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(archive)
Posted:
October 30, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
©
2003 WorldNetDaily.com
WASHINGTON
–
A
once-secret, 181-page al-Qaida training manual obtained by Joseph
Farah's G2 Bulletin shows Osama bin Laden's terrorist network has been
focused on seaports as top-level targets for more than two years. Once again,
the manual is further confirmation of the growing maritime threat, especially
since al-Qaida
is known to have purchased at least 15 ships whose whereabouts are unknown.
In
addition, in response to a warning from Washington that members of al-Qaida
could be aboard a ship due in South Korea, Seoul reportedly is boosting security
at one of its main ports. Al-Qaida encourages the recruitment of agents who work
as "employees at borders, airports and seaports," the training manual
obtained by G2 Bulletin states.
Targets
listed for "blasting and destroying" include:
"Places of amusement;" Embassies;
"Vital economic centers";
"Bridges leading into and out of the cities";
"Strategic buildings";
"Important establishments";
"Military bases";
"Important ministries such as those of defense and internal security";
"Airports";
"Seaports";
"Land border points";
Radio and TV stations Terror experts are beginning to examine worst-case
scenarios should al-Qaida use its 15-ship armada to conduct terror attacks on
western targets.
G2B
sources say there are reports al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations have
been practicing high-seas terror attacks by hijacking ships, kidnapping crews
and studying diving – much as the Sept. 11 skyjackers learned to fly
airliners. Al-Qaida's freighters are believed to be somewhere in the Indian or
Pacific oceans. When the ships left their home ports in the Horn of Africa weeks
ago, some were destined for ports in Asia. G2B sources say other potential
targets of the al-Qaida armada, besides civilian ports, include oil rigs.
Another threat is the ramming of a cruise liner. If a maritime terror attack
comes, it won't be the first. In October 2000, the USS Cole, a heavily armed
ship protected with the latest radar defenses, was hit by an al-Qaida suicide
crew. Seventeen American sailors died. Two years later, following the attacks on
the Twin Towers, a similar attack was carried out against a French supertanker
off the coast of Yemen.
A
Rand Corp. study released last month in London warns terrorists might use
container ships in terror attacks meant to cause massive casualties. The report
warns cargo ships or shipping containers could be used to deliver weapons of
mass destruction for terror groups such as al-Qaida. The report, produced in
cooperation with the European Commission, said: "The potential threat of
terrorists using containers poses a large risk to our economies and to our
societies. Ultimately, this means that the marine sector – and
specifically the container transport sector – remains wide open to the
terrorist threat." Rand says the international community has not become
sufficiently aware of al-Qaida's threat at sea, with most counter-insurgency
efforts being focused on stopping an attack from the air.
It
is not known whether the ship expected to dock in South Korea today is one of
the 15 ships purchased by al-Qaida. Yesterday's edition of Munhwa Ilbo quoted
unidentified military sources as saying the U.S. military had tipped off South
Korean officials about the cargo ship, which is scheduled to reach waters off
South Korea's west-coast port of Kunsan late today. There was no immediate
confirmation of the security alert. A spokesman at South Korea's Defense
Ministry told Reuters: "We are not aware of any al-Qaida threat." The
U.S. military in South Korea referred reporters' inquiries to Washington. A
police officer in Kunsan said by telephone: "We haven't received any
specific information but the cargo ship crew haven't received permission from
the authorities to leave the ship because some of the crew couldn't be
identified." The newspaper named the ship as the Athena, sailing from New
Zealand. It did not say what flag the ship was flying, and gave no further
details. The United States has 37,000 troops based in South Korea to help deter
North Korea. Meanwhile, the al-Qaida terror manual makes clear bin Laden's
organization is in this fight for the long haul – and that there will
never be any compromise. "Islamic governments have never and will never be
established through peaceful solutions and cooperative councils," the
terrorist manual says. "They are established as they always have been ...
by pen and gun ... by word and bullet ... by tongue and teeth." "Islam
does not make a truce with unbelief," it continues, "but rather
confronts it."
"It
knows the dialogue of bullets." There is harsh criticism of what al-Qaida
calls Arab nations under the rulership of "apostates." "After the
fall of our orthodox caliphates on March 3, 1924, and after expelling the
colonialists, our Islamic nation was afflicted with apostate rulers who took
over in the Muslim nation," the manual explains. "These rulers turned
out to be more infidel and criminal than the colonialists themselves. Muslims
have endured all kinds of harm, oppression and torture at their hands." In
a description of various forms of torture prisoners can expect, the manual adds:
"Let no one think that the aforementioned techniques are fabrications of
our imagination, or that we copied them from spy stories. On the contrary, these
are factual incidents in the prisons of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and
all other Arab countries.
Those
who follow daily events and read the newspapers and journals would be amazed to
learn that:
Security personnel totally undressed veiled women in public. The security
personnel arrested a brother's mother, a brother's sister and a brother's wife
and raped them.
The wife of brother Saffout AbdulGhani – may Allah have him released –
had a miscarriage when the government's dogs (i.e. cronies) beat and tortured
her in front of her husband.
The security personnel captured brother Hassan Al-Gharbawi's mother, who is
older than 60 years, and hanged her by her feet (upside down). The security
personnel shaved the head of the wife of a brother who participated in the
murder of Rif'at Al-Mahjoub (Egypt's former parliament speaker)." The
following warning appears on the manual: "It is forbidden to remove this
from the house." The manual provides lessons in developing simple forms of
biological and chemical weapons – such as ricin. Members who are taken
prisoner are instructed to complain about "torture" and
"mistreatment," and to go on a "hunger strike" as a last
resort for public sympathy. They're also told to "shout Islamic
slogans" while being transported in public places, and spend their time in
jail creating "Islamic programs for themselves" and "memorizing
the Qur'an," the Muslims' sacred book. Some of the detainees at Camp X-ray
in Guantanamo, Cuba, have already followed this formula. U.S. intelligence and
law-enforcement officials say cells of al-Qaida sleeper agents are still active
in the U.S. Evidence of their activity has been found in Massachusetts, New
Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, Michigan and California,
among other states. And they may be waiting for orders to launch new attacks.
The
manual also instructs al-Qaida sleeper agents on how to blend in with Western
societies by avoiding Muslim appearances. "Have a general appearance that
does not indicate Islamic orientation," it says. They are told to cut their
beards, lose the long shirts and shelve their pocket-sized Korans used for
recitation. This is how the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers fit in. In addition, they are
told to make excuses for fasting, such as saying they feel ill. And they are
told they can combine their noon and afternoon prayers, as well as sunset and
evening prayers, to avoid drawing the attention of "the polytheists,"
as they refer to Christians. Human-rights activists and media wringing their
hands over the treatment of terrorist detainees might be interested to know that
al-Qaida members are trained to torture their captives to pry away secrets.
"Information is collected by kidnapping the enemy individual, interrogating
him and torturing him," the al-Qaida guide says. They say Islam sanctions
it. "Religious scholars have permitted beating," the guide says.
"The religious scholars have also permitted the killing of a hostage if he
insists on withholding information from Muslims." The manual quotes
liberally from the Koran to justify violent goals and methods.
The
"main mission" of the "Islamic movement," it says, is to
"overthrow godless regimes" and replace them with "an Islamic
regime." Regarding "the oppressors," members must pledge "to
slaughter them like lambs, and let the Nile, al-Asi and Euphrates rivers flow
with their blood." It says "Islam is not just performing rituals, but
a complete system: Religion and government, worship and jihad, ethics and
dealing with people, and the Koran and the sword." The manual says the
hypocrites of the faith have strayed from "Allah's course" and fallen
in "love with the world." It criticizes their "loathing of death
and their abandonment of jihad," or holy war against "infidels"
or "unbelievers," which it defines as "Christians, Jews."
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