CatoCooper13
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2003
- Messages
- 6,441
- Reaction score
- 4
From CNN National Security Correspondent David Ensor
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 Posted: 0620 GMT ( 2:20 PM HKT)
? U.S. holds al Qaeda planner
SPECIAL REPORT
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks has told U.S. interrogators that original plans called for hijacking 10 planes -- five on each coast of the United States.
Besides New York and Washington, the tallest tower in Los Angeles was also on a list of targets discussed by Mohammed and Osama bin Laden back in 1996, U.S. government sources say.
Arrested in Pakistan in March Mohammed is now a U.S. prisoner being held at an undisclosed location.
Accused of being the prime plotter of the September 11 attacks, Mohammed paints a picture of bin Laden playing a central role in the final planning stages, scaling them down to improve their chances and suggesting the hijacking of commercial rather than private aircraft.
"Bin Laden's involvement was focused on making sure the plot was a success," FBI analyst Matt Levitt told CNN.
"It was more important to have four successful hijackings that would strike at our political, military, economic infrastructure, than have an attack where eight or ten planes were involved ... and be discovered and thwarted."
Mohammed told his interrogators that at one point the 9/11 attacks were to include 22 hijackers on four aircraft, followed by a second wave of attacks that was to have received help from al Qaeda allies in Southeast Asia.
U.S. officials have expressed anger over the leaked details of the interrogation, which were first reported by The Associated Press.
The report was incorrect in one respect, officials said, when it referred to Mohammed saying two of the hijackers were more important to the plot than Mohamed Atta.
Government sources told CNN that U.S. investigators still believe Atta was the ringleader for the operation and "gave the 'go' signal" for the hijackers to deploy.
Officials also confirmed that Mohammed claimed he had never heard of Omar Bayoumi, a Saudi who provided rent money and other assistance to two of the hijackers in California, said the source.
However, according to the source, Mohammed would not necessarily have known the names of all the members of support cells.
U.S. officials also told CNN that another detained terrorist ringleader, a man known as Hambali has told his American interrogators about a plot to attack two large hotels in Thailand during the upcoming meeting of Asian and Pacific leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush.
Among other terrorist attacks, Hambali is accused of orchestrating the Bali nightclub bombings in October 2002, which left 202 people dead, most of them young tourists.
Officials say Hambali's brother and close associate, Rusman Gunamwan, has also been captured this week in Pakistan, along with about sixteen others.
One official called it "a useful catch."
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 Posted: 0620 GMT ( 2:20 PM HKT)
? U.S. holds al Qaeda planner
SPECIAL REPORT
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks has told U.S. interrogators that original plans called for hijacking 10 planes -- five on each coast of the United States.
Besides New York and Washington, the tallest tower in Los Angeles was also on a list of targets discussed by Mohammed and Osama bin Laden back in 1996, U.S. government sources say.
Arrested in Pakistan in March Mohammed is now a U.S. prisoner being held at an undisclosed location.
Accused of being the prime plotter of the September 11 attacks, Mohammed paints a picture of bin Laden playing a central role in the final planning stages, scaling them down to improve their chances and suggesting the hijacking of commercial rather than private aircraft.
"Bin Laden's involvement was focused on making sure the plot was a success," FBI analyst Matt Levitt told CNN.
"It was more important to have four successful hijackings that would strike at our political, military, economic infrastructure, than have an attack where eight or ten planes were involved ... and be discovered and thwarted."
Mohammed told his interrogators that at one point the 9/11 attacks were to include 22 hijackers on four aircraft, followed by a second wave of attacks that was to have received help from al Qaeda allies in Southeast Asia.
U.S. officials have expressed anger over the leaked details of the interrogation, which were first reported by The Associated Press.
The report was incorrect in one respect, officials said, when it referred to Mohammed saying two of the hijackers were more important to the plot than Mohamed Atta.
Government sources told CNN that U.S. investigators still believe Atta was the ringleader for the operation and "gave the 'go' signal" for the hijackers to deploy.
Officials also confirmed that Mohammed claimed he had never heard of Omar Bayoumi, a Saudi who provided rent money and other assistance to two of the hijackers in California, said the source.
However, according to the source, Mohammed would not necessarily have known the names of all the members of support cells.
U.S. officials also told CNN that another detained terrorist ringleader, a man known as Hambali has told his American interrogators about a plot to attack two large hotels in Thailand during the upcoming meeting of Asian and Pacific leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush.
Among other terrorist attacks, Hambali is accused of orchestrating the Bali nightclub bombings in October 2002, which left 202 people dead, most of them young tourists.
Officials say Hambali's brother and close associate, Rusman Gunamwan, has also been captured this week in Pakistan, along with about sixteen others.
One official called it "a useful catch."
