capabilities of al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI), its most visible
and capable affiliate and the only one known to have expressed a
desire to attack the Homeland. In addition, we assess that its
association with AQI helps al-Qa’ida to energize the
broader Sunni extremist community, raise resources, and to
recruit and indoctrinate operatives, including for Homeland
attacks. We assess that al-Qa’ida’s Homeland plotting
is likely to continue to focus on prominent political, economic,
and infrastructure targets with the goal of producing mass
casualties, visually dramatic destruction, significant economic
aftershocks, and/or fear among the US population. The group is
proficient with conventional small arms and improvised explosive
devices, and is innovative in creating new capabilities and
overcoming security obstacles.

We assess that al-Qa’ida will continue to try to
acquire and employ chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear
material in attacks and would not hesitate to use them if it
develops what it deems is sufficient capability.

We assess Lebanese Hizballah, which has conducted anti-US attacks
outside the United States in the past, may be more likely to
consider attacking the Homeland over the next three years if it
perceives the United States as posing a direct threat to the
group or Iran. We assess that the spread of
radical—especially Salafi—Internet sites,
increasingly aggressive anti-US rhetoric and actions, and the
growing number of radical, self-generating cells in Western
countries indicate that the radical and violent segment of the
West’s Muslim population is expanding, including in the
United States. The arrest and prosecution by US law enforcement
of a small number of violent Islamic extremists inside the United
States— who are becoming more connected ideologically,
virtually, and/or in a physical sense to the global extremist
movement—points to the possibility that others may become
sufficiently radicalized that they will view the use of violence
here as legitimate. We assess that this internal Muslim terrorist
threat is not likely to be as severe as it is in Europe, however.
We assess that other, non-Muslim terrorist groups—often
referred to as “single-issue” groups by the
FBI—probably will conduct attacks over the next three years
given their violent histories, but we assess this violence is
likely to be on a small scale. We assess that globalization
trends and recent technological advances will continue to enable
even small numbers of alienated people to find and connect with
one another, justify and intensify their anger, and mobilize
resources to attack—all without requiring a centralized
terrorist organization, training camp, or leader.

The ability to detect broader and more diverse terrorist
plotting in this environment will challenge current US defensive
efforts and the tools we use to detect and disrupt plots. It will
also require greater understanding of how suspect activities at
the local level relate to strategic threat information and how
best to identify indicators of terrorist activity in the midst of
legitimate interactions.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

U.S. Secretly Met With Followers of Blind Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman Before Controversial Visa Application

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Followers of Omar Abdel Rahman made overtures to U.S. diplomats one year before the radical sheikh entered the United States on a visa approved by a CIA agent.

During several meetings with diplomatic officers at the U.S. embassy in Cairo, members of al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (The Islamic Group) provided extensive details about the operations of one of Egypt's most notorious terrorist organizations.

Initiated by al-Gama'a, the meetings were aimed at creating a dialogue with the U.S. in the hopes of eventual, unspecified cooperation. The initiative was based on a perception that the U.S. enjoyed similar cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Less than four years after the approach, an al-Gama'a terror cell led personally by Abdel-Rahman bombed the World Trade Center in New York City.

The 1989 meetings are described in secret cables from the U.S. embassy in Cairo, which were declassified and released as part of a Freedom of Information Act request by INTELWIRE.

THE APRIL 1989 MEETING

Click here for document (PDF)

An April 25, 1989 cable from the Cairo embassy describes several meetings between unidentified "embassy officers" and a self-proclaimed member of al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya. The name of the member is redacted, as are several other sections of the cable.

Signed by U.S. ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner, the cable is addressed to several other U.S. embassies and to U.S. intelligence services and military posts. It was classified as "secret."

Known as the "blind sheik," Rahman was considered the main spiritual guide for both al-Gama'a and al-Jihad, otherwise known as Egyptian Islamic Jihad. At the time of the meeting, Rahman was under detention in Egypt but was expected to be released shortly.

In meetings with embassy officials, the member said al-Gama'a and al-Jihad were, in fact, the same organization. Historically, the two groups have had overlapping membership and agendas. Today, they are considered separate organizations, and Al-Gama'a has renounced the use of violence.

The member estimated al-Gama'a membership as between 150,000 and 200,000, a figure which the embassy suspected was exaggerated.

The member said he was part of al-Gama'a Shura Council while he was in prison, between September 1981 and October 1988. He said his specialty was organizing protests and demonstrations. The member disputed government characterizations of al-Gama'a as "secret" and "violent" and disavowed attacks that had been attributed to the group.

The member provided printed material concerning Rahman and al-Gama'a beliefs and goals. He said the group found the government of Saudi Arabia to be "the best Islamic government today" but faulted Saudi King Fahd for failing to take a hard line against Iran.

However, the member said, Rahman met with an Iranian delegation in Pakistan during the autumn of 1988 and was "favorably impressed."

Rahman also traveled to the United States in 1988 to speak a conference, the member said. The "blind sheikh" traveled to the U.S. yearly, the member said, on trips supported by Saudi Arabia.

Embassy officials were skeptical about some of the claims made by the member and recorded their suspicions concerning his motives, as well as questioning whether his approach to the embassy had the blessing of his superiors in al-Gama'a.

Embassy officials noted that their skepticism "leaps instantly from the fact that he has revealed much more than we would have considered prudent."

THE MAY 1989 MEETING

Click here for document (PDF)

In May, embassy officials met with "a young lawyer of 'The Islamic Group' (or Jihad as it is called by the government)." The meeting came after "repeated recent contacts" between al-Gama'a and U.S. diplomats, the cable states.

The May cable is addressed only to the Secretary of State, the consul in Alexandria and the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C. It is signed by Wisner and classified "secret" and "department only."

The lawyer repeated the figure of 150,000 to 200,000 members and reiterated other key points from the April cable. Embassy officers believed this figure included a loose group of "sympathizers" and did not "represent an Islamic revolutionary vanguard."

He claimed "he was informing us about his group as a result of a 'change in thinking' within the group."

Al-Gama'a was "concerned about the 'radical and violent image' of the group presented by the government," according to the lawyer.

The laywer said an individual, whose name was redacted, "had persuaded them that U.S. diplomats were 'sincere,' so they decided to present this 'true picture' directly to" embassy officers. It's not clear whether this is a reference to the individual described in the April cable, or whether that individual and the lawyer are the same person.

The cable states:

"[redacted] had told us separately that [redacted] had opined that the government was not persecuting the Muslim Brotherhood because the U.S. was 'supporting' the Muslim Brotherhood against the more radical Islamic trends. On this widely accepted conspiratorial premise, the 'Islamic Group' may be making its own bid for outside support."

An embassy officer told the lawyer that "the U.S. does not intervene in internal affairs nor support any group of any sort against the government of Egypt."

Among the points and claims made by the lawyer:

Members of al-Gama'a are "unified in a single ideology, though there are different 'styles' of action from region to region."

Members can directly contact other members across Egypt.

Omar Abdel-Rahman was described as the mufti of the group, or alternatively as its emir. The former title is a religious position, the latter implies some degree of operational control. However, a separate individual was identified as the chief operational leader. The name of that person is redacted.

The 11 members of al-Gama'a Shura Council were named by the lawyer, but the names were redacted from the cable before its release by the State Department.

The lawyer characterized other known Egyptian Islamist groups as having been disbanded or largely imprisoned, including Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Takfir Wal Hijra. Later reporting suggests this claim was significantly inflated.

The Muslim Brotherhood was seen by al-Gama'a as part of the "governing establishment."

Al-Gama'a members "reject the concept of 'takfir,'" i.e., condemning opponents such as the government as infidels who may be attacked with impunity.

The lawyer claimed the Egyptian government had "pinned" the name Jihad on al-Gama'a in order to blame the group for attacks on Christians. The laywer denied al-Gama'a had any role in attacking Christian interests in Egypt.

The laywer accused the Muslim Brotherhood of "playing games" and acting out of personal and property interests.

"Local groups of Islamic youth exist around the country," according to the lawyer. "Because they lack proper religious guidance, they do crazy things" which are then blamed on al-Gama'a. However some of these youth are also members of al-Gama'a, he conceded.

Sayyid Qutb and his books are the group's primary ideological inspiration, particularly his anti-secular (and anti-American) tract "Milestones on the Road."

The cable concludes with a reference to a follow-up cable describing the organization's ties to foreign governments. However, the follow-up cable was not included in this FOIA release.

THE 1990 VISA

In May 1990, approximately one year after the second meeting in Egypt, Omar Abdel Rahman obtained a visa to enter the United States (Time Magazine, May. 24, 1993). The visa was issued in by the U.S. embassy in Khartoum, Sudan.

Rahman's name had been placed on a terrorist watchlist that should have kept him out of the United States. Embassy officials said the visa was issued in error and began an investigation of the embassy official who approved the passport.

That official turned out to be an officer of the CIA (New York Times, July 14, 1993). According to the Times, the CIA officer was working as a consular official as part of his official cover and did not act on behalf of the CIA. Officials described the event as a "coincidence," according to the Times.

Rahman traveled from Sudan to Pakistan, then entered the U.S. in July 1990. He was subsequently indicted and convicted for leading a cell of terrorists in New York City responsible for the World Trade Center bombing and a thwarted "Day of Terror" plot in which several New York landmarks were targeted for simultaneous truck bombings.

INTELWIRE has obtained more than 1,400 pages of declassified U.S. State Department documents concerning Egyptian radical groups. For more information about INTELWIRE research services, please contact J.M. Berger.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Yahya Al-Libbi: A Leader Who Could Revitalize Al Qaeda

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Yahya al-Libbi may be the next Osama bin Laden.

In fact, he might be a better bin Laden than Osama ever was.

Al-Libbi is a top al Qaeda operative captured by the Pakistanis in 2002. He was transferred to U.S. custody and subsequently escaped from a U.S.-run prison in Bagram, Afghanistan in 2005.

His much-touted escape catapulted him to the top ranks of al Qaeda's visible leadership.

Al-Libbi has produced more videos than Ayman Al-Zawahiri over the last year. He looks increasingly impressive with each appearance.

His most recent release, this week, highlighted his strengths and may point to an elevated operational role within al Qaeda's "corporate" nexus.

The message was directed toward Saudi Muslims and contained a harsh criticism of the Kingdom's corruption and moral laxity.



While that refrain has been repeated like a drumbeat by jihadi propagandists for decades, several aspects of his recent media releases bear scrutiny.

Al-Libbi is an extremely charismatic speaker. He looks good on camera -- young, strong and handsome -- and his voice is strong and clear, with very distinct enunciation. He effortlessly conveys a sense of physical competence, and the success of his prison break speaks for itself -- every statement he makes as a free man is inherently a slap in the face to the United States.

There's no contest at all between al-Libbi and Zawahiri on the charisma front. It's like comparing Bill Clinton to Dick Cheney. What's more impressive is how al-Libbi stacks up against bin Laden.

While bin Laden is known for possessing powerful charisma in person, he's a soft-spoken orator who mumbles. His camera presence has always been frail, even in his younger days, and his military experience is limited (though it has taken on legendary qualities).



Al-Libbi scores better than bin Laden for content as well as delivery. Bin Laden is a wonk for the details of Islamic history and jurisprudence. While his intelligence is evident during such dissertations, his religious scholarship has never been highly regarded. Furthermore, his speeches tend to be rooted in the minutiae of the past.

It's not that bin Laden doesn't focus on current affairs and modern problems. Rather it's a question of balance and pacing. His pronouncements deliberately evoke antiquity. Today's grievances are grounded in a long, long history. They emanate from that history and are, in turn, woven into it.

This backward-looking tendency can resonate with Arab audiences, who share bin Laden's long view on history. But these days, Al Qaeda is becoming more and more international -- its recruit base spans Europe and the Americas and is particularly strong in Al-Libbi's home base of North Africa.

Those audiences may be significantly more receptive to Al-Libbi's pragmatic here-and-now orientation. His most recent message on Saudi Arabia provides an excellent case in point.

Although al-Libbi references history and the scholars of Islam, the message continually returns to a focus on recent events -- Saudi and Arab cooperation with the United States, the corruption of regimes that claim to be Muslim and the encroachment of U.S. influence in the Arabian peninsula.

The speech is interspersed with accounts of torture, mistreatment and blasphemy from Arab regimes, and what he characterizes as the enslavement of Arab and Muslim governments to the wishes of the U.S. and its allies. By keeping it simple and relevant, al-Libbi also comes across as a more credible Islamic scholar than bin Laden.

Al-Libbi uses extremely specific anecdotes related to recent events, such as April's mass arrest of Saudi militants, highlighting the fact that he is current and involved in the struggle, out among the mujahideen -- providing a sharp contrast to the leadership-in-exile practiced by bin Laden and Zawahiri. Images distributed on extremist Web sites even show al-Libbi conducting military training before a class of Libyan jihadists.



The content of al-Libbi's messages also reflect the diverse interests of his growing international audience. He has spoken and written in depth on topics ranging from Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and even the plight of children with AIDS in Libya.

Overall, al-Libbi comes across as someone living in the present, whose viewpoint is informed by the past. In contrast, bin Laden comes across as someone who is living in the past and seeks to turn back the clock. That's intentional, and it's part of his appeal for a certain segment of the fundamentalist audience.

But it's not necessarily as attractive to new recruits, many of whom are becoming radicalized in response to relatively recent U.S. policies in the Middle East. Al-Libbi is better positioned to draw moderate and modern Muslims into the nexus of al Qaeda sympathizers and supporters.

It's noteworthy that this week's message, released by al Qaeda's al-Sahab media production arm, included English subtitles even though its message seems tailored to a Saudi audience.

In the past, messages from Zawahiri which were aimed at mainly Arab audiences have been delivered without subtitles. The extra effort reflects al-Libbi's strength in speaking to the concerns of jihadis around the world.

Al-Libbi has already been connected to significant terrorist and military attacks within Afghanistan, including a daring attempt to assassinate Vice President Dick Cheney at the very same air base where al-Libbi was once imprisoned.

He has yet to score a spectacular, mass-casualty terrorist attack outside of Afghanistan, but it's only a matter of time. Saudi Arabia, the country targeted in his latest message, could be in his sights. A map of Saudi Arabia was displayed throughout the message, reminiscent of past videos by bin Laden which were keyed to specific attacks.

Should al-Libbi be able to claim a devastating attack outside Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden may find himself officially replaced. And the United States may find itself fighting an enemy with a lot more upside potential.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

New Documents Expand View of Informants In Oklahoma City Bombing

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

FBI and investigative documents filed in court yesterday shed new light on protected government informants within the militia and white supremacist movements around the time of the Oklahoma City bombing.

Attorney Jesse Trentadue is suing the FBI for documents under the Freedom of Information Act. His interest in the case was prompted by the apparent murder of his brother while in federal custody, which Trentadue believes is connected to the investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing (previous story).

Monday's filing revealed new evidence implicating members of a bank robbery gang known as the Aryan Republican Army, which may have played a role in the attack (previous story).

Shawn Kenney, a member of the gang and an FBI informant, had his criminal record "actively erased," according to an affidavit by former Cincinatti police officer Matthew J. Moning, who investigated the ARA, also known as the Midwest Bank Robbers.

The FBI recovered devices used to build improvised explosives, including the explosives themselves, blasting camps and rocket launchers, among other items, Moning said.

Another FBI informant close to the ARA was Scott McCarthy, according to a 2006 Congressional probe of the bombing (story and full text). The report, written by U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, claimed the Justice Department was "unwilling to permit" investigators to speak with McCarthy.

Further questions were raised about McCarthy in a 2007 affidavit from Peter Langan, who along with Richard Lee Guthrie Jr. (story and documents) masterminded the Midwest Bank Robbers' $250,000 crime spree from 1993 through 1996.

Currently serving a federal prison sentence for his role in the ARA, Langan claimed in the affidavit that he suspected Guthrie, McCarthy and gang member Scott Stedeford were involved in the bombing, along with Mark Thomas, a Pennsylvania neo-Nazi.

In his 1997 trial for conspiracy related to the ARA's crime spree, Thomas claimed Guthrie told him that McCarthy "took out the Murrah building."

Thomas pled guilty and received a light sentence for his role in the bank robberies. He was released from prison on January 16, 2004. According to the Trentadue filing, Thomas is now also a protected federal witness.

Previous document releases revealed the existence of several federal informants who provided information related to the bombing (previous story).

INTELWIRE document requests under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed additional informants within the militia movement who were in a position to provide information about other figures linked to the bombing, including German national Andreas Strassmeir, a friend of the ARA who was security director at a white supremacist compound known as Elohim City (previous story).

One figure close to the bombing conspiracy was Roger Moore, an Arkansas gun dealer whom Terry Nichols has accused of being a government informant and an active participant in the bombing plot (story).

Included in the Monday filing was a memorandum on Moore prepared by a private investigator for Nichols' defense team. Entitled "The Enigma of Roger Moore," the lengthy document outlines a number of unanswered questions regarding Moore involvement with the OKC conspirators.

Officially, prosecutors argued during the trials of McVeigh and Nichols that Nichols had robbed Moore of guns and valuables in November 1994 and used the proceeds to fund the bombing conspiracy. Nichols, later found in possession of items stolen from Moore, later admitted to carrying out the robbery.

In November 2006, Nichols alleged that Moore was an FBI informant and that he had provided explosives to McVeigh for use in the bombing.

The investigator's document included in Monday's filing outlines a series of allegations concerning Moore's alleged involvement with the FBI, including some information from published accounts and some information which was not previously disclosed.

The document says a reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette spoke with an informant who alleged Moore was involved in the Iran-Contra affair in South Florida during the mid-1980s. Several documents obtained by INTELWIRE also point to connections between various militia figures and Iran-Contra (story).

Moore was the subject of an ATF investigation into explosives trafficking in May 1989, according to the memorandum. The investigation involved 100 pounds of C-4 explosives. The case was "suddenly dropped at almost the same time it was initiated, without any explanation offered in the written reports," the document said.

The report also cited numerous inconsistencies and seeming contradictions in Moore's handling of the November 1994 robbery and his subsequent accounts of the incident.

The filing also includes a 2004 letter from Terry Nichols to Attorney General John Ashcroft outlining allegations against Roger Moore, a drawing by Nichols of discrepancies in descriptions of the bomb used in the Oklahoma City attack, and a memo recording a conversation with a worker at the Southern Poverty Law Center concerning intelligence about McVeigh's militia links.

The documents filed Monday include:

Memorandum and overview by Jesse Trentadue

FBI 302 interrogation of Kevin McCarthy

Terry Nichols 2004 letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft accusing Roger Moore of complicity in the bombing

Memorandum: The Enigma of Roger Moore

Affidavit of Matthew J. Moning

Affidavit of Peter Langan

Terry Nichols drawing of discrepancies in accounts of the bomb design used in Oklahoma City

1995 FBI teletype on OKC Bombing informants

1/16/96 memo describing information obtained from the Southern Poverty Law Center

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Gitmo Detainees Vol. 1 Sourcebook Released

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

The Gitmo Detainees Sourcebook, Volume One, contains more than 200 pages of tribunal transcripts related to high value detainees at Guantanamo Bay Cuba, as well as an unclassified list of all known detainees. Transcripts include Mustafa Al-hawsawi, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, Walid Bin Attash (aka Khallad), Al Nashiri Abd Al Rahim Hussein Mohammed, Ammar Al Baluchi, Hambali (rjduan Bin Isomuddiiu), Mohd Farik Bin Amin (aka Zubair), Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep (aka Lillie), and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

The INTELWIRE Sourcebook Series provides collections of documents, court records and exclusive material. INTELWIRE Sourcebooks are ideal for counterterrorism professionals searching for primary source data; authors and journalists seeking to fact-check stories and books; and involved terrorism readers who want to get their information straight from the souce. INTELWIRE Sourcebooks provide professional research products at a price anyone can afford.

Current titles include Ali Mohamed, The Siege at Mecca, the Benevolence International Foundation (The Creation of Al Qaeda) and the Who's Who in Terrorism (Winter 2006).

Sourcebooks scheduled for later this year include: Al Qaeda's Millennium Plot, The Anwar Sadat Assassination, U.S. intervention in Bosnia, Siege at Mecca Vol. 2, and more.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Mohammed Jamal Khalifa Sourcebook Vol. 1 Released

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

INTELWIRE has released the Mohammed Jamal Khalifa Sourcebook, Volume One -- more than 150 pages of primary source material and exclusive analysis concerning Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law, an alleged terrorist financier.

Documents include declassified U.S. and Philippines government records, rarely seen court records, and exclusive prisoner and INS reports from Khalifa's 1994 arrest in San Francisco and subsequent deportation. These documents are among the core sources for INTELWIRE reports concerning Khalifa.

INTELWIRE reports and documents contained in this volume also shed new light on Khalifa's January 2007 assassination in Madagascar.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Bin Laden Brother-in-Law Detained On Immigration Hold In 1995

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, a brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden, was designated as an "immigration hold" by the U.S. Justice Department through at least Aug. 31, 1995, even though he had been deported months earlier.

A new document obtained by INTELWIRE sheds light on previously reported mysteries involving Khalifa's 1995 detention by U.S. authorities but raises new questions.

Khalifa was arrested by U.S. officials and deported in 1995 under unusual circumstances (story).

U.S. and Philippines authorities have long alleged Khalifa was a top al Qaeda financier. A Saudi national, Khalifa consistently denied any link to terrorism and was never successfully convicted of a terrorist-related offense.

After his December 1994 arrest, Khalifa was imprisoned in an immigration holding cell at the Santa Rosa County Jail until on or about April 19, 1995, when the Oklahoma City bombing occurred.

U.S. officials were concerned about security risks associated with Khalifa in the wake of the bombing and prior to the identification of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols as suspects, sources said.

On the evening of the Oklahoma attack, Khalifa was moved to a maximum security federal prison in Dublin, Calif., according to a Bureau of Prisoners record obtained by INTELWIRE through the Freedom of Information Act (document).

The U.S. Marshals designated Khalifa for special handling with the notation "use extreme caution."

The BOP record indicated that Khalifa was held in U.S. custody until Aug. 31, 1995.

But INS statements, contemporaneous newspaper reports and witness accounts indicate Khalifa was deported to Jordan in early May, to face trial for his alleged role in a cinema bombing there. Khalifa was acquitted of those charges and was never successfully convicted of any terrorism offense.

Some time in August 1995, Khalifa returned to his native Saudi Arabia.

A new document obtained by INTELWIRE increases the disconnect between Khalifa's actual chain of custody and the Justice Department's paper trail.

A U.S. Marshals prisoner tracking record seems to confirm the Bureau of Prisons record indicating Khalifa remained in U.S. custody through Aug. 31, 1995.

The document, displayed below, claims Khalifa was boarded at the Dublin federal prison for 134 days.

However, a large number of sources dispute these records.

The Marshals record indicates that Khalifa was designated as an "immigration hold" through Aug. 31, 1995. An immigration hold is normally used for suspects held in the U.S. who have been charged with a crime, in order to prevent them from being released in the event they are cleared of non-immigration charges.

However, Khalifa was never publicly charged with any terrorism offense on U.S. soil.

Evidence found in Khalifa's luggage connected him to Wali Khan Amin Shah, who was later convicted of conspiring in Manila with Ramzi Yousef and future 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to bomb U.S. airliners.

Although material taken from Khalifa was deployed to capture at least one member of the Manila cell, and some of his phone records were introduced during the trial, the Saudi was never openly charged in the plot.

The tracking form indicates Khalifa was released from the custody of the Dublin facility "to immigration hold on 8/31/95." It was unclear whether the hold was released at that time or later.

The Marshals document also contains a redacted notation dated Nov. 8, 1995. It describes Khalifa as being in the custody of U.S. Marshals, but the date was unclear.

The U.S. Marshals Service said it possessed no other documents relating to Khalifa.





Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Khalifa Murder Investigation Marked By Confusion, Unanswered Questions

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Authorities in Madagascar are investigating at least three Arab suspects in the murder of Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, a brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden, according to published reports.

U.S. and Philippines authorities have long alleged Khalifa was a top al Qaeda financier. A Saudi national, Khalifa consistently denied any link to terrorism and was never successfully convicted of a terrorist-related offense. He was killed Jan. 30 in Madagascar.

Two French-language newspapers in Madagascar, Midi Madagasikara and L'Express de Madagascar, have been closely following the murder investigation. Two additional articles appeared in an online journal, the Madagascar Tribune.

INTELWIRE could confirm few details from the reports, which conflict with each other and with information from other sources. But the articles, published in February and March, clearly reveal an investigation in flux and fraught with unresolved questions.

Khalifa was in Madagascar attending to business matters at a sapphire mine he owned there. According to reports, Khalifa was attacked by a group of 20 to 30 men. He was shot twice, apparently once in the chest and once in the back, reports said. He was also attacked with an axe, one report said.

A locally infamous bandit named "Dr. Olivier" was described as the leader of a 30-person gang of "dahalo," or bandits, that attacked Khalifa in Sakaraha, Madagascar, at the end of January. Olivier was reportedly shot in the back and killed while trying to flee from police in a dawn raid on Feb. 1.

When police searched Olivier's home, they found a newly issued passport and determined that many of his papers had been removed, reports said.

Initially, one report said, a member of Olivier's gang confessed to the crime and implicated the ringleader. However, the gang member described an attack by only six people, including Olivier. Other reports consistently indicated 20 to 30 assailants.

Few details from the newspaper reports could be confirmed by INTELWIRE. The reports themselves contain conflicting information. They also did not match up with at least one eyewitness account, according to a source close to the situation. That witness described the attackers as wearing military-style uniforms, the source said.

Other conflicts among the stories include the number of suspects identified by police, which ranged from three to 10, depending on which day and which newspaper was reporting. Three suspects were reportedly arrested within days of the murder.

As of March 13, the latest report, six people were said to have been arrested, in addition to the killing of Olivier.

At the time of the shooting, police reportedly found a safe in Olivier's possession. A laptop computer, two mobile phones and a suitcase or briefcase had been stolen during the attack on Khalifa, reports said. The reports did not indicate if any of the stolen items were in the safe.

"I think that it was pure and simple criminal act," said Albert Rakondravao, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, told Midi Madagasikara in early February.

But around the same time, Khalifa's brother Malek began accusing local authorities of covering up a "a premeditated crime for political reasons" while still denying that Jamal Khalifa was involved with al Qaeda, according to a report in the Al Hayat newspaper.

"After I saw... the maneuvers by officials (in Madagascar)... I became convinced that the government of Madagascar sold Jamal's fate to international intelligence services," he told Al Hayat.

As the Madagascar newspapers revealed, the official investigation was indeed becoming dense and confused; the initial claims of a simple robbery soon came into question as the number of suspects expanded.

INVESTIGATION BECOMES MURKY

The investigation ground to a halt by Feb. 8 -- because three of the four suspects then identified by police were Arabs, reports said. The local police didn't speak Arabic, anonymous sources told Midi Madagasikara, and the investigation was essentially suspended while authorities sought a translator. One of the suspects was an interpreter, the report said, but investigators didn't trust him to accurately translate the interrogations.

A special task force was put in charge of the investigation, reports said, and police clamped down on the flow of information.

Toward the end of February, an additional mystery emerged. According to Midi Madagasikara, eyewitnesses identified a female suspect who the papers said was with Khalifa on the night of his assassination. One report said the woman had been shot in the foot during the attack and was initially taken into custody. Lacking any immediate evidence implicating her in the attack, she was released.

Later, investigators concluded from footprints at the scene that the woman had guided the assassins to Khalifa's room. It was unclear whether the early report that the woman had been wounded was true, or whether this account was consistent with the previous account. At one point, reports said, the woman was suspected of casing the location, and possibly providing weapons and ammunition used in the attack.

By Feb. 22, reports said, the woman had had vanished and was being sought by police. According to reports, the woman was an associate of another man, named Paul Fils, who had provided a Peugeot 405 used by Khalifa during the trip, and who was now also a suspect.

MAKING ARRANGEMENTS

Khalifa's body was flown back to Saudi Arabia in early February on a Boeing 777 rented by the family, reports said. Nineteen people were on board the flight, including an ambassador from Saudi Arabia, reports said.

One report described a delegation that had been personally dispatched by Saudi King Abdullah. Passengers on the flight were met by government officials who conveyed regrets. The car that conveyed his body to the airport received a police escort.

Khalifa was licensed to operate the mine in 2000, reports said. The papers reported that the Muslim community in Madagascar spoke out to say that Khalifa had no connections to terrorism. Khalifa employed many in the region and the mining operation was valuable, reports said.

The CIA investigated Khalifa in relation to the attacks of September 11, according to the Madagascar reports, and CIA representatives went to Madagascar in 2001 to investigate the Saudi. A worker at the mine named Amin was also questioned by the CIA, according to reports. The CIA was persuaded Khalifa was innocent, or at least that no charges could be brought, and dropped the case, the newspapers said.

Another Madagascar newspaper, the Journal of the Island, reportedly took a much harsher view, arguing that Khalifa was a terrorist who had been treated with "astonishing leniency" by the CIA and FBI, claiming those agencies withheld evidence against the Saudi.

The Journal report, which quoted in other sources but not reviewed by INTELWIRE, appears to simply reiterate charges, long circulated in the West, that Khalifa founded businesses and charities in the Philippines which were then used to financing terrorist activities and the activities of the Abu Sayyaf Group in that country.

Previously on INTELWIRE:

US, Interpol Tracked Khalifa Before Killing

INTELWIRE Exclusive Documents

Khalifa's Life-And-Death Secrets

Dossier: Khalifa Arrest and Deportation

This article was compiled from the following reports:

http://www.midi-madagasikara.mg/textes/po070206.htm

http://www.midi-madagasikara.mg/textes/cu070208.htm#cul1

http://www.midi-madagasikara.mg/textes/cu070210.htm

http://www.midi-madagasikara.mg/textes/cu070313.htm

http://www.lexpressmada.com/index.php?p=display&id=4875

http://www.lexpressmada.com/index.php?p=display&id=4906

http://www.lexpressmada.com/index.php?p=display&id=5424

http://www.lexpressmada.com/index.php?p=display&id=5586

http://www.lexpressmada.com/index.php?p=display&id=5948

http://www.madagascar-tribune.com/index.php?JOURNAL=1125&ART=21916

http://www.madagascar-tribune.com/index.php?JOURNAL=1139&ART=22190

http://www.madagascar-tribune.com/index.php?JOURNAL=1146&ART=22343

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

CIA Provided Imagery, Searched Databases For OKC Bombing Probe

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

The CIA provided imagery, translators and searched a database of Islamic extremists during the first week after the Oklahoma City bombing.

An unclassified summary of CIA activities was provided to INTELWIRE in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The information provided is intriguing, but mostly lacking in salient detail. INTELWIRE has filed an appeal seeking additional documents in support of the summary.

The CIA provided imagery of the Alfred E. Murrah Federal Building for use by the FBI in evaluating the bomb blast. The imagery included both before and after images. It was not clear from the document when -- or why -- the "before" pictures were taken. At the time, the CIA was heavily restricted in its domestic surveillance activities.

The CIA made translators available for the FBI. It was not indicated whether those translators were employed.

The agency's Counterterrorist Center followed up on "preliminary leads from CIA Field Stations with name traces and file reviews as appropriate." The document did not disclose the nature or number of those leads.

The CTC also "searched its data archives for members of any Islamic extremist or terrorist groups known to have spent time in Oklahoma City."

The document did not characterize the results of that search, but it is likely that several names appeared. Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who led the World Trade Center bombing conspiracy, was known to have visited Oklahoma City. Another visitor was Mahmud Abouhalima, one of the WTC conspirators.

Interestingly, another name that might have popped up was Wadih El-Hage, an American citizen who served as Osama bin Laden's personal secretary. El-Hage met Abouhalima in OKC in 1989, during an Islamic conference. Although El-Hage had come to the attention of investigators no later than 1993, he was not arrested until after the 1998 East African Embassy bombings.

The agency also provided the FBI with forensic information on the truck bomb that destroyed the U.S. embassy in Beirut in 1983.

In response to the attack, the CIA set up an "agency-wide task force to focus foreign intelligence resources on the Oklahoma City case," but the task force had been "disestablished" by April 27, just eight days after the bombing, "in light of the domestic background of the apparent perpetrators."

The document makes no mention of the overseas travel of OKC conspirator Terry Nichols, who spent a significant amount of time in the Philippines during the same period Ramzi Yousef was actively plotting terrorist attacks in that country.

View the Full Document

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Admits 9/11, WTC 1993, Plot To Kill Clinton

Terrorist compares self, Osama bin Laden to American Revolutionary War hero George Washington

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Comparing himself to George Washington, al Qaeda mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed confessed his role in the September 11 attacks.

He also said he was responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, according to a transcript of his military tribunal hearing at Guantanamo Bay. It is the first time such a claim has been openly advanced.

Full transcript (PDF)

Mohammed was also charged with being the author of the 1995 Bojinka plot, a thwarted plan to bomb a dozen U.S.-bound airliners during a 48 hour period. Both the World Trade Center bombing and Bojinka also involved Mohammed's nephew Ramzi Yousef.

In his statement before the tribunal (partly by Mohammed himself and partly read by his appointed representative), Mohammed disputed several points among the charges, denying charges that he claimed to be head of al Qaeda's military committee and that he had received operation funding from Islamic extremists in Kuwait.

He also disputed the spelling of his name in the summary of evidence against him.

"Ninety percent of what is written is wrong," Mohammed said to the court.

However, Mohammed was frank about his status regarding the United States.

"I will not regret when I say I'm enemy combatant," he said.

Mohammed confessed that he had sworn bayat (an oath of loyalty) to Osama bin Laden, and said he was a member of the "al Qaeda council."

He also said he was media operations director for al Qaeda's As-Sahab production company, answering to Ayman Al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's second-in-command.

Mohammed confessed to being "operational director" for September 11, underneath military commander Abu Hafs al Masri. He said he trained and housed the hijackers in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

"I was responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center operation," Mohammed said, the first documented claim linking him to that attack.

He confessed to a laundry list of other plots. Mohammed stated that preior to 1994 or 1995, his plots were not linked to al Qaeda. The dividing line was not clear from Mohammed's statement, presumably due to his command of English.

"Before I remember al Qaeda which is related to Bojinka Operation, I went to destination involve to us in 94, 95," he said.

Among the plots he claimed were the Bali nightclub bombings and the shoe bombing attempted by Richard Reid. He said he had financed efforts to assassinate several former U.S. presidents.

Among those was a 1994 to 1995 plot to assassinate former President Bill Clinton in the Philippines. He said he shared responsibility for a contemporaneous plot to assassinate Pope John Paul II in Manila, but said he was not primarily responsible for that plan.

Mohammed also appeared to claim responsibility for the 1993 "Day of Terror" plot, a thwarted attack for which blind Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman was convicted. He confessed to managing plots to attack the United States with anthrax and dirty bombs.

The long list of attacks to which Mohammed confessed complicity may be exaggerated. However, he was already suspected in many of the plots. One plot -- the third one listed, directly after 9/11 and the World Trade Center bombing -- was redacted.

UPDATE: The Pentagon later released a revised transcript revealing that Mohammed confessed to the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl. Mohammed said the murder was not connected to al Qaeda. END UPDATE

Mohammed refused to be sworn in before the tribunal. Through a translator, he said "Take an oath is part of your tribunal and I'll not accept it."

He also spoke candidly about his role.

"I'm not making myself (a) hero when I said I was responsible for this or that. But you are military men. You know very well there (is) language for any war," he said.

"For sure, I'm American enemies," he said later. "When we made any war against America, we are jackals fighting in the nights."

He compared himself and his fellow jihadists to George Washington, at one point, saying bin Laden was doing "the same thing. He is just fighting. He needs his independence. ... If now we were living in the Revolutionary War, and George Washington, he being arrested through Britain, for sure they would consider him enemy combatant."

Citing a "funny story," Mohammed said that agents of Arab governments who had been sent to assassinate bin Laden had been arrested and imprisoned as enemy combatants.

"When they say we are enemy combatant, that right," he said. "We are. But I'm asking you again to be fair with many detainees which are not enemy combatant."

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Terry Nichols Alleges FBI Played Role In Oklahoma City Bombing

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Terry Nichols alleged in an affidavit filed Feb. 16 that Deputy FBI Director Larry Potts was involved in plotting the Oklahaoma City Bombing along with convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Potts denied the allegation in published reports this week.

The full text of the affidavit is available here. Please credit and link INTELWIRE.com when reporting from these documents.

"From the outset, I want to acknowledge my poor judgment and culpability in having assisted Timothy McVeigh," wrote Nichols.

In the affidavit, Nichols admitted helping McVeigh build a truck bomb, but said the bomb he helped build was different from the bomb McVeigh described in interviews prior to his execution.

Nichols denied any connection between the Oklahoma City bombing and his frequent visits to the Philippines. Nichols activities in that country have long been the subject of speculation, because the timing and location of his visits coincided with visits to the country by World Trade Center Bomber Ramzi Yousef (INTELWIRE analysis).

Nichols named gun dealer Roger Moore and Potts as "co-conspirators" in the bombing plot. Nichols has named Moore as a co-conspirator in the past.

"In December of 1992, Timothy McVeigh told me that while he was serving in the U.S. Army, he had been recruited to carry out undercover missions," Nichols wrote. "McVeigh did not say who had recruited him or specify the nature of his mission. McVeigh did say, however, that he was to begin making contacts with a 'network' of people after the first of the year."

The network was located "down south," Nichols wrote. Nichols claimed McVeigh threatened him and his family if Nichols did not cooperate in the bombing conspiracy. He claimed McVeigh identified Potts in "an accidental slip of the tongue."

Potts told the Oklahoman newspaper the allegations were "just nonsense and ridiculous." No further documentation was offered as part of the filing which would support the allegations.

Another affidavit alleging flaws in the official story of the Oklahoma City bombing was given by David Paul Hammer, who shared a cell with McVeigh prior to McVeigh's execution.

The full text of that affidavit is available here.

The affidavits were filed as part of a lawsuit filed by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue.

Trentadue, a Salt Lake City attorney, has been involved in litigation against the U.S. government since the death of his brother, Kenneth Trentadue, in federal custody on Aug. 21, 1995.

Kenneth Trentadue's death was initially declared a suicide by prison officials, but the family discovered signs of numerous injuries when preparing him for burial. The family was awarded more than $1 million after winning a wrongful death suit against the government.

Trentadue's legal battle has resulted in the release of dozens of pages of previously withheld FBI documents concerning the bombing. Those documents are available here.

INTELWIRE has also obtained numerous documents directly and indirectly related to the bombing and to alleged additional conspirators in the bombing, as well as documents related to Trentadue's court case. Those documents include the following:

State Dept. FOIA: Nichols-Philippines

Nichols: I Have New OKC Evidence

Nichols Affidavit and Letter

Full Text: Rohrabacher OKC Report

Informant Report: McVeigh-Strassmeir Call

FBI Interrogation: Andreas Strassmeir

1991 Memo: 'Turner Diaries' Warning

Zawahiri Statement On OKC Bombing

Documents: Aryan Republican Army

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

U.S., Interpol Tracked Khalifa In Days Before Madagascar Murder

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

INTERPOL forwarded information concerning Mohammed Jamal Khalifa to U.S. intelligence agencies just days before the alleged al Qaeda financier was killed by gunmen.

Khalifa, a brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden, was killed on about Jan. 30, 2007, in Madagascar, according to news reports. Khalifa's family said the Saudi national was killed by a group of 20 to 30 armed men who stole his computer and briefcase.

Khalifa's family said they believe the killing was political. Terrorism analysts have speculated that an international intelligence agency might have been behind the attack.

Three INTERPOL bulletins were released today to INTELWIRE in response to a Freedom of Information Act request for all documents concerning Khalifa. The release has been heavily redacted. INTERPOL also withheld additional documents pertaining to an "open investigation."

On Jan. 22, about a week before the attack, INTERPOL's Washington bureau sent a bulletin on Khalifa to several U.S. intelligence agencies, including the National Security Agency, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

The bulletin concerned an unnamed "project (which) was initiated to proactively target terrorism from captured terrorists (sic)."

INTERPOL is traditionally involved in the arrest, extradition and rendition of international criminal suspects. Recent U.S. counterterrorism efforts have focused on secret renditions, which often amount to armed kidnap operations performed in foreign countries.

On Friday, Jan. 26, 2007, four days before Khalifa was killed, a bulletin was sent from an unknown source to INTERPOL's Washington bureau and an unnamed branch of the organization.

According to the document, an unnamed recipient received information relevant to Khalifa from the Washington bureau and was disseminating it. "The purpose of this initiative is to obtain and share information with INTERPOL member countries in proactively targeting crime and terrorism and to prevent further terrorist attacks," the message states.

"[redacted] would like to received all information possessed by recipients relating to the information contained in this message," the document states. Only Khalifa's alias -- Abu Baraa -- is unredacted in the remainder of the document.

One additional document was released, a short INTERPOL bulletin marked "urgent" and dated April 3, 2002 with the subject line "Mohammed Jamal Khalifah."

According to the New York Times, Khalifa was arrested by the Saudi authorities shortly after September 11 and detained for about six months. This bulletin would correspond roughly to the period in which Khalifa was released.

Full Text of Documents

If reporting from these documents, please cite INTELWIRE.com as the source.

Previously:

Khalifa's Life-And-Death Secrets

Previous INTELWIRE reports and documents

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Mohammed Jamal Khalifa:
Life and Death Secrets

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

The life of Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law, was wrapped in a cloak of mystery, and his death only adds fuel to the fire.

Born in Medina, Saudi Arabia, in 1957, Khalifa served alongside Osama bin Laden as a volunteer in the jihad against the Soviet Union. Khalifa said the two were best friends and roommates during that time.

After that, however, his story branches off into two conflicting accounts.

According to Khalifa, his association with bin Laden ended there, in the late 1980s, after which he worked as an international businessman and philanthropist. In his version of the tale, he never had anything to do with any sort of terrorist ever again.

According to just about everyone else, Khalifa became a top financier for al Qaeda, with ties to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a plot to take down nearly a dozen U.S.-bound airliners with undetectable bombs created by the world's most dangerous terrorist, Ramzi Yousef.

On Tuesday, both stories came to an end when Khalifa was assassinated by a group of 25 to 30 gunmen, who burst into the Madagascar house where he was sleeping and killed him, according to family members.

UPDATE: U.S., Interpol Tracked Khalifa Days Before Killing

INTELWIRE BLOG: Brother Says Killing Was Intelligence Hit

During the late 1980s, Khalifa traveled to the Philippines and provided funding and training to the Abu Sayyaf Group, an terrorist-criminal enterprise in the southern part of the country. He also supported Muslim separatist and evangelical movements all over the region, using a network of charity organizations and legitimate businesses to hide his activities, according to U.S. and Philippines authorities.

In 1993, FBI agents investigating the World Trade Center bombing discovered several documents bearing Khalifa's name or alias, including a bomb-making manual. As the case slowly moved toward trial, other links emerged, and Khalifa was named as an unindicted co-conspirator supporting the terrorist cell that staged the bombing.

On Dec. 1, 1994, Khalifa traveled to Morgan Hill, Calif., a 20-minute drive away from an Egyptian Islamic Jihad cell based in Santa Clara. He claimed he was visiting a relative. A member of that cell, Ali Mohamed, was an FBI informant under investigation for his own role in the World Trade Center conspiracy.

Court records show Mohamed spoke with an FBI agent and a U.S. attorney investigating the Trade Center case in New York on Dec. 9. On Dec. 16, the State Department revoked the Saudi's visa.

Khalifa was arrested at the San Francisco airport as he prepared to leave the country. His traveling companion was a senior al Qaeda operative named Mohamed Loay Bayazid, who had tried to purchase uranium on behalf of al Qaeda just one year earlier, according to court testimony.

The FBI searched Khalifa's luggage and found a treasure chest of intelligence -- terror training manuals written by Khalifa himself, and more importantly, address and phone books with listings for al Qaeda's terrorist elite, including bin Laden himself.

Agents also found clues to the location of the world's most dangerous terrorists -- Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of World Trade Center bombing, and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, future architect of the September 11 attack.

Khalifa's notes contained the pager number for Wali Khan Amin Shah, a close associate of bin Laden who was conspiring with Yousef and KSM to bomb a dozen U.S. bound airliners over the Pacific Ocean during a two-day spree scheduled for January 1995.

Phone records showed that Khalifa had called Khan's apartment several times in November. Yousef was building bombs for the attack in a different apartment at the same address, a few floors up. A source close to the investigation said an address for the location was also found on Khalifa's luggage.

Three weeks after Khalifa was arrested, the Philippines police raided Yousef's apartment. At the time, authorities said they discovered the bomb factory as the result of a chance fire set by Yousef while mixing chemicals. But the FBI had forwarded its Khalifa intelligence to the Philippines police two days before the raid.

After searching Yousef's apartment, police set a trap and captured Wali Khan Amin Shah using the pager number taken from Khalifa's luggage. The source of the number was not disclosed during Yousef's trial.

Yousef and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed fled the country, but Yousef was arrested within weeks in Pakistan. Yousef later told a cellmate that Shah been betrayed by an informant and vowed the informant would be killed, according to FBI documents obtained by the late Stephen Dresch, an independent investigator.

Could Khalifa have been the informant?

At minimum, the information in Khalifa's luggage was responsible for the arrest of Shah, and likely the exposure of Yousef's entire cell. But subsequent events raise serious questions about whether things might have gone further.

At the time of his arrest, Khalifa was wanted by the government of Jordan for allegedly training a terrorist cell responsible for a series of cinema bombings there. Secretary of State Warren Christopher personally demanded Khalifa be deported to Jordan, a request that was expedited by the Justice Department.

As a result, Khalifa was blocked from asking the INS to deport him back to his native Saudi Arabia. The paperwork came down within hours of the raid on Yousef's bomb factory.

In March, after Yousef had been captured and returned to the United States, the U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco agreed to return the contents of Khalifa's luggage. Although FBI agents carefully photocopied all the material, the most direct evidence tying Khalifa to Yousef's plot was simply handed back to the alleged terrorist.

In April, after the Oklahoma City bombing, Khalifa abruptly dropped his opposition to the deportation proceedings and cut a deal with the INS to be returned to Jordan. In exchange for his cooperation, the INS agreed to strike all terrorism charges from his record. Khalifa's full name was never disclosed during Yousef's trial, even though his phone calls to Shah were carefully logged into the record.

Khalifa was deported on May 3, but he wasn't removed from U.S. custody. Instead, according to Bureau of Prisons records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Khalifa was transferred to the custody of an unidentified U.S. government agency which maintained jurisdiction over him until August. BOP officials refused to disclose the identity of the agency.

In July, Khalifa was cleared by a Jordanian court after a witness against him recanted. He was then sent back to Saudi Arabia, where he was greeted at the airport by Saudi officials, according to Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit, in his book "Through Our Enemies' Eyes."

Although rumors of his continued involvement in terrorism were plentiful, Khalifa maintained a low profile for several years after his arrest. He was detained by Saudi authorities after September 11, according to the New York Times, but was released without charge six months later.

He opened a seafood restaurant in Jeddah and eventually started talking to journalists, serving as a major source for prominent authors including Peter Bergen and Lawrence Wright.

During these interviews, Khalifa focused on his early years with bin Laden and steadfastly denied any involvement with terrorism. Because he was a rare source who had been close to bin Laden, the media focus shifted to his tales of the old days. The extensive and specific evidence implicating him as an accessory to Ramzi Yousef faded from memory as he achieved a certain celebrity in the role of "reformed terrorist."

But on Tuesday, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa's past caught up with him.

During a business trip to Madagascar, Khalifa was killed in a large-scale attack by gunmen who ambushed him in the house where he was staying. The team of 20 to 30 gunmen stole his computer and a briefcase, according to published reports citing Khalifa's brother as the source.

Khalifa was in Madagascar dealing with issues at a precious stones mine he owned there, according to published reports.

Obvious questions remain. Who killed Khalifa, and why?

It's possible that Ramzi Yousef's threat of revenge against an informer has finally been realized. It would have been difficult (but by no means impossible) to strike against Khalifa in Saudi Arabia, especially if he was under the protection of authorities there.

Perhaps by emerging from his nest, Khalifa opened himself to retribution. But a small battalion of gunmen would not be especially consistent with al Qaeda's modus operandi, and other possibilities remain.

CNN analyst Nic Robertson on Wednesday suggested the other obvious scenario -- that the attack may have originated with a state-sponsored intelligence service. The size of the team, and the fact that the attackers stole Khalifa's computer and papers, might point to a botched snatch-and-grab operation.

The question then: Which service, and why?

There are other possibilities. It may have been a simple robbery, as his family claims. Or it may have been a hit taken out by a rival sect or terrorist group. If the latter (which I think unlikely), the attack would speak volumes about Osama bin Laden's weakness.

Answers will come slowly, if at all. It's unclear what sort of investigation is planned, and whether the results will ever become public.

In death as in life, Khalifa's secrets remain untold.

Many of the primary documents described in this story can be found linked below. INTELWIRE plans to publish exclusive new Khalifa-related documents, including some described in this story, starting next week.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Jamal Khalifa Documents, Stories

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Mohammed Jamal Khalifa has been killed in Madagascar, according to reports from CNN and the Associated Press.

INTELWIRE Stories:

Please credit INTELWIRE when reporting from exclusive documents.

Document Dossier: Khalifa Arrest

Documents in this PDF package include Khalifa's INS deportation record, a letter from Warren Christopher to Janet Reno regarding the case, a memo from then-Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick filed as part of the deportation proceeding, a letter from the U.S. Attorney's office agreeing to return evidence seized from Khalifa's luggage, and more...

Khalifa killed (weblog)

U.S. Secretly Detained Khalifa in 1994



External Links:

CNN: Khalifa Killed

Associated Press


Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Virtually No OKC Investigation Seen In State Dept. Docs From Philippines

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

State Department documents obtained by INTELWIRE contain no indication that the U.S. government investigated possible connections between Terry Nichols and Islamic militants in the Philippines.

INTELWIRE obtained 54 pages of documents from the State Department through the Freedom of Information Act, as part of a request for all cables and electronic communications between the State Department and the government of the Philippines concerning the Oklahoma City bombing through the beginning of 1997.

The request excluded routine summaries of regional news reports.

Only 16 documents were identified as being responsive to the request. Eleven of those documents were released and another five are being withheld pending input from other U.S. agencies.

According to the State Department facilitated travel documents, law enforcement coordination and witness interviews related to Marife Nichols, the Filipina wife of Terry Nichols. But the documents released cite no other activity or prospective witnesses related to the case.

Nichols and Ramzi Yousef were in the Philippines during the same time frame and in close proximity (story and documents).

While a connection between Nichols and Islamic militants in the Philippines has never been proved, the FBI and senior officials have repeatedly indicated that the U.S. government had ruled out such a connection during the course of investigation.

However, virtually no documents or court records have surfaced to show that the FBI conducted any investigation of such possible links.

The five documents that are still pending from this request might shed light on this aspect of the investigation. But even if all five concern the investigation of Islamic militants -- which is by no means certain -- the paper trail would pale in comparison to the mountain of documentation concerning all other aspects of the case.

For instance, there are hundreds of pages of documents showing the FBI's extensive investigation into possible links between Timothy McVeigh and domestic extremists -- a link the FBI has dismissed.

INTELWIRE has queried the FBI with several FOIA requests seeking documents related to an investigation of connections between Islamic militants and the Oklahoma City bombing.

In every instance, those requests were denied, sometimes claiming that the requested documents did not exist, at other times claiming that requested information was exempt from disclosure. Additional relevant requests are pending with other agencies.

Most of the documents released by the State Department in response to INTELWIRE's FOIA request are reproduced below. Two additional documents will be published separately at a later date.

Diplomatic message from Philippines President Fidel Ramos
April 21, 1995

This cable to President Clinton condemns terrorism and offers sympathies to America for the Oklahoma City bombing. The message cites "our recent joint efforts which resulting in bringing to justice the perpetrators of the heinous bombing of the World Trade Center" and further cites the case of Abdul Hakim Murad, who conspired with Ramzi Yousef in a foiled plot to bomb U.S. airliners.

At this point, the arrest of Terry Nichols and his links to the Philippines were not widely known, nor would Ramos have been aware that Murad had claimed on April 19 that Yousef's organization was responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing. (Murad's bare confession may be the only document currently in circulation that addresses any possible connection between OKC and the Philippines.)

President Bill Clinton's Reply to Ramos Message
April 30, 1995

A fairly standard and minimal diplomatic response. By now, U.S. authorities knew that Nichols trail led to the Philippines, but that fact is not addressed in this communication, nor is there any request or thanks for support provided to the investigation.

U.S. Rep Dana Rohrabacher Visit To Philippines, Detailed Report
May 4, 1995

A detailed description of a visit to the Philippines by U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher from April 22 to April 24, 1995. Discussions with President Ramos cover a wide variety of areas, including the Oklahoma City bombing, the Bojinka (Ramzi Yousef) investigation and other topics including relations with China. Significant portions of this document have been redacted, including portions pertaining to terrorism and adjacent to discussions of Yousef and Murad.

Rohrabacher also discussed extremism emanating from Afghanistan and the Afghan drug trade as a source of financing for terrorism. According to the document, Rohrabacher had once supported the Afghan mujahideen but was now "working to avert a 'disaster' that would come about when terrorists in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region began operating internationally, backed by vast profits from poppy-based narcotics trafficking."

Investigation and Travel to Philippines
June 8, June 10, 1995; February 27, 1996

These documents deal primarily with the U.S. government's efforts to interview Marife Nichols, wife of Terry Nichols, and to ensure her availability. The documents also deal with travel issues surrounding interviews with Marife Nichols. The most striking thing about these documents -- and the set of released documents as a whole -- is the total absence of anything indicating the FBI investigated Nichols activities while in the Philippines. There are no mentions of any effort to investigate possible connections between Nichols and Islamic extremists in the Philippines, or of any interviews with anyone in the Philippines except for Marife Nichols.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Informant: McVeigh Called Strassmeir Weeks Before OKC

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

An informant told the FBI in 1996 that Timothy McVeigh telephoned a German national linked to U.S. white supremacist groups, weeks prior the Oklahoma City bombing.

Andreas Strassmeir was a German national and security director for the white separatist compound, sometimes known as "Andy the German."

Strassmeir has been the focus of numerous media reports and independent investigations of possible unknown conspirators in the Oklahoma City case, most recently including a Congressional probe (document and story). Only McVeigh and Terry Nichols have been convicted as direct perpetrators in the bombing.

The claim was made by Kevin McCarthy, a member of a bank robbery gang known as the Aryan Republican Army. McCarthy, who subsequently joined the witness protection program, contacted the FBI in June 1996 to report the phone call (document: FD-302, Kevin McCarthy).

McCarthy said that "in April 1995, he was residing in Elohim City, Oklahoma," a white separatist compound that has been linked to McVeigh. According to McCarthy, he was staying at Elohim City with Andreas Strassmeir.

"Timothy McVeigh, who had been arrested for the bombing, had apparently telephoned Andy Strassmeir in Elohim City several weeks prior to the bombing," according the FBI document, citing a third-hand conversation relayed by McCarthy.

The son of a prominent German politician and a veteran of that country's army, he moved to the United States from Hamburg in the late 1980s or early 1990s, and established relationships with various racist and anti-government movements around the country. (US v Nichols, 96-CR-68, 12/10/97; In Bad Company, Hamm, pp. 116-117)

Prior to arriving at Elohim City, Strassmeir was a member of a racist militia group in Texas, according to documents obtained by INTELWIRE using the Freedom of Information Act (documents and story).

According to court records, McVeigh attempted to reach Strassmeir by phone two days before the bombing. ATF informant Carol Howe told her handler before the Oklahoma City bombing that Strassmeir was planning to bomb federal buildings, according to court records (document).

McCarthy's tip came one month after the FBI interrogated Strassmeir via telephone in Germany. Strassmeir left the country after the Oklahoma City bombing. He told the FBI that he had met McVeigh once at a gun show a few years earlier and had never spoken with him again (document).

Members of McCarthy's Aryan bank robbery gang have also been the focus of investigation since the official Oklahoma City bombing case closed. An inquiry by U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, released earlier this month, failed to find conclusive links. The probe was unable to locate McCarthy himself for questioning.

According to Rohrabacher's report, "a federal probation officer in Philadelphia could find no record of McCarthy in the federal probation system. A confidential law enforcement source informed the subcommittee that McCarthy was in some type of federal witness protection program and even located him living in Newtown, Pennsylvania. When pressed for details a week later, this same source told staff that he could no longer help with this matter and that it was "above his pay grade."

Convicted conspirator Terry Nichols also recently alleged a connection between McVeigh and the gang (story).

The new document was provided to INTELWIRE by Jesse Trentadue, a Salt Lake City attorney who is investigating the Oklahoma City bombing through lawsuits against the FBI (external link).

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

New Document Raises Khobar Issue

Gitmo Detainee Abuse Release Contains Record of Interrogation For Suspect In Khobar Towers Bombing; Detainee Was In U.S. On 9/11, Left Country Three Weeks Later

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Buried within the 244 pages of Gitmo detainee abuse investigation reports released by the FBI yesterday was a clue to one of the longstanding mysteries in the War on Terror -- did al Qaeda have a role in the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing?

According to an FBI FD-302 interrogation record dated May 22, 2002, two FBI agents questioned a Gitmo detainee who had been identified by Saudi and Kuwaiti officials as a suspect in the Khobar bombing.

The detainee had been identified as a Khobar suspect by both Saudi and Kuwaiti intelligence as early as 1996. He was allowed to emigrate to the United States and was living in Buffalo, New York, at the time of the September 11 attacks.

Despite the fact the detainee was known to two U.S. allies as a suspected terrorist, the detainee was able to leave the United States three weeks after 9/11 -- a period when thousands of Muslim men living here had been rounded up and were being held without charge by U.S. officials.

The detainee was eventually apprehended in Afghanistan, the report said.

Click here to view the full document (PDF).

In June 1996, a truck bomb detonated at Khobar Towers, a U.S. military dormitory in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Nineteen Americans were killed in the attack, which is believed to have been the work of Saudi Hezbollah.

For years, rumors have persisted that al Qaeda played a role in the attack as well. The 9/11 Commission reported that Osama bin Laden received congratulatory phone calls on the day of the attack and suggested a link. During the 1990s, al Qaeda and Hezbollah collaborated in terrorist training and other matters. The relationship between Hezbollah and al Qaeda was brokered by Ali Mohamed, an Egyptian-American who worked as a trainer for al Qaeda.

The detainee, apparently a Saudi national, recounted a long history of close encounters with known al Qaeda networks, although he denied any involvement in terrorism. In 1989, the detainee -- then 16 years old -- stayed at the Bait Al-Ansar guesthouse in Peshawar, Pakistan. The house was owned and operated by Osama bin Laden. Al Qaeda was founded in or around this location at the same time.

The detainee received training at the nascent al Qaeda's Al-Sideek camp near Khost, Afghanistan. He claimed he was physically unable to complete the training due to obesity and asked to be sent home.

But in 1995, he traveled to Bosnia, where he served alongside al Qaeda-linked Muslim fighters. The detainee claimed he was merely the unit's cook, but he displayed knowledge of al Qaeda-linked charities and fighting units in Bosnia during the interview with FBI agents. The detainee subsequently traveled to Chechnya, another al Qaeda-linked hot-spot.

Over the years, the detainee frequently returned to Saudi Arabia, where he worked as a liaison between the Saudi government and foreign contractors based in the kingdom. But in 1996, he decided to travel to Tajikistan to fight with Muslim jihadists there.

While he was awaiting a flight to Tajikistan out of Kuwait, the Khobar bombing occurred, according to the detainee. The detainee said he was held by Kuwaiti intelligence for 10 days and released without charge. A few weeks later, the detainee returned to Saudi Arabia where he was again arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Khobar attack, according to the detainee.

Saudi officials have released little information concering their investigation of the Khobar attack. Then-FBI director Louis Freeh and others have complained that the Saudi government obstructed their own efforts to investigate the bombing.

The detainee said he was arrested, interrogated and released repeatedly after his return to Saudi Arabia, and his passport was revoked for several years. Finally, the detainee mamanged to leave the country through a special passport program for Saudis of Bahraini descent. Despite his history with Saudi and Kuwait authorities, he was able to obtain a visa from the U.S. embassy and moved to the United States.

He lived in Indiana for several months, making visits to Michigan and Buffalo, New York, during this time. Eventually, he moved to Buffalo where he lived until three weeks after September 11, 2001.

After the attacks, he left the country -- apparently without incident -- and traveled to Afghanistan through Iran.

The detainee is Juma Al Dosari, an al Qaeda recruiter, according to Jean-Charles Brisard, author of "Al Zarqawi: The New Face of al Qaeda."

The FD-302 document linked with this story appears to have been obtained by Frontline and the New York Times in 2003, but has not been publicly released until now.

According to Frontline, Dosari was known as "the closer" for his prodigious recruiting skills. Dosari was profiled at some length in 2003.

The FBI believes he recruited the "Lackawanna Six" terror cell, whose members were convicted of providing material support to al Qaeda.

Another FD-302 included in the Gitmo release details the interrogation of an Egyptian prisoner who admitted that he was suspected in a 1995 attempt to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during a trip to Ethiopia (though he did not admit actually having a role in the attack).

Other detainees have also been alleged to be involved in this incident, which is believed to have been an Egyptian Islamic Jihad operation sponsored by Ayman al Zawahiri. Click to view PDF.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

FBI Releases Guantanamo Abuse Report

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

In response to a Freedom of Information Act reequest by the ACLU, he FBI has released a report detailing abuses observed by FBI agents working at Guantanamo Bay. The report has two sections. The first, an executive summary, is reprinted in its entirety below.

The second, a 244-page detailed report consisting of multiple FBI records, has been posted here in its entirety. The file is a PDF slightly larger than 5 megs.

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Guantanamo Bay Inquiry

A survey of 493 FBI personnel who were asked whether they observed aggressive mistreatment, interrogations or interview techniques of GTMO yielded 26 positive responses and several additional responses that were "not purely negative." These responses culminated in a 9/2/04 request through FBI's OGC to conduct a "GTMO, Counterterrorism Division, Special Inquiry" re 9 of the incidents identified. The conclusion was that there was no FBI involvement in the target interview techniques -- only outside entities. Following is a list of the positive and "not purely negative" responses that prompted the inquiry. Note that these documents have been vetted by both DoD and FBI, and that FBI believes this or substantially similar information has already been released in this litigation.

Positive Responses:

 

Document: Able Danger Link Chart

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

INTELWIRE has posted a link chart used by the controversial Able Danger project, an early U.S. military effort at data mining.

The chart was found on a laptop in a safe at U.S. Special Operations headquarters. The computer screen was photographed.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Defense Department informed INTELWIRE that the posted version is the best quality reproduction available. INTELWIRE has highlighted identifiable text and photographs in blue for readability.

The chart is one of only three authentic charts known to have been used by Able Danger. One of the remaining charts is completely illegible to the point that it could be anything. Only the heading of the second chart is legible; it deals with al Qaeda's links to Pan-Islamic Extremism.

The chart may be viewed by clicking here. It features several al Qaeda-linked notables, including Osama bin Laden, Ayman Al Zawahiri, Ramzi Yousef, Omar Abdel Rahman, Wali Khan Amin Shah and Ali Mohamed.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Latest OKC Bombing Probe Finds New Ramzi Yousef Leads, But No Smoking Gun

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

A new Congressional report outlines additional -- but still circumstantial -- links between Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols and World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef.

NEW STORY Document: McVeigh called Strassmeir weeks before A new FBI document reveals a tipoff further linking Timothy McVeigh to a German member of a white separatist group. The FBI record says a member of the Aryan Republican Army bank robbery gang volunteered the information in June 1996.

Titled "The Oklahoma City Bombing: Was There A Foreign Connection?," the investigation was conducted by the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee, at the request of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif. The report is scheduled for its formal release next week. (Click here for full text.)

Update 1/05/07: According to a disclaimer posted on the Web page of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, who led the investigation, "this report reflects the views of (the subcommittee chairman) and its investigators, and has not been approved by a vote of the subcommittee or the full International Relations Committee." End update.

The report was provided to INTELWIRE by attorney Jesse Trentadue, who has been pursuing new information on the case through Freedom of Information Act requests and other means (link). Trentadue said he seriously questioned the report's focus on possible connections to Islamic extremists, but said it clearly illustrates the Justice Department's unwillingness to cooperate with investigations of the Oklahoma City bombing.

Trentadue's investigation has focused on connections between Timothy McVeigh, Nichols and domestic extremists, including a German national tied to McVeigh by phone records. The report broke little new ground on this front, and neglected some existing reports based on court records, but it did identify several areas in which the FBI's investigation was found to be lacking.

The report yielded a number of new fragments of information, many of which are suggestive of a broader conspiracy in the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred E. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, but none of which are entirely conclusive.

According to the report, former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating told investigators that President Bill Clinton's first comment to him after the bombing was, "God, I hope there's no Middle Eastern connection to this."

The report focused on three main issues:

• Whether Terry Nichols met Ramzi Yousef during the period both men were in Cebu City, the Philippines.

• Whether Nichols and McVeigh were connected to a German national named Andreas Strassmeir who was linked to domestic white supremacist organizations.

• Whether the FBI made an adequate investigation of eyewitness reports linking McVeigh to other individuals around the time of the bombing. Some of those reports generated a composite sketch of a suspect known as "John Doe #2."

In large part, the report reiterates the findings of previous investigations and media reports (see INTELWIRE reports OKBOMB.com, Al Qaeda and OKC and Did Yousef and Nichols Meet?).

The report did find significant new clues that suggest a link between Terry Nichols and Ramzi Yousef, including material gleaned from a review of Yousef's phone records. But it stopped short of saying a connection can be proven.

YOUSEF AND NICHOLS

It has long been known that Terry Nichols and Ramzi Yousef were both in the Philippines in late 1994 and early 1995. Nichols married a Filipina in 1991. They were in the same town, Cebu City, on at least one occasion and visited some of the same locations.

INTELWIRE previously reported that Nichols was scheduled to fly back to the United States on the same day that Yousef planned to bomb a dozen U.S.-bound airliners. An examination of court records and eyewitness accounts strongly suggests that Nichols would have been traveling on one of the same air routes Yousef had targeted.

As part of the plot, a team of terrorist bombers were to board flights with connections, plant small liquid bombs on the planes, then disembark at the connection. The bombs were to be detonated with timers after the bombers had disembarked (link).

The Rohrabacher investigation did not address these points, but did uncover some new information about where and when the travels of Yousef and Nichols appear to have overlapped, as well as more specific information regarding previous reports.

For instance, although previous reports had indicated that Nichols brought a book on explosives to the Philippines during one of his frequent visits to the family of his Filipina wife, the committee investigation reported that title of the book was The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives.

What the report does not mention is that handwritten notes taken from Ramzi Yousef's apartment in the Philippines, dated around the period Nichols was in the country, appear to have used the same book as a reference source.

A spiral notebook found in Yousef's apartment in January 1995 contained notes in Arabic concerning the melting temperature of chemicals used in improvised explosives.

During Yousef's 1995 trial for a plot to bomb U.S. airliners, defense attorneys cited that passage from the notebook and argued that it had been lifted from The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives, a fairly well-known text in the field of explosives composition.

The Subcommittee report also found that Ramzi Yousef called the number of an apartment in New York City, whose inhabitant was a friend and neighbor to relatives of Terry Nichols' wife.

According to the report:

...Ramzi Yousef's phone records, from the months before he detonated the first World Trade Center bomb in early 1993, show calls placed to the Filipina neighbor and close friend of Terry Nichols' in-laws in Queens, New York. The opportunity for interaction between American terrorist, Nichols, and al-Qaeda terrorist, Yousef, is evident. The actual proven link, however, is elusive.

The report further stated:

Ramzi Yousef was in the United States for about five months prior to his attack on the World Trade Center in February 1993. His cell phone records from that time period show that he placed three phone calls to the residence of a Filipina in Queens, New York named Mila Densing, with one call lasting approximately 30 minutes. At the time of the phone calls, Densing was living in the same row-house apartment building as Adora and Ernesto Malaluan, close friends and neighbors, who were also from Cebu City. Ernesto Malaluan is the cousin of Marife Nichols and owned the boarding house in Cebu City where Terry and Marife lived during their last trip to the Philippines.

The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee interviewed Ernesto and Adora Malaluan, who said they knew nothing about Ramzi Yousef or any of the aliases he used while in the United States. Mila Densing denied speaking to Yousef according to a source of the subcommittee, but she was unresponsive to official efforts to reach her, including certified mail sent by the subcommittee and numerous phone calls.

As Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee in October 2005, I (Rohrabacher) provided the FBI with the evidence showing Yousef's phone calls to the close friends and neighbors of Terry Nichols' in-laws in Queens, but have not received a response that addressed these facts. To date, the FBI has not responded to my request for their assessment. Additionally, I asked the FBI for information from their Yousef investigation concerning Mila Densing. Inexplicably, they do not seem to have interviewed her.

What the report omits is that Nichols made several phone calls to the Malaluan boarding house after he returned to the United States.

Court records indicated that Terry and Marife Nichols had stayed in an apartment connected to a Cebu lumberyard during Terry Nichols' final visit to the Philippines. The report does not address the conflict between those records and the claim cited above that the couple lived in the Malaluan boarding house during this period.

Phone records indicate that Nichols made numerous calls to both the lumberyard and the boarding house after returning to the United States in January 1995. (Marife Nichols remained in the Philippines for several weeks after Terry Nichols returned.)

The report adds a new possible connection. According to the report, Yousef may have stayed at the Sundowner Hotel in Cebu between December 1994 and January 1995, a period during which Nichols was also in Cebu.

The Sundowner Hotel was the same location where Nichols met his wife years earlier, according to the report. The hotel was the location of Shelton Paradise Tours (also known as Paradise Shelton Tours), a "mail order bride" company used by Nichols to meet his wife.

JOHN DOE #2

The report reviews previously published information about a never-apprehended suspect in the bombing known as John Doe No. 2, from the designation on an FBI composite sketch. The FBI subsequently ruled that the suspect had never existed.

Without offering specific new details, the report says the FBI failed to investigate eyewitness accounts of the John Doe 2 sightings, including accounts claimed by reporter Jayna Davis and reports specifically pertaining to an Iraqi national, Hussain Al-Hussaini, identified by Davis as a match to the police sketch.

The report said the link between Hussaini and John Doe #2 was inconclusive (as was virtually all the information cited in the report), but it stated that the FBI had not sufficiently investigated the situation. According to the report:

...Hussain Al-Hussaini was one of a group of Iraqis hired to do odd jobs for a Palestinian landlord, Samir Khalil, who owned properties throughout the area. Khalil hired the Iraqi newcomers, supposedly refugees from the first Gulf War, to maintain his rental properties. Khalil, an Oklahoma City businessman, himself served time for insurance fraud in the early 1990s. Hussaini resembles John Doe Two and was identified by witnesses on the scene. Adding to the suspicion, Hussain al Hussani was less than forthcoming about his whereabouts the morning of the bombing. His alibi, brought out in civil court depositions, is contradictory and unconvincing. One more disturbing revelation of this investigation is that Hussain Al-Hussaini was never interviewed by federal law enforcement.

More alarming is the discovery of a published list of un-indicted coconspirators from the first World Trade Center bombing that includes the name Samir Khalil. This subcommittee asked the Department of Justice to determine if the man's name on the un-indicted coconspirators World Trade Center bombing list is the same man in Oklahoma City. A letter responding to this request stated that such a task would be too "burdensome." This unwillingness on the part of the Justice Department to look into a possible solid link between the Oklahoma City bombing and the first World Trade Center attack is extremely disappointing, bordering on dereliction of duty.

To this day, federal law enforcement cannot explain what, if anything was done to examine these possible links or scrutinize Khalil's activity related to terrorism in his hometown. Justice officials should at least show some curiosity about the subcommittee's request as to whether there is circumstantial evidence linking two major domestic terrorist attacks. As a result, our investigation into this matter is incomplete.

ANDREAS STRASSMEIR AND DOMESTIC LINKS

The report looked into a possible link between Timothy McVeigh and Andreas Strassmeir, a German national with ties to white supremacist organizations around the country. This portion of the report largely reiterated previously published material (link)

A few new details emerged, however. "Nichols suggested that McVeigh often talked of his good friend 'Andy the German,'" the report said, without further elaboration. The report glossed over court records concerning ATF informant Carol Howe (link) who told her handler before the Oklahoma City bombing that Strassmeir was planning to bomb federal buildings.

The report also contained errors regarding Strassmeir. For instance, the report cited the German's membership in the Texas Light Infantry Brigade, which it referred to as "a Civil War reenactment group." In fact, FBI documents (link) reveal the group was a white supremacist militia organization with a number of possible connections to other suspected Oklahoma City plotters.

The report did offer a possible new verification of the association between McVeigh and Strassmeir:

...Kathy Sanders, the grandmother of two young Oklahoma City bombing victims and author of the book After Oklahoma City, notified the Subcommittee of two witnesses who placed Timothy McVeigh and Andreas Strassmeir together. Catina Lawson told the Subcommittee that she had gone to a party with Timothy McVeigh and that they ran into Andreas Strassmeir and it was clear McVeigh knew him. Lawson's mother told the Subcommittee that Strassmeir and McVeigh together visited her home. According to Sanders, the older Lawson, without prompting, picked Strassmeir's picture out of a batch of photos shown to her. Catina Lawson says she does not remember McVeigh and Strassmeir being at her house together. While Lawson and her mother are credible witnesses, neither daughter nor mother corroborate each other's eyewitness account.

The report concluded that the investigation of Strassmeir was insufficient.

For nearly a year after the bombing, the FBI did not interview Strassmeir. Only when he had fled the country was he queried briefly on the phone by the FBI. The agents apparently accepted his denial of any relationship with McVeigh, and there is no evidence of any further investigation into this possible link.

The report also addressed previously published information which suggests McVeigh was connected to a group of white supremacist bank robbers known as the Midwest Bank Robbers or the Aryan Republican Army.

According to the report, all surviving members of the group who could be found for interviews "denied knowing Timothy McVeigh or having any part of the Oklahoma City bombing, though their stories have been questionable and murky through the last decade. They also denied any knowledge of a relationship between Strassmeir and McVeigh."

Richard Guthrie, an ARA member, committed suicide in prison shortly after his arrest, even as he claimed that he would reveal information about the Oklahoma City bombing. According to the report:

Richard Guthrie had claimed that he would soon be revealing information that would blow the lid off the Oklahoma City bombing case. The next day, he was found dead, hanging in his cell, purportedly a suicide. This suspicious "suicide" mirrored the similar death of (Kenneth) Trentadue, another prisoner, who may have been tangentially and incorrectly linked to the Oklahoma City bombing. The death of these two prisoners, who happened to be very similar in appearance, is more than disturbing.

Kenneth Trentadue was the brother of Jesse Trentadue. For more on that case, click here.

One surviving member of the ARA could not be located, the report said. Investigators found that Kevin McCarthy was a participant in the witness protection program.

The subcommittee's unsuccessful yet repeated attempts to reach Kevin McCarthy created more unanswered questions. Law enforcement officials told subcommittee staff that, after serving 5 years in federal prison for his role in the robberies, McCarthy was released on probation and returned to his native Philadelphia. However, a federal probation officer in Philadelphia could find no record of McCarthy in the federal probation system. A confidential law enforcement source informed the subcommittee that McCarthy was in some type of federal witness protection program and even located him living in Newtown, Pennsylvania. When pressed for details a week later, this same source told staff that he could no longer help with this matter and that it was "above his pay grade."

To further attempt to locate McCarthy, the subcommittee chairman contacted the head of the Department of Justice's federal witness protection program. The official confirmed that McCarthy had, in the past, been in the system but that he no longer was. The subcommittee also discovered, through a private source, that McCarthy is no longer attached to the Social Security Number he had at the time of entry into the federal prison system. These facts raise questions about whether McCarthy is, in fact, still under some sort of federal protection as well as why the Department of Justice was unable or unwilling to help find him.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FAILINGS

The most definitive conclusion of the Subcommittee investigation was that the FBI and Justice Department seemed unwilling or unable to cooperate with investigators.

Federal law enforcement has been accused of an institutional mind-set that congressional oversight is a nuisance to be avoided or blocked. That mind-set was painfully obvious during this Subcommittee's inquiry into the Oklahoma City bombing. If the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee was successful, it should have resulted in a positive affirmation of federal law enforcement's willingness to find and share vital information. Instead, Justice Department officials (and perhaps, the CIA) were less than responsive in crucial stages of this investigation, exemplifying needless defensiveness. Most of the official narrative of the OKBOMB investigation survives close scrutiny. However, this inquiry would have been significantly more complete with greater cooperation from federal law enforcement. Congressional investigators should not face such resistance in doing their job, which is to find the facts and determine the truth.

The report cited specific failings in the initial investigation as well:

• The FBI was not justified in calling off any further investigation into John Doe Two.
• The FBI did not thoroughly investigate the potential involvement of Andreas Strassmeir and Hussain al-Hussaini, et. al. despite evidence showing they may have played a role.
  
• Authorities erred in allowing Timothy McVeigh to move forward the time of his execution while major questions remained about whether others were involved in the crime.
  
• The DoJ has not seriously examined new information uncovered by this subcommittee. Specifically: phone records from Ramzi Yousef to a friend of Nichols' in-laws as well as the name Samir Khalil appearing on an unindicted coconspirators World Trade Center bombing list.
  

The report concluded:

We have found no conclusive evidence of a foreign connection, but there remain questions that need to be answered before this final chapter can justifiably be closed. This investigation determined that many pieces of so-called evidence backing various theories of a foreign involvement were not based in fact. In some instances, our own research is inconclusive. Specifically, Hussaini and Strassmeir, as well as the Yousef phone calls, needed more investigatory attention. The Subcommittee is dismayed that there remains a lack of willingness to examine legitimate issues. The overall assessment is inconclusive on the varied theories.

The full text of the report follows:

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Full Text: The Oklahoma City Bombing: Was There A Foreign Connection?

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

An investigation into possible foreign involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing has uncovered new information about links between Terry Nichols and Ramzi Yousef, as well as possible links to domestic white supremacist groups. The report of the investigation is scheduled for release next week. A copy was obtained by INTELWIRE and is presented in its entirety below. Click here for analysis.

Update: The text below is a draft, first reported by INTELWIRE. Click here for the final report (the two versions are substantially alike).

According to a disclaimer posted on the Web page of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, who led the investigation, "this report reflects the views of (the subcommittee chairman) and its investigators, and has not been approved by a vote of the subcommittee or the full International Relations Committee."

Chairman's Report

Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the

House International Relations Committee

The Oklahoma City Bombing: Was There A Foreign Connection?

Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R - CA)

Staff Investigator: Phaedra Dugan

Press Contact: Tara Setmayer

On Wednesday, April 19, 1995, at approximately 9:02 AM, a bomb exploded in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 168 people, including 19 children, and injuring countless others. Within days, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were in custody as the prime suspects and were eventually convicted of the crime. Undoubtedly, McVeigh and Nichols were responsible for this violent domestic terrorist attack, and, with the conviction of these murderers, justice was served. However, from the time of the bombing until today, questions persist as to whether others were involved. Especially alarming has been speculation that there might have been a foreign connection.

Within our jurisdictional, legal and resource limits, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee has conducted an intensive investigation into whether there was a foreign connection to the Oklahoma City bombing. The effort focused primarily on two theories that seemed to be based on factual evidence that, if verified, would indicate a foreign participation in the bombing.

First, we attempted to determine whether McVeigh or Nichols received any help from Middle Easterners, and, second, whether a German national living at an extremist compound in eastern Oklahoma played a role. Adding credence to the suspicions is a number of credible sightings putting Timothy McVeigh with another person before and on the day of the bombing (at the time, this apparent accomplice was dubbed John Doe Two by the FBI). This report details the investigation and presents its findings, conclusions and discoveries.

At the outset, members of Congress were met with a startling development. On March 31, 2005, the FBI was alerted that a second stash of explosives was missed by the FBI in their first search of Terry Nichols' house after the Oklahoma City bombing. The tip-off included instructions on how to find the explosives which were, according to the tipster, still underneath the floorboards of Terry Nichols' small wooden framed structure. Instead of immediately checking this lead, the FBI waited. It was not until members of Congress were alerted and began to investigate that the FBI rushed forward only to discover explosives that had eluded them in their first search. This episode was serious enough to precipitate an investigation to determine what else may have been missed or mis-analyzed in the original bombing probe.

PART I: Possible Middle Eastern Connections

There is serious, yet in some cases circumstantial, evidence that suggests a possible Middle Eastern connection to the Oklahoma City bombing (named "OKBOMB" by federal investigators):

For example, of all the cities in the world, convicted terrorist Ramzi Yousef and Terry Nichols were in Cebu City in the Philippines at the same time three months before the Oklahoma City bombing. Yousef was the perpetrator of the first World Trade Center attack as well as the mastermind behind the planning of other high-profile attacks on Americans. Furthermore, Ramzi Yousef's phone records, from the months before he detonated the first World Trade Center bomb in early 1993, show calls placed to the Filipina neighbor and close friend of Terry Nichols' in-laws in Queens, New York. The opportunity for interaction between American terrorist, Nichols, and al-Qaeda terrorist, Yousef, is evident.

The actual proven link, however, is elusive. One indication came directly from Abdul Hakim Murad, Yousef's roommate, childhood friend, and fellow convicted terrorist. On the day of the Oklahoma City bombing, Murad claimed responsibility for this terrorist act from his jail cell in New York. He bragged to his prison guards, verbally and in writing, that the bombing of the Murrah federal building was the work of the "Liberation Army". His confession was similar to the one Yousef had made two years earlier after he bombed the Word Trade Center. Hours after he drove a Ryder truck into the garage of the north tower of the World Trade Center and detonated the deadly bomb, Yousef called the FBI from a pay phone in Newark International Airport and boasted that the "Liberation Army" had conducted the attack. He then boarded a plane and escaped, ending up in Manila, Philippines.

Note: the Oklahoma City Bombing followed a similar pattern to the attack on the World Trade Center —a rental truck loaded with ammonium-based explosives, using similar detonation devices, based on the strategy of driving a vehicle into or near a target.

Another possibility of Islamic terrorist involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing was pursued by Jayna Davis, a local Oklahoma City television reporter. Davis did extensive research in the immediate and long term aftermath of the crime and concluded that a small group of recent Iraqi ÈmigrÈs living in the Oklahoma City area helped McVeigh bomb the Murrah building. She documented multiple witnesses who placed Timothy McVeigh with a foreign-looking person (and/or persons) in the days leading up to, as well as the day of, the Oklahoma City bombing. Her witnesses offer substantial support to the theory of a Middle Eastern connection and relate directly to the existence of John Doe Two. The FBI, much to the frustration of some of its own investigators, discarded the possibility of the existence of John Doe Two, two months into the investigation. There are a number of factors, including information provided by Davis, indicating the existence of John Doe Two and a possible Middle Eastern connection.

Note: at the outset of the subcommittee's investigation, former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating personally requested that the investigation be called off. During his meeting with the subcommittee chairman, Governor Keating mentioned that then-President Bill Clinton had called him only hours after the bombing. According to Keating, President Clinton's first comment to him after the bombing was "God, I hope there's no Middle Eastern connection to this."

This mindset, described by Governor Keating, may or may not have influenced the original Oklahoma City bombing investigators. There were many reasons to believe that there might have been a foreign connection and that is not something that should have been shied away from.

Terry Nichols in the Philippines

Terry Nichols began traveling to the Philippines in August 1990. He traveled to Cebu City with Shelton Paradise Tours, a business run by Tom Shelton and his son, Earl, who were allegedly involved in several disreputable ventures. Shelton Paradise Tours touted itself as a "mail order bride business," but apparently was also a prostitution ring. Shelton ran ads in fringe publications in the United States targeted at men who wanted to travel to the Philippines to find women for pleasure or marriage. He also ran ads in the Cebu City daily newspaper for young women who wanted to escape a life of poverty by becoming mail order brides. His Cebu City ad was answered by a young woman named Flordaliza "Lisa" Torres, who later brought her sister, Marife, into the business.

Marife met Terry Nichols on his first trip to the Philippines in August 1990 and the couple married in November of the same year. When Marife joined him in the United States a short time later, she was pregnant with another man's child. When interviewing Marife's friends and family in the Philippines, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee discovered that Nichols may have promised the Torres family land and U.S. citizenship, even though he lacked regular employment and had no means of support other than occasional odd jobs. Terry and his Filipina bride moved to his family's farm in Michigan, where her child was born, before eventually moving to Herington, Kansas.

Terry Nichols' Activities in the Philippines

On his first trip to Cebu with Shelton Paradise Tours, Terry Nichols was initially introduced to "tour guide" Daisy Gelaspi. They spent about four days together and, in a sworn signed statement to police and investigators, Gelaspi claimed that Nichols asked her if she knew anyone in the military or anyone else who could help him make a bomb. Additionally, on his final trip to the Philippines just months before the Oklahoma City bombing, Nichols had with him a bomb-making book entitled The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives. Nichols' interest in bomb making during his trips to the Philippines raises some doubt about whether he was genuinely there for a wife, or whether he was there to network with underground criminals and terrorists.

Terry Nichols' behavior prior to his last trip to the Philippines in November 1994 also raises questions. He left a sealed note for his ex-wife that instructed her to open it in case he did not return. She opened it almost immediately and found a letter from Nichols telling her where he had hidden $20,000 for her and their son. When asked directly about this by the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, his answers were not credible; Nichols suggested the $20,000 came from babysitting money. Nichols had also written a note to McVeigh saying "Your [sic] on your own, go for it." The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee inquired into why Nichols would have feared for his life on his last trip to the Philippines as well as where he got $20,000. Our answers are speculative at best. The money could have come from his robbery of Arkansas gun dealer Roger Moore, but this could not be confirmed. Additionally, it has not been ascertained as to why Nichols feared for his life.

Nichols' skill as a terrorist seems to have grown while in the Philippines. Initially Nichols was an unsuccessful bomb-maker. According to Michael Fortier's testimony, Nichols' and McVeigh's Arizona test of an explosive device just six months before they bombed the Murrah building was a miserable failure. Just months later, after Nichols' final trip to the Philippines, he and McVeigh were fully capable of manufacturing the crude but deadly bomb that was used to bring down the Murrah federal building.

Terry Nichols and Ramzi Yousef

Lisa and Marife Torres had a Filipina friend and fellow "tour guide" in Shelton's mail order bride business named Vilma Elumbaring. Lisa claims that Vilma dated a man whose last name was "Khan" and that Marife, Vilma, and Khan were together on at least one occasion at a disco in Cebu one month before Terry Nichols first traveled there. This Khan could possibly be Yousef friend and fellow terrorist, Wali Khan, who trained aspiring terrorists in the Philippines and was later convicted of plotting to blow up U.S. airliners. According to one Abu Sayyaf (see below) member who trained with Khan, he was a master at making explosives. If the "Khan," identified by Vilma as part of the Cebu disco scene was convicted terrorist Wali Khan, that would place Terry Nichols and a Yousef ally in the same circles in Cebu City.

NOTE: The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee was unable to confirm the identity of Vilma's "Khan" because, even with the help of the Philippine National Police and the American Embassy in Manila, we could not locate Vilma Elumbaring or Tom Shelton. Additionally, the Subcommittee requested an interview with Wali Khan in Colorado's Supermax prison, but Khan refused.

In addition to a "Khan" being with Marife's group in Cebu, a prominent member of the Philippine terrorist organization, Abu Sayyaf, made statements to investigators and police in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. Edwin Angeles had trained at the terrorist camp in Mindanao around the time Wali Khan was there. Angeles told McVeigh defense team interviewers that Terry Nichols had met with Yousef, Khan, and Murad on at least one occasion in Mindanao in the early 1990s.

Angeles' credibility is another matter. Members of the Philippine National Police insisted to Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee staff that Angeles was unreliable. The authorities asserted that Angeles was a drug user, a likely double agent, and had made several conflicting statements. He was released from a Philippine jail in 1997 and was promptly murdered in broad daylight on a public street. His statements about an alleged terrorist meeting that included Nichols and Yousef should not be ignored, but cannot be relied upon without verification. The subcommittee was unable to find such verification.

There is no doubt, however, that Nichols and Yousef were both in Cebu City in December and January prior to the April 19, 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Yousef, having successfully escaped America after exploding a bomb in the World Trade Center in February 1993, had been living in Manila with Murad and Khan. They were working on their next two part plan, Project Bojinka: a conspiracy to place bombs on twelve American airliners which would explode over the Pacific Ocean, potentially killing hundreds of Americans, and to overtake the cockpits of American airliners and crash them into buildings such as the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Yousef decided to do a test-run of his airline-bombing plot in December 1994. He took a Philippine Airline flight from Manila where, after placing his test bomb underneath a seat, he disembarked in Cebu City. The bomb exploded on its way to Tokyo, killing a Japanese businessman. Meanwhile, Terry Nichols and his wife were in Cebu City, where Marife was attending college at Southwestern University.

In the December 1994 and January 1995 time period when Yousef and Nichols were in Cebu City, it is not known where Yousef stayed; however, items found one month later by the Philippine National Police in his Manila apartment suggest that he had either stayed at or visited the Sundowner Hotel, where Marife and Terry had met years before and where Tom Shelton ran his "tour guide" business. The opportunity for a Yousef-Nichols link-up during this time is clear. The proof, however, has not been established.

Note: Nichols hastily departed the Philippines immediately after the Yousef bomb operation was discovered and Murad was arrested in Manila. Shortly before, Nichols had arranged his reservations to leave at a later date. Inexplicably, his plans changed the day the Manila bomb plot was broken up. All this justifiably leads to speculation that the Bojinka bombing plot may have been tied to a more grandiose scheme. Had the Bojinka plot and the Oklahoma City bombing occurred in the same time frame, it would have been a spectacular worldwide attack on the American people. Evidence is circumstantial but serious questions remains.

Phone Records Possibly Linking Yousef to Nichols

Ramzi Yousef was in the United States for about five months prior to his attack on the World Trade Center in February 1993. His cell phone records from that time period show that he placed three phone calls to the residence of a Filipina in Queens, New York named Mila Densing, with one call lasting approximately 30 minutes. At the time of the phone calls, Densing was living in the same row-house apartment building as Adora and Ernesto Malaluan, close friends and neighbors, who were also from Cebu City. Ernesto Malaluan is the cousin of Marife Nichols and owned the boarding house in Cebu City where Terry and Marife lived during their last trip to the Philippines.

The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee interviewed Ernesto and Adora Malaluan, who said they knew nothing about Ramzi Yousef or any of the aliases he used while in the United States. Mila Densing denied speaking to Yousef according to a source of the subcommittee, but she was unresponsive to official efforts to reach her, including certified mail sent by the subcommittee and numerous phone calls.

As Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee in October 2005, I provided the FBI with the evidence showing Yousef's phone calls to the close friends and neighbors of Terry Nichols' in-laws in Queens, but have not received a response that addressed these facts. To date, the FBI has not responded to my request for their assessment. Additionally, I asked the FBI for information from their Yousef investigation concerning Mila Densing. Inexplicably, they do not seem to have interviewed her.

As one would expect of someone willing to plot the death of fellow Americans, Nichols' own veracity is far from clear. His initial interview with police was replete with lies and half-truths. To this day, he repeatedly promises to disclose more information about the case, only to blame it on Roger Moore, or hint of a sinister government conspiracy. At the same time, he has convinced his friends and family that he was a virtual patsy. Contrary to this passive image, McVeigh told his defense team that Nichols had actually threatened to kill him if he caught McVeigh sleeping with his wife. Furthermore, Nichols was on his own in PI where he obviously believed his life was in danger.

Nichols has gotten something of a pass for his role in perpetrating this horrific act of violence. His complicated attempts to manipulate those investigating OKBOMB, including the Subcommittee, suggest capabilities that belie his image as subservient to McVeigh. To this day, Nichols does not fully acknowledge his complicity in this monstrous crime, seeking instead to draw attention to others, some of whom he self-servingly hints have yet to be exposed.

John Doe Two

Timothy McVeigh visited Elliot's Body Shop in Junction City, Kansas on the afternoon of Monday, April 17, 1995, in order to rent a Ryder Truck for the bombing. After the bombing, FBI sketch artist Roy Rozycki interviewed Elliot's Body Shop employees Eldon Elliot, Vicki Beemer, and Tom Kessinger. They assisted the FBI in producing a likeness of "John Doe One" and "John Doe Two," which were released to the public on Thursday, April 20, 1995. McVeigh was clearly John Doe One. Only Kessinger could sufficiently describe a second man with McVeigh when he rented the truck that afternoon. The release of these sketches led to thousands of telephone calls reporting sightings of McVeigh, Nichols, John Doe One, and John Doe Two.

An employee at a tire store in Oklahoma City stated that he saw McVeigh and a "dark" passenger with a ball cap pull into the driveway of the store at 8:45 a.m. on April 19 and asked for directions to 5^th and Harvey Streets. This witness identified Timothy McVeigh from a lineup without having seen the composite drawings. McVeigh denied this to his lawyers and his methodical planning may make it unlikely that he stopped for directions. Nevertheless, the witness is credible.

Jeff Davis delivered Chinese food to McVeigh's room at the Dreamland Motel in Kansas on April 15. Davis, another credible witness, claims the man who opened the door to accept the order was not McVeigh. Here, again, another participant in the crime is apparent, yet never explained by authorities.

On June 14, 1995, the FBI called off the hunt for John Doe Two. The FBI based its decisions on the belief that Michael Hertig and Todd Bunting, two US Army soldiers, had rented a truck at Elliot's Body Shop on April 18, the day after McVeigh transacted his business. Hertig and Bunting, we are told, resembled John Doe One and Two. According to the FBI, Elliot's Body Shop employee Tom Kessinger had confused the days on which the customers appeared. The FBI's insistence, that these and other witnesses who saw McVeigh with someone else, reflects a curious mindset to discredit or ignore any such report. In this instance, queried on the issue, the owner of the Junction City Ryder truck rental remains adamant that a second man accompanied McVeigh. Eldon Elliot emphatically states that there was a second man with McVeigh, and that the FBI has aggressively pressured him to change his story. He, too, is a credible witness.

Oklahoma City Iraqis

Within minutes of the Oklahoma City bombing, local television reporter Jayna Davis was at the scene of the crime interviewing witnesses. In the weeks and months afterward, she continued to investigate the bombing and, in her television broadcasts, asked viewers with information to come forward. She was particularly focused on the FBI's original sketch of John Doe Two. There are multiple witnesses in Oklahoma City who placed Timothy McVeigh with another person at the scene of the bombing. The description of this accomplice offered by the witnesses at the scene closely resembles the sketch made of McVeigh's companion when he rented the Ryder truck. The hard fact remains that witnesses saw McVeigh with a man leading up to and on the day of the bombing. Authorities still contend that McVeigh was alone. The belief that the FBI dropped its search for John Doe Two prematurely appears justified.

Davis has presented evidence that John Doe Two, who was with McVeigh in the Ryder truck on the day of the bombing, was a recent Iraqi immigrant who lived and worked in Oklahoma City. The Iraqi in question, Hussain Al-Hussaini, was one of a group of Iraqis hired to do odd jobs for a Palestinian landlord, Samir Khalil, who owned properties throughout the area. Khalil hired the Iraqi newcomers, supposedly refugees from the first Gulf War, to maintain his rental properties. Khalil, an Oklahoma City businessman, himself served time for insurance fraud in the early 1990s. Hussaini resembles John Doe Two and was identified by witnesses on the scene. Adding to the suspicion, Hussain al Hussani was less than forthcoming about his whereabouts the morning of the bombing. His alibi, brought out in civil court depositions, is contradictory and unconvincing. One more disturbing revelation of this investigation is that Hussain Al-Hussaini was never interviewed by federal law enforcement.

More alarming is the discovery of a published list of un-indicted coconspirators from the first World Trade Center bombing that includes the name Samir Khalil. This subcommittee asked the Department of Justice to determine if the man's name on the un-indicted coconspirators World Trade Center bombing list is the same man in Oklahoma City. A letter responding to this request stated that such a task would be too "burdensome." This unwillingness on the part of the Justice Department to look into a possible solid link between the Oklahoma City bombing and the first World Trade Center attack is extremely disappointing, bordering on dereliction of duty.

To this day, federal law enforcement cannot explain what, if anything was done to examine these possible links or scrutinize Khalil's activity related to terrorism in his hometown. Justice officials should at least show some curiosity about the subcommittee's request as to whether there is circumstantial evidence linking two major domestic terrorist attacks. As a result, our investigation into this matter is incomplete.

PART II: A Possible Link to a German National in Elohim City

The subcommittee staff investigated whether there was a connection between a German, Andreas Strassmeir, and Timothy McVeigh. There is reason for suspicion.

Timothy McVeigh met Strassmeir at a gun show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, sometime during the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas between February 28 and April 19, 1993. Although they claim never to have met again, Nichols suggested that McVeigh often talked of his good friend "Andy the German."

Although officially having only met Strassmeir once before, McVeigh attempted to call Strassmeir on April 5, 1995, in the time leading up to the Murrah bombing. He called from the Imperial Motel in Kingman, Arizona. This phone call lasted 1 minute, 56 seconds. Why would McVeigh try to recruit a virtual stranger to join him in such a monstrous criminal act? Obviously there was more to this relationship than is currently acknowledged.

Timothy McVeigh and Andreas Strassmeir

Andreas Strassmeir is a German national who arrived in the United States in May 1991 and joined the Texas Light Infantry Brigade, a Civil War reenactment group. In 1992, he moved to a white separatist compound called Elohim City near Muldrow, Oklahoma, where he worked as a security coordinator. According to both Strassmeir and McVeigh, the two met at a gun show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in early spring of 1993. Strassmeir talked to McVeigh about a knife he was selling and the two shared their dismay over the federal attack on the Branch Davidian cult compound in Waco, Texas. McVeigh asked Strassmeir if he could visit Elohim City; Strassmeir agreed and gave him a card that said "Richard Millar." Later Strassmeir and McVeigh both asserted that McVeigh never visited Elohim City.

Approximately two weeks before the bombing, Michael Fortier and Terry Nichols expressed a lack of interest in further participation. On April 5, 1995, at 3:48 p.m., McVeigh called Elohim City, ostensibly searching for a place to hide out after the bombing. Reverend Millar's daughter-in-law answered the phone and McVeigh asked to speak with Strassmeir, who was unavailable. According to Strassmeir, he never received the message that McVeigh called.

There is speculation that a second phone call from McVeigh to Strassmeir on April 17 occurred, but the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee could find no evidence confirming this.

Some time after the bombing, Strassmeir was asked to leave Elohim City by Reverend Millar, supposedly because of an incident with another resident. Strassmeir moved to Black Mountain, North Carolina, where his lawyer, Kirk Lyons, resided. In January 1996, Strassmeir returned to Germany. Given the federal scrutiny Elohim City was under, it is unclear why the FBI failed to question Strassmeir until January 1996, when he had already left the United States.

Additionally, Kathy Sanders, the grandmother of two young Oklahoma City bombing victims and author of the book After Oklahoma City, notified the Subcommittee of two witnesses who placed Timothy McVeigh and Andreas Strassmeir together. Catina Lawson told the Subcommittee that she had gone to a party with Timothy McVeigh and that they ran into Andreas Strassmeir and it was clear McVeigh knew him. Lawson's mother told the Subcommittee that Strassmeir and McVeigh together visited her home. According to Sanders, the older Lawson, without prompting, picked Strassmeir's picture out of a batch of photos shown to her. Catina Lawson says she does not remember McVeigh and Strassmeir being at her house together. While Lawson and her mother are credible witnesses, neither daughter nor mother corroborate each other's eyewitness account.

Carol Howe

Carol Howe came from a prominent Tulsa family. She was attracted to the white supremacist movement in February 1994 after she was allegedly attacked by three African-American men. She became a paid informant for the ATF and a frequent visitor to Elohim City in June 1994. Howe testified in Terry Nichols' federal trial that she saw McVeigh with Strassmeir at Elohim City in July 1994.

Howe dated Strassmeir in 1994 and January 1995. Howe asserted that Strassmeir trained Elohim City racist radicals in weaponry and had discussed assassinations, bombings and mass shootings. Strassmeir, according to Howe, frequently called for direct action against the U.S. federal government. Howe reported these statements to the ATF. It is not clear how seriously they were taken, as authorities have tried their best to discredit Howe as a witness. She was a former drug abuser and had other personal weaknesses; nonetheless, she was a paid ATF informant and in the aftermath of Waco and Ruby Ridge must have been considered an important source of information.

Howe also talked to the ATF regarding Dennis Mahon, an occasional inhabitant of Elohim City who is listed as a terrorist in several countries (including Germany and Canada) and is a leader of the White Aryan Resistance. Strassmeir also stayed with Mahon while attending weekend gun shows in Tulsa. Howe reported that Mahon talked about targeting federal buildings for bombings. Her reports could be interpreted as warnings of the upcoming Oklahoma City bombing. Howe, for example, claimed that Mahon and Strassmeir took three trips to Oklahoma City, in November 1994, December 1994, and February 1995, on one of which she accompanied them.

Note: Carol Howe was unresponsive to numerous attempts to reach her.

Midwest Bank Robbers

It is widely speculated that a group of white supremacist bank robbers, known as the Midwest Bank Robbers or the Aryan Republican Army, helped finance McVeigh's activities. The radical bank robbers included Michael Brescia (who was Andreas Strassmeir's roommate for a time at Elohim City), Pete Langan, Richard Guthrie, Jr., Scott Stedeford, Kevin McCarthy, and Mark Thomas. These marauders were responsible for a series of at least 18 bank robberies.

The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee interviewed Michael Brescia, Pete Langan, and Scott Stedeford. Richard Guthrie is deceased and Kevin McCarthy could not be found. Of the bank robbers we interviewed, all denied knowing Timothy McVeigh or having any part of the Oklahoma City bombing, though their stories have been questionable and murky through the last decade. They also denied any knowledge of a relationship between Strassmeir and McVeigh. When interviewed by the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee chairman by telephone in prison, Langan denied any knowledge of or connection to the bombing.

Mark Thomas has denied his own involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing; however, in a February 5, 2004 article, the Associated Press reported that his girlfriend, Donna Marazoff, told the FBI that in the Spring of 1995 Thomas said that "we are" going to bomb a federal building. The same AP report states that Thomas told agents he had no memory of saying that to his girlfriend. In his FBI file, according to the story, there is an article which claims that Thomas eluded that one of his fellow robbers was involved in the bombing.

Richard Guthrie had claimed that he would soon be revealing information that would blow the lid off the Oklahoma City bombing case. The next day, he was found dead, hanging in his cell, purportedly a suicide. This suspicious "suicide" mirrored the similar death of Jesse Trentadue, another prisoner, who may have been tangentially and incorrectly linked to the Oklahoma City bombing. The death of these two prisoners, who happened to be very similar in appearance, is more than disturbing.

The subcommittee's unsuccessful yet repeated attempts to reach Kevin McCarthy created more unanswered questions. Law enforcement officials told subcommittee staff that, after serving 5 years in federal prison for his role in the robberies, McCarthy was released on probation and returned to his native Philadelphia. However, a federal probation officer in Philadelphia could find no record of McCarthy in the federal probation system. A confidential law enforcement source informed the subcommittee that McCarthy was in some type of federal witness protection program and even located him living in Newtown, Pennsylvania. When pressed for details a week later, this same source told staff that he could no longer help with this matter and that it was "above his pay grade."

To further attempt to locate McCarthy, the subcommittee chairman contacted the head of the Department of Justice's federal witness protection program. The official confirmed that McCarthy had, in the past, been in the system but that he no longer was. The subcommittee also discovered, through a private source, that McCarthy is no longer attached to the Social Security Number he had at the time of entry into the federal prison system. These facts raise questions about whether McCarthy is, in fact, still under some sort of federal protection as well as why the Department of Justice was unable or unwilling to help find him.

Midwest Bank Robber Pete Langan has alluded at times to the group's participation in the Oklahoma City bombing. He told the Associated press, for example, that one bank robber told him that several of them were involved. When the subcommittee chairman interviewed him by telephone in prison, however, he denied any connection.

There is limited and indirect evidence of McVeigh's relationship with the bank robbers. Jennifer McVeigh, in a sworn FBI affidavit dated May 2, 1995, claimed that her brother, Timothy McVeigh, produced a stack of $100 dollar bills from a "bank robbery" that she laundered for him. However, Timothy McVeigh told his defense team he believed that his sister had confused a "bank robbery" with the robbery he ordered of Roger Moore, an Arkansas gun dealer. Under questioning by the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, Terry Nichols admitted for the first time that he was responsible for the robbery of Roger Moore, perhaps explaining at least some of the assets used to finance the bombing.

Note: Jennifer McVeigh was unresponsive to numerous attempts to reach her.

In retrospect, it is not clear if federal law enforcement expended an adequate amount of time or effort exploring the links between the Aryan bank robbers, Andreas Strassmeir and Timothy McVeigh. For nearly a year after the bombing, the FBI did not interview Strassmeir. Only when he had fled the country was he queried briefly on the phone by the FBI. The agents apparently accepted his denial of any relationship with McVeigh, and there is no evidence of any further investigation into this possible link.

Conclusions

Federal law enforcement has been accused of an institutional mind-set that congressional oversight is a nuisance to be avoided or blocked. That mind-set was painfully obvious during this Subcommittee's inquiry into the Oklahoma City bombing. If the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee was successful, it should have resulted in a positive affirmation of federal law enforcement's willingness to find and share vital information. Instead, Justice Department officials (and perhaps, the CIA) were less than responsive in crucial stages of this investigation, exemplifying needless defensiveness. Most of the official narrative of the OKBOMB investigation survives close scrutiny. However, this inquiry would have been significantly more complete with greater cooperation from federal law enforcement. Congressional investigators should not face such resistance in doing their job, which is to find the facts and determine the truth.

Nevertheless, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee's efforts uncovered significant new and relevant information not previously discovered or disclosed; however, unanswered questions and unresolved mysteries remain.

Discoveries

1 In 2005, ten years after the bombing, Terry Nichols' second stash of explosives was found after a tip to the FBI and Congress. It had been inexcusably missed during the FBI's original searches of the Nichols home.

2 Terry Nichols brought a book entitled The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives with him to the Philippines. This clearly suggests that Nichols' visit to Philippines was not based solely on sensual indulgence.

3 Terry Nichols was responsible for the robbery of Arkansas gun dealer Roger Moore. Nichols acknowledged this for the first time in a two-hour prison interview with the chairman and staff of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

4 Ramzi Yousef called Mila Densing's apartment on multiple occasions in the period leading up to the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993. The FBI failed to interview Densing, who was a friend and neighbor of the relatives of Marife, Terry Nichols' Filipina wife.

5 Although there are indications that McVeigh may have been involved with the bank robbers along with Strassmeir, three of the bank robbers that the committee was able to contact, Langan, Stedeford and Brescia all denied being involved with McVeigh in anyway. Michael Brescia, a paroled Midwest Bank Robber, asserted to staff that he had never met Timothy McVeigh. McVeigh privately denied knowing Brescia in communications with his legal team.

6 McVeigh conceded to his legal team the OKBOMB conspiracy did begin September 13, 1994 with the passage of the assault weapons ban.

Unanswered Questions

1 While McVeigh affirmed that the OKBOMB conspiracy began in September 1994, there remains question if there was a meeting with Elohim radicals, including Strassmeir, on or after that date. What has been verified is that McVeigh was checked into a hotel that day near Elohim City.

2 Did McVeigh receive funding from the Midwest Bank Robbers for the bombing? If not, why did Jennifer McVeigh state that her brother asked her to launder money from a bank robbery?

3 Did Kevin McCarthy ever see Strassmeir with McVeigh or did he know of a friendship between them? For a time, McCarthy, was Strassmeir's roommate in Elohim City. After being arrested, another gang member suggested McCarthy had helped McVeigh with the Oklahoma City bombing.

4 Why has the Department of Justice been unable or unwilling to help the subcommittee locate Kevin McCarthy?

5 Where was Hussain Al-Hussaini the morning of April 19, 1995?

6 Are the several reliable witnesses who claimed to have seen Hussaini with McVeigh wrong?

7 Why was Terry Nichols concerned for his personal safety when he traveled to the Philippines in November 1994?

8 Why did Terry Nichols leave $20,000 in a package at his ex-wife Lana Padilla's house before departing for the Philippines in November 1994? Where did Nichols get the money?

9 How did Terry Nichols, a man with no steady job or source of income, finance his five trips to the Philippines?

10 Why was an unaccounted-for leg found in the debris after the bombing?

11 Did Terry Nichols play a bigger role than he has admitted or has been thus far proven?

12 Why was there so little investigatory focus on Strassmeir and Hussaini?

13 Why the rush to rule out the existence of John Doe Two?

Findings

1) The FBI was not justified in calling off any further investigation into John Doe Two.

2) The FBI did not thoroughly investigate the potential involvement of Andreas Strassmeir and Hussain al-Hussaini, et. al. despite evidence showing they may have played a role.

3) Authorities erred in allowing Timothy McVeigh to move forward the time of his execution while major questions remained about whether others were involved in the crime.

4) The DoJ has not seriously examined new information uncovered by this subcommittee. Specifically: phone records from Ramzi Yousef to a friend of Nichols' in-laws as well as the name Samir Khalil appearing on an unindicted coconspirators World Trade Center bombing list.

5) Whether or not there was a foreign connection to the bombing is inconclusive. Questions remain unanswered and mysteries remain unresolved.

Final Thoughts

The original date of the 2001 execution of Timothy McVeigh was postponed by 30 days, following the belated discovery of more than 3000 documents. The files related primarily to the question of John Doe Two and eyewitness sightings. These documents did not raise significant doubt about McVeigh's guilt. Their disappearance, nevertheless, demonstrated that, despite multiple admonitions from the presiding judge and reassurances from law enforcement, the authorities missed key files in what was then the most prominent case in US legal history.

A close look at the findings of this subcommittee suggests that it is reasonable to question if all leads were thoroughly pursued, all evidence gathered and properly analyzed. While most of the victims' families' desire for swift justice is understandable, with the benefit of hindsight, the McVeigh execution should have been further delayed until there was greater consensus on the subject of John Doe Two. As is clear by their documents (which the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee has had access to for the first time), his own defense team had significant internal doubts about McVeigh's candor with them on this subject. His only failure on a polygraph test involved his response to a question on whether he had additional help with the bombing.

The question persists, and the only person who might have shed light on it is gone. Further, it was McVeigh's decision to end his appeals that expedited his execution. His time from the end of trial to execution was only four years; the average condemned inmate spends well over a decade on death row. Given the significance of this case and the lingering questions, the execution date appears hasty in retrospect. Perhaps McVeigh would have continued to adamantly deny anyone else's involvement but simply keeping him alive closer to the typical death row stay would have allowed more opportunity for determining the truth.

We have found no conclusive evidence of a foreign connection, but there remain questions that need to be answered before this final chapter can justifiably be closed. This investigation determined that many pieces of so-called evidence backing various theories of a foreign involvement were not based in fact. In some instances, our own research is inconclusive. Specifically, Hussaini and Strassmeir, as well as the Yousef phone calls, needed more investigatory attention. The Subcommittee is dismayed that there remains a lack of willingness to examine legitimate issues. The overall assessment is inconclusive on the varied theories.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Omar Abdel Rahman May Be Near Death

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, known as "the blind Sheikh," is reportedly seriously ill, according to CNN, and the FBI has sent out an alert that his death may provoke terror attacks.

INTELWIRE recently obtained the full transcript of the sentencing in Abdel Rahman's 1995-1996 trial for seditious conspiracy. The Rahman portion of the transcript is included below for reporters and bloggers seeking quotes for coverage of Abdel Rahman's illness. A link back or credit is appreciated but not mandatory.

Audio of Rahman's speeches (in Arabic) are also available. INTELWIRE has some video, but it is generally of fairly low quality. INTELWIRE can also offer a wide range of research assistance on stories, news coverage, documentaries and (if necessary) obituaries for Rahman, and J.M. Berger is available to discuss Rahman on the record for media inquiries.

Later reports indicated Rahman's condition has stabilized. If Rahman dies in prison, it will provide an absolute test of al Qaeda's ability to strike in the U.S. homeland. If al Qaeda cannot mount an attack in response to Rahman's death (within a reasonable period), it is almost certainly an indicator that Osama bin Laden's U.S. terror network has been substantially depleted.

Similarly, the timing and specificity any statements from Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri will reflect their current status. The occasion of Rahman's death will mandate a serious rhetorical outlay by al Qaeda's leaders.

Contact J.M. Berger for details.

1 (Defendant Omar Abdel Rahman present)

2 THE CLERK: United States of America versus Abdel

3 Rahman. Is the government ready?

4 MR. McCARTHY: The government is ready, your Honor.

5 THE CLERK: Is the defendant ready?

6 MS. STEWART: The defendant is ready.

7 THE COURT: Mr. McCarthy, other than what I have got

8 already, is there anything you want to add?

9 MR. McCARTHY: Nothing further, your Honor.

10 THE COURT: Ms. Stewart, you have reviewed the

11 presentence report with Dr. Abdel Rahman, is that correct?

12 MS. STEWART: I have, Judge, and we submitted a

13 letter to your Honor which you took into consideration as of

14 yesterday, and with regard to the revised presentence report,

15 and I have reviewed that also with Dr. Abdel Rahman.

16 THE COURT: Thank you. Do you want to be heard?

17 MS. STEWART: Yes, Judge.

18 THE COURT: Go ahead.

19 MS. STEWART: Judge, I have only been here for a

20 couple of sentences but I heard you say a couple of times that

21 we are bound by the action of the jury as to what they have

22 decided. Notwithstanding the fact that you are left with no

23 discretion with regard to sentencing my client, since it is a

24 sentence of life imprisonment that he faces, I just think for

25 the record we would like to present to the court the

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1 influences that also went to convict Dr. Abdel Rahman. I

2 would say that he is, as we sit here today, the victim of an

3 overreaching U.S. government prosecution, with the political

4 goal of silencing this outspoken critic of policy in the

5 Middle East and particularly Egypt, that he stands convicted

6 as much by the temper of the times, the palpable fear of

7 people who identified believers in one of the world's great

8 religions as equating with terrorism, a terrible stigma, and,

9 thirdly, that he stands convicted under an archaic conspiracy

10 law which even lawyers and judges must admit is stretched

11 tissue-thin to accommodate a conviction such as this, to

12 convict this good man who fearlessly followed his own

13 conscience, convict him of a crime punishable by life in

14 prison, and that imprisonment will be harsh, harsh for a

15 blind, elderly, non-English-speaking cleric in ill health.

16 As of Monday night when I visited him at MCC, we had

17 to pass through 15 jailhouse doors, and finally in some inner

18 sanctum we were locked into a cage 4 feet by 10 feet to

19 discuss his remarks at sentencing, and my assumption is it

20 will only get worse.

21 But I, at least, as the defender of my respected

22 friend Dr. Omar Abdel Rahman have the freedom to enunciate

23 this. You, Judge, your hands are tied by the guidelines and

24 by your position.

25 "Any man knows when he is justified and all the wits

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1 in the world cannot enlighten him on that point. The murderer

2 always knows whether he is justly punished, but when a

3 government takes the life of a man without the consent of his

4 conscience, it is an audacious government and it is taking a

5 step towards its own dissolution. Is it not possible that an

6 individual may be right and the government wrong? Are laws to

7 be enforced simply because they were made or declared by any

8 number of men to be good if they are not good? Is there any

9 necessity for a man's being a tool to perform a deed of which

10 his better nature disapproves?"

11 That was Henry Thoreau, upon learning that John Brown

12 had been sentenced to death.

13 My client followed his conscience and his God, and

14 stands ready to be sentenced by the United States of America.

15 THE COURT: Dr. Abdel Rahman, do you wish to be

16 heard?

17 DEFENDANT ABDEL RAHMAN: Yes, I would like to.

18 THE COURT: Go ahead.

19 DEFENDANT ABDEL RAHMAN: (Through the interpreter)

20 Thanks be to God and blessings to our Prophet

21 Mohammed. Allah almighty says never will the Jews nor the

22 Christians be pleased with you, God's blessings and peace be

23 upon you, till you follow the religion. Muslims all over the

24 world, God's mercy and blessings be with you.

25 Today when I am faced in a few minutes' time with a

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1 life sentence in jail, or more than that, injustice,

2 unlawfully, with that I am facing, I am honored to join those

3 who are in jail for God's cause, with the martyrs and the good

4 doers and the saints. And then I say God is great, I have

5 won, and God is a God of Alkabah. And I say, and I am not

6 exaggerating when I say I am sent in jail as a Muslim, on

7 which side did I end up dying in God's cause? And I say, I

8 will not be terrorized by jail nor by execution, as long as

9 that is in the service of Islam.

10 I am disagreeing with my attorney when she tries to

11 make the jail sentence a little less. I am refusing any mercy

12 or pleading for having less time in jail. And when I was put

13 in jail, since 31 months America is putting me in jail in

14 solitary confinement. I don't have anyone with me to help me

15 for my daily needs. I am also under surveillance for 24 hours

16 a day, and officer sees me even when I am sitting in the

17 toilet. And this is against my beliefs. What kind of insult

18 is this from the United States of America? And in doing this,

19 the United States is trying to kill me. Slow death, with

20 using this means or another.

21 God is great and he will be revengeful. And if you

22 are sure of having killed me, please praise to God, and walk

23 in my funeral. And please follow the justice, the justice

24 that I follow. My killing will be a martyrdom in the cause of

25 God, and for me to be in jail is time for me to pray to God.

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1 And when I hear the sentence, life in jail or more, you will

2 find me to be very patient. Those who are steadfast,

3 consciously restful, peaceful at heart, happy with myself and

4 my soul, because I say the truth even when it is very bitter,

5 I am not afraid of anybody when I talk of God, because I have

6 faced those who are unjust in Egypt and in America, and I said

7 to the unjust that you are unjust. And if I will start my

8 life once more from the beginning, I would try my best twice

9 as much, and I would have added more in facing those who are

10 unjust.

11 And I will speak what the Koran taught me to say.

12 Nothing will happen to us except what we were destined to by

13 God's will. He is our savior. And the believers will depend

14 on God. Justice is clear, and unjustice is flakey. And

15 justice will continue no matter how much how America resists

16 it. And I have chosen my way of life in life, and I will say

17 that is saying the truth and justice, and the resistance of

18 those who are unjust, and all through my life I have paid the

19 price, the same way those who call for God's word paid with

20 their lives when they executed what they were entrusted.

21 And I know that you will put me in jail after

22 sentencing and that you will exile me to the worst jails and

23 to the furthest jails, to be revengeful of me and to keep me

24 quiet from telling the truth. But my message will never die.

25 It is in the Muslim's hearts and in their homes, in their

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1 streets and in their mosques.

2 And thanks be to God who made me that famous on the

3 hands of America. And here is Omar Abdel Rahman, who was

4 sleeping on a pile of rice straw, on top of a bakery that

5 belonged to one of his relatives, whereas he had no home and

6 no parents, and he had nothing on him except the clothing he

7 was wearing. And during his studying he used to take half a

8 dollar from his brother as weekly expenses. Here he is

9 sitting and America is calculating his weight and is

10 surrounding him with soldiers and guards and watching the

11 airports, all for Omar Abdel Rahman. Thanks be to God because

12 all this was done by American hands, or through America's

13 hands. And the government of America is spending thousands of

14 dollars on Abdel Rahman per day, as the minister of justice

15 has said. At the time we are spending millions of dollars,

16 here and there many of its people are hungry, cannot find

17 homes, medicine or food. Please spend your money at home on

18 your own people rather than squandering it here and there.

19 And please, you owe the world do not believe what

20 America is declaring when it says freedom of belief and

21 freedom of speech, and what it declares in its Constitution,

22 in its First Amendment. This is empty talk and there is no

23 truth in it and nobody could believe it. I was put in jail

24 because of the words. There is no freedom of word or freedom

25 of speech. And I cannot practice my prayers in jail. There

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1 is no freedom of belief, and those who look after the human

2 rights, instead of going as far as Africa and Asia, should

3 come instead to America and its jails, to see how rights are

4 lost and the word is prohibited.

5 Secondly, since the creation of America it is against

6 the Muslims, and sends its soldiers to follow them all over

7 the seas, but this quiet enmity became a declared war in this

8 last century. America has spent all its efforts to get the

9 Muslims and and to hurt them and to create the most calamitous

10 amongst them, and our case here is the most modern or the

11 latest of American insults towards Islam. It's worse and it's

12 most horrendous in its effect, and this is a plan that was

13 placed by America. It has reached to the poisoning of minds

14 and thoughts. It is not only an attack on Muslims alone, but

15 it is an agression against the words of God and all the great

16 inspirations of God. And it is putting Islam on trial and

17 disgracing it.

18 I have not done anything and I have not committed any

19 crime, except having taught people about Islam. I told them

20 about God's orders so that they may practice it, and the

21 things that they should avoid so that they may avoid them. I

22 have taught people in mosques, in schools, and in

23 universities, what God said and what the messenger said. That

24 is my only profession, and I have not done anything else. And

25 all who are present in this hall know very well that I have

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1 done nothing and that I have not committed any crime, and the

2 prosecutor has not alleged against me executing any act, and

3 he has no evidence to produce against me.

4 It is impossible for me to build a bomb or to place

5 it anywhere. This is not the work of a man who preaches

6 Islam, and I cannot do that even. Not from the point of view

7 of my body construction. Not even from the point of view of

8 my position and my profession as a Muslim cleric.

9 All these accusations that I am accused of are no

10 more than words, whereas in the court they have listened to my

11 speeches and my lessons, and these words are not my own words,

12 but these are the words of Islam and the verses of the holy

13 Koran. And when the American government produces or puts

14 forward my speeches and my Muslim lessons as evidence in this

15 case, in so doing it is actually putting Islam on trial, and

16 it is putting the Koran on trial, and America thinks that when

17 it puts Islam on trial and tells lies against it and makes

18 allegations, and makes it look bad, America believes that it

19 is killing Islam, and in truth it is killing itself, and

20 America believes that killing Islam is easy, like killing the

21 people, as it practices all around the world. And if the

22 American arm is that long, its arm is actually incapable but

23 even paralyzed when it comes to hurting Islam in any way. And

24 if America is capable of killing people, it cannot kill Islam.

25 And if it tried to do that, God will actually make it

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1 disappear, and will make it disappear from the surface of this

2 earth, as it had made the Soviet Union disappear, because God

3 has guaranteed the continuation of Islam and the safeguarding

4 of the Koran. God said, we have given the book and we will

5 take care of it.

6 And after the prosecutors have tried to change the

7 facts and to change the meaning of my words and to make me say

8 what I have not said and to create things that never happened,

9 and to tell lies about Islam in many a way, and after having

10 brought in a translator to translate the day into night and

11 what is peaceful into what is catastrophic, these people

12 should have gone and be put in mental asylums rather than

13 being brought into federal court to translate. After that,

14 the judge refused us the right to bring an expert in Islam to

15 testify that that is what Islam says, what the Koran has said,

16 what the prophet has said, and as if the prosecutor became the

17 only expert in Islam, while in truth he is knowing nothing

18 about Islam, neither little nor more. And the government was

19 afraid, and the judge followed them.

20 Had they brought in an expert in Islam, that expert

21 would have said, he would have said bless you Abdel Rahman,

22 may God bless you, you have said what Islam has ordered us to

23 say, and you have asked people to follow what the Koran said.

24 And you have not changed or added what thousands of Muslim

25 clerics have said. And this expert could have said you have

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1 explained, you have moderately explained what Islam has

2 forbidden and what Islam has allowed, and you have not been an

3 extremist in your explanations, as the grand jury has claimed.

4 They know nothing about Islam. For that, the government was

5 afraid and the judge followed them, when it came to us

6 bringing in an expert in Islam.

7 And if we have imagined the typical wars that are

8 around us in the world, the worst and most fearful war in

9 truth will be this case in particular. Whereas America has

10 launched a huge and horrendous attack against Islam, the field

11 of action is in this case, in this courtroom, and the chief of

12 staff here is the Judge Mukasey.

13 And America was not able to use the typical kinds of

14 weapons. Instead she used the dollar as a weapon to buy false

15 witness, and witnesses that could falsify the truth, and the

16 media that keeps repeating what the prosecutor says. He is

17 like a parrot. His brains are in his ears, and never

18 mentioned anything of what the defense was saying. And the

19 weapon of making noises against Islam and putting it in the

20 picture, and the government starting with a jury, with the

21 prosecutor and with the judge, in a comedy that has chapters

22 and has roles. Each one was acting his role, as per the

23 scenario, and each one of these partners played the part that

24 was made for him, precisely and accurately, and human beings,

25 people will be amazed from the position that was taken by the

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1 jury and will actually question their position by putting

2 hundreds of question marks. They agreed that they will go to

3 church tomorrow. How come they have changed? Because they

4 were ordered to do so and they have to execute the orders, and

5 because the instructions to find the people guilty was already

6 given and they have to execute that.

7 Thirdly, Islam cannot be stopped with violence and

8 with the wars by armies, with typical or untypical weapons and

9 with spending millions of dollars to stop it, by lies, by

10 trickery and by corruption, and with unlawful trials like the

11 trial we are in here.

12 And even with all these wars that America is

13 declaring on Islam, the truth, whether America likes it or

14 not, the future is for Islam. Whether America likes it or

15 not, the Muslims will continue to be here, because this kind

16 of law was not legislated in Congress and was not made in the

17 White House and was not made in the Pentagon. But this is

18 God's destiny, God's plan, and God's plan will succeed, and

19 history proves that, and the Koran spreads that, or speaks of

20 that.

21 God has said in the holy book that they are trying to

22 extinguish God's light with their mouth, but God will complete

23 his light even if the disbelievers do not like it. He is the

24 one who sent his messenger with guidance and the truth, the

25 religion of truth, to make it appear in all other religions.

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1 And God said in his book, God has brought to me the furthest

2 part of the earth, and the extent of my people will be as much

3 as I want.

4 And President Nixon, irrespective of his enmity to

5 Islam, say that the winds of change in the Muslim Orient, it