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Al-Qaeda exodus triggers panic
US sparked airport alert after terrorists left secret hideouts
By Neil Mackay, Investigations Editor
THE sudden movement of large numbers of highly trained al-Qaeda terrorists across the Middle East triggered the panic over possible attacks on Western aircraft which led to the grounding of international flights to the United States last week.
The Sunday Herald has learned that the US raised its terror alert to Code Orange – the second highest level – on December 21 when Washington discovered that trained al-Qaeda terrorists had been leaving their strongholds and hideouts in the Hadhramouth area east of the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.
The operatives have moved north and west bearing large quantities of shoulder-launched ground-to-air missiles, a selection of other weapons and a variety of explosives.
This came as US homeland security chief Tom Ridge spoke of substantially increased intelligence that extremists were planning an attack to surpass the 9/11 atrocities.
The terrorists then moved into two areas of Saudi Arabia: Najran and Jizran, Osama bin Laden’s homeland. Terrorists in Najran are thought to be planning missions inside Saudi, while those in Jizran are believed to be readying themselves to move overseas. Jizran has a number of ports, ideal to move men and weapons out of the country.
Both areas would allow terrorists to quickly disperse across the Middle East, Persian Gulf and east Africa. Many are thought to have already left Saudi to pursue their targets.
Some may also have used unmarked, privately owned aircraft to transport themselves and weapons out of Saudi. The terrorists are said to have “crept†past Saudi, Yemeni and undercover US special forces on the Saudi-Yemen border.
The number and identity of the al-Qaeda operatives is not known, nor are the locations they are heading towards. That has caused panic and chaos for airline companies and intelligence agencies trying to red-flag the terrorists if they try to board civilian aircraft bound for the West.
Just a few days ago, the Italian newspaper Il Giornale carried a front-page story with the headline “Al-Qaeda: We will destroy New York within 35 daysâ€.
The threat was contained, the paper said, in a video clip on a website run by al-Qaeda, which was blocked and then removed by the FBI. The threat seemed to hint that some sort of nuclear dirty bomb would be used . The newspaper is viewed as the flagship paper of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. New Year celebrations in New York, Rome, Moscow, London and Las Vegas were all carried out under intense security.
Yesterday, British Airways flight 223 from London to Washington – which was cancelled for two days running and had previously been escorted into the US by F-16 fighter jets – was finally allowed to take off.
It was due to leave at 3.05pm but was delayed for three hours while all passengers were searched and escorted on to the plane one at a time. Their details were double-checked in the US before the plane took off. Security fears also grounded BA flight 263 to the Saudi capital Riyadh yesterday.
Transport Secretary Alistair Darling warned that the threat to commercial aircraft was likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
04 January 2004
http://www.sundayherald.com/39093
US sparked airport alert after terrorists left secret hideouts
By Neil Mackay, Investigations Editor
THE sudden movement of large numbers of highly trained al-Qaeda terrorists across the Middle East triggered the panic over possible attacks on Western aircraft which led to the grounding of international flights to the United States last week.
The Sunday Herald has learned that the US raised its terror alert to Code Orange – the second highest level – on December 21 when Washington discovered that trained al-Qaeda terrorists had been leaving their strongholds and hideouts in the Hadhramouth area east of the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.
The operatives have moved north and west bearing large quantities of shoulder-launched ground-to-air missiles, a selection of other weapons and a variety of explosives.
This came as US homeland security chief Tom Ridge spoke of substantially increased intelligence that extremists were planning an attack to surpass the 9/11 atrocities.
The terrorists then moved into two areas of Saudi Arabia: Najran and Jizran, Osama bin Laden’s homeland. Terrorists in Najran are thought to be planning missions inside Saudi, while those in Jizran are believed to be readying themselves to move overseas. Jizran has a number of ports, ideal to move men and weapons out of the country.
Both areas would allow terrorists to quickly disperse across the Middle East, Persian Gulf and east Africa. Many are thought to have already left Saudi to pursue their targets.
Some may also have used unmarked, privately owned aircraft to transport themselves and weapons out of Saudi. The terrorists are said to have “crept†past Saudi, Yemeni and undercover US special forces on the Saudi-Yemen border.
The number and identity of the al-Qaeda operatives is not known, nor are the locations they are heading towards. That has caused panic and chaos for airline companies and intelligence agencies trying to red-flag the terrorists if they try to board civilian aircraft bound for the West.
Just a few days ago, the Italian newspaper Il Giornale carried a front-page story with the headline “Al-Qaeda: We will destroy New York within 35 daysâ€.
The threat was contained, the paper said, in a video clip on a website run by al-Qaeda, which was blocked and then removed by the FBI. The threat seemed to hint that some sort of nuclear dirty bomb would be used . The newspaper is viewed as the flagship paper of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. New Year celebrations in New York, Rome, Moscow, London and Las Vegas were all carried out under intense security.
Yesterday, British Airways flight 223 from London to Washington – which was cancelled for two days running and had previously been escorted into the US by F-16 fighter jets – was finally allowed to take off.
It was due to leave at 3.05pm but was delayed for three hours while all passengers were searched and escorted on to the plane one at a time. Their details were double-checked in the US before the plane took off. Security fears also grounded BA flight 263 to the Saudi capital Riyadh yesterday.
Transport Secretary Alistair Darling warned that the threat to commercial aircraft was likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
04 January 2004
http://www.sundayherald.com/39093
