Yahoo! News - Early Al Qaeda Plans Targeted 10 U.S. Sites -Panel
Is it just me, or does this remind you of The Ministry of Truth?
Early Al Qaeda Plans Targeted 10 U.S. Sites -Panel
By Deborah Charles
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda had originally planned to crash hijacked planes into 10 targets in the United States and carry out simultaneous attacks in southeast Asia, the panel investigating the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks said on Wednesday.
The commission issued a report saying that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, believed to be the main planner of the Sept. 11 attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people, had originally drawn up a more-extensive scheme in which he would also pilot a hijacked airplane.
Al Qaeda had drawn up a list of targets that originally included the sites hit on Sept. 11 -- the World Trade Center twin towers and the Pentagon (news - web sites) -- plus the White House, the U.S. Capitol, CIA (news - web sites) and FBI (news - web sites) headquarters, nuclear power plants and the tallest buildings in California and Washington state.
The commission gathered its information in part from written reports of interrogation of al Qaeda captives, including Mohammed and Ramzi bin al Shaibah, another suspected Sept. 11 plotter.
According to the commission report, the plot was launched in 1999 when al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) approved a proposal by Mohammed -- who is referred to in the report as KSM -- to use aircraft as weapons.
Mohammed had originally hoped to pilot one of 10 airplanes to be involved in the attacks. But instead of crashing the plane, he would have killed every adult male on board then landed at a U.S. airport to make a speech denouncing U.S. policies in the Middle East.
The al Qaeda leadership rejected the proposal as too ambitious. When bin Laden approved the plan it was split into two parts -- one in which hijackers would commandeer flights and crash them into U.S. targets, and another in which operatives would hijack U.S. airplanes in Southeast Asia and explode them in mid-air.
By mid-2000, bin Laden decided to cancel the southeast Asia part of the hijack plot because he believed it would be too difficult to synchronize operations on opposite sides of the globe.
Al Qaeda had also intended to use up to 26 hijackers for the Sept. 11 plot, as opposed to the 19 who actually participated in hijacking the four commercial aircraft.
"Even as late as the summer of 2001, KSM wanted to send as many operatives as possible to the United States in order to increase the chances for successful attacks," the report said.
It gave details of 10 candidate hijackers who were slated to be part of the attacks but were pulled out because they failed to get U.S. visas, faced pressure from their family or had trouble with immigration or security officials.
The actual date of the attacks was not chosen until about three weeks before Sept. 11, the report said. Bin Laden had reportedly pressured Mohammed for an earlier date but the hijackers were not ready.
The report also said accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, who is facing a possible death sentence on charges of conspiracy in the attacks, might have been earmarked to replace one of the pilot hijackers.
It said Moussaoui, who took flying lessons in Oklahoma and Minnesota, was being readied to replace Ziad Jarrah, who was apparently showing signs of wanting to pull out of the plot in the summer of 2001.
Moussaoui was arrested on immigration charges in August, 2001 after he raised suspicions at his flight school in Minnesota.
Yahoo! News - Early Al Qaeda Plans Targeted 10 U.S. Sites -Panel
Early Al Qaeda Plans Targeted 10 U.S. Sites -Panel
By Deborah Charles
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda had originally planned to crash hijacked planes into 10 targets in the United States and carry out simultaneous attacks in southeast Asia, the panel investigating the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks said on Wednesday.
The commission issued a report saying that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, believed to be the main planner of the Sept. 11 attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people, had originally drawn up a more-extensive scheme in which he would also pilot a hijacked airplane.
Al Qaeda had drawn up a list of targets that originally included the sites hit on Sept. 11 -- the World Trade Center twin towers and the Pentagon (news - web sites) -- plus the White House, the U.S. Capitol, CIA (news - web sites) and FBI (news - web sites) headquarters, nuclear power plants and the tallest buildings in California and Washington state.
The commission gathered its information in part from written reports of interrogation of al Qaeda captives, including Mohammed and Ramzi bin al Shaibah, another suspected Sept. 11 plotter.
According to the commission report, the plot was launched in 1999 when al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) approved a proposal by Mohammed -- who is referred to in the report as KSM -- to use aircraft as weapons.
Mohammed had originally hoped to pilot one of 10 airplanes to be involved in the attacks. But instead of crashing the plane, he would have killed every adult male on board then landed at a U.S. airport to make a speech denouncing U.S. policies in the Middle East.
The al Qaeda leadership rejected the proposal as too ambitious. When bin Laden approved the plan it was split into two parts -- one in which hijackers would commandeer flights and crash them into U.S. targets, and another in which operatives would hijack U.S. airplanes in Southeast Asia and explode them in mid-air.
By mid-2000, bin Laden decided to cancel the southeast Asia part of the hijack plot because he believed it would be too difficult to synchronize operations on opposite sides of the globe.
Al Qaeda had also intended to use up to 26 hijackers for the Sept. 11 plot, as opposed to the 19 who actually participated in hijacking the four commercial aircraft.
"Even as late as the summer of 2001, KSM wanted to send as many operatives as possible to the United States in order to increase the chances for successful attacks," the report said.
It gave details of 10 candidate hijackers who were slated to be part of the attacks but were pulled out because they failed to get U.S. visas, faced pressure from their family or had trouble with immigration or security officials.
The actual date of the attacks was not chosen until about three weeks before Sept. 11, the report said. Bin Laden had reportedly pressured Mohammed for an earlier date but the hijackers were not ready.
The report also said accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, who is facing a possible death sentence on charges of conspiracy in the attacks, might have been earmarked to replace one of the pilot hijackers.
It said Moussaoui, who took flying lessons in Oklahoma and Minnesota, was being readied to replace Ziad Jarrah, who was apparently showing signs of wanting to pull out of the plot in the summer of 2001.
Moussaoui was arrested on immigration charges in August, 2001 after he raised suspicions at his flight school in Minnesota.
Yahoo! News - Early Al Qaeda Plans Targeted 10 U.S. Sites -Panel
posted by Gary at 6:17 PM
<< Home