SleepyHead
Dec 16, 2001, 08:06 AM
Newspaper: Al Qaeda planned attack on London
December 16, 2001 Posted: 3:05 AM EST (0805 GMT)
LONDON, England (AP) -- A British newspaper has reported the discovery of a notebook at an al Qaeda training camp that contained a terrorist "blueprint" for an attack on London.
Early editions of The Observer, a national Sunday newspaper, said "terrorists linked to Osama bin Laden have drawn up plans for a devastating bomb attack on the City of London" in the capital's financial district.
The 80-page document contained step-by-step instructions for constructing a remote-controlled van bomb like those used against the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, the report which has not been independently confirmed said.
The notebook, found in Kandahar, also appeared to confirm British authorities' suspicions that an al Qaeda "sleeper cell" may already be in place somewhere in Britain, The Observer reported.
Scotland Yard would investigate, a source told the newspaper Saturday. 'We have to recognize that there are some very big targets in the City of London," he said.
A scribbled note on one page suggested the target was Moorgate in the center of London's financial district, The Observer said. Moorgate is a banking and insurance area and the location of a stop on the London Underground railway.
"It was written in good English, in note form ... apparently by the man who would construct the bomb," the report said.
The Observer said the language suggests the author was "British fundamentalist" -- an apparent reference to a Muslim fundamentalist from Britain in training in Kandahar.
It said most of the al Qaeda camps had been cleared out by U.S. special forces, but that "The Observer came across the padlocked compound ... when local Afghan residents led us to it."
The notebook was found in a room where papers had been tossed on a bonfire in the camp in Kandahar, the report said.
In addition to detailing bomb construction, the notebook listed how to behave in London to maintain cover as part of a sleeper cell. Other documents found with it suggested it was written early this year, The Observer said.
Another weekly, The Independent on Sunday, carried a similar report, and said the only reference to timing was "Main Strategy: 1-2 weeks."
The publication said the handwritten notes covered 82 pages and were found by a journalist for the Portuguese newspaper Expresso. He discovered the notebook in a house at an al Qaeda training camp just outside Kandahar, The Independent reported.
The Observer did not say who found the notebook.
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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December 16, 2001 Posted: 3:05 AM EST (0805 GMT)
LONDON, England (AP) -- A British newspaper has reported the discovery of a notebook at an al Qaeda training camp that contained a terrorist "blueprint" for an attack on London.
Early editions of The Observer, a national Sunday newspaper, said "terrorists linked to Osama bin Laden have drawn up plans for a devastating bomb attack on the City of London" in the capital's financial district.
The 80-page document contained step-by-step instructions for constructing a remote-controlled van bomb like those used against the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, the report which has not been independently confirmed said.
The notebook, found in Kandahar, also appeared to confirm British authorities' suspicions that an al Qaeda "sleeper cell" may already be in place somewhere in Britain, The Observer reported.
Scotland Yard would investigate, a source told the newspaper Saturday. 'We have to recognize that there are some very big targets in the City of London," he said.
A scribbled note on one page suggested the target was Moorgate in the center of London's financial district, The Observer said. Moorgate is a banking and insurance area and the location of a stop on the London Underground railway.
"It was written in good English, in note form ... apparently by the man who would construct the bomb," the report said.
The Observer said the language suggests the author was "British fundamentalist" -- an apparent reference to a Muslim fundamentalist from Britain in training in Kandahar.
It said most of the al Qaeda camps had been cleared out by U.S. special forces, but that "The Observer came across the padlocked compound ... when local Afghan residents led us to it."
The notebook was found in a room where papers had been tossed on a bonfire in the camp in Kandahar, the report said.
In addition to detailing bomb construction, the notebook listed how to behave in London to maintain cover as part of a sleeper cell. Other documents found with it suggested it was written early this year, The Observer said.
Another weekly, The Independent on Sunday, carried a similar report, and said the only reference to timing was "Main Strategy: 1-2 weeks."
The publication said the handwritten notes covered 82 pages and were found by a journalist for the Portuguese newspaper Expresso. He discovered the notebook in a house at an al Qaeda training camp just outside Kandahar, The Independent reported.
The Observer did not say who found the notebook.
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
------------------
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Bearkat77's Tribute to John Lennon (http://bearkatjl.50megs.com)
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