NSA Condi Rice was likely double-crossed as well.... As I said, 911 was a cointelpro botch --it was supposed to be a low-intensity hijack with a "happy end"... shocking enough to justify a deeper involvement of the US military in Afghanistan. Yet, somebody (Mossad?), somewhere down the chain of events changed the script --or even the cast-- and veered the whole plot away from its original, zero-casualty path....(*)
Here are the last two "dress rehearsals" of 911:
Friday, 16 March, 2001, 14:43 GMT 15:43 UK
Bloody end to Chechen hijack
Security forces in Saudi Arabia have stormed a hijacked Russian plane at Medina airport, freeing more than 100 passengers and crew.
Three people - believed to be one of the hijackers, a Russian air stewardess and a Turkish passenger - were killed.
The officials said the other hijackers, who had identified themselves as Chechens, were arrested.
They are reported to have been armed with knives and possibly a bomb.
Saudi television showed commandos wearing bulletproof vests climbing up ladders to the aircraft and kicking in the doors.
Soon after, two men were shown being restrained, face down on the runway.
Most of the passengers were reported to be Russians, along with between 55 and 60 Turkish nationals.
After fleeing the plane, one Russian woman passenger said: "I saw three hijackers. They treated us well, but sometimes they threatened to blow up the plane. We were frightened and worried."
An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Russian authorities had approved the assault on the plane. Moscow is demanding the extradition of the hijackers.
At least 45 people had earlier been freed by the hijackers or had escaped from the plane, which was hijacked on Thursday during a flight from Istanbul to Moscow.
During the hijack, the plane plunged 400 metres (1,300 feet) as a fight broke out at the door of the cockpit involving the hijackers. The aircraft was eventually stabilised, but one man, a steward, was seriously injured in the struggle.
A representative of the Chechen separatist movement identified two of the hijackers as Aslambek Arsayev, the former Chechen Interior Minister and a veteran of the war with Russia, and his brother, Sufian.
The Saudis said they decided to storm the plane after reaching "a dead end" in negotiations during the 18 hours the Vnukova Airlines Tupolev 154 jet was parked on the tarmac at Medina.
The hijackers had demanded that the plane be given enough fuel for a flight of up to 5,000 kilometres (3,000 miles). They apparently wanted to fly to the Afghan city of Kandahar.
A Saudi Interior Ministry statement said: "The goal of the storming operation was to save the lives of the passengers and the crew with the least number of casualties possible, and it concluded in record time after the hijackers threatened to blow up the plane."
The hijackers are said to have been trying to call attention to what they consider atrocities committed by Russia in their native Chechnya, according to a Chechen representative in Jordan.
At one point during the hijacking, a Chechen flag was seen taped to the side of the plane as it sat on the Medina tarmac.
Russia has long accused Saudi Arabia of lending support to Chechen rebels.
In July, a Riyadh official denounced Russia's crackdown on predominantly Muslim Chechnya as "inhumane" and called for Chechens' right to self-determination.
Medina is Islam's second holiest city after Mecca.
Moscow has also accused Turkey of being a refuge for rebels. Ankara has denied the accusations and, in February, agreed to boost security co-operation with Moscow.
[snip]
news.bbc.co.uk
Hijacked Afghan airliner's journey leads to London
February 7, 2000
Web posted at: 12:55 p.m. HKT (0455 GMT)
From staff and wire reports
LONDON -- A hijacked Afghan Ariana airliner with more than 150 people aboard has landed at London's Stansted Airport, the latest leg on a cross-continental journey.
The Ariana Airlines Boeing 727 arrived from Moscow, where 10 male passengers had been released. The plane was allowed to take on additional fuel and food.
Kim White, spokeswoman for the Essex Police Department, told CNN the plane has been isolated at Stansted Airport and negotiations with the hijackers are in the early stages.
"We are actually very well-prepared," White said. "This is a designated area for dealing with hijacks. We are able to isolate the plane and still allow the functions of the airport to continue as normal."
So far, White said, no requests had been made of the British authorities by the hijackers.
"We have been on standby for the last few hours," she said. "We have a contingency plan which we regularly practice for these types of events and have dealt with hijacks at Stansted in the past."
Hours earlier, before the plane left Moscow, the 10 freed passengers were given medical check-ups immediately. Russian officials told CNN that 20 women and 23 children were among the passengers still on board the plane.
The plane arrived in Moscow on Sunday evening after stopping in Kazakstan. Earlier it had been commandeered during a domestic flight in Afghanistan, the Russian Defense Ministry said, while on a scheduled flight from the Afghan capital, Kabul, to the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Demand said to be anti-Taliban leader's release
The identities of the hijackers remain unknown, but Reuters news agency reported they are demanding the release of Ismail Khan, a key opposition figure in Afghanistan who has been jailed by the ruling Taliban government since 1997.
Khan, an ethnic Tajik, was governor of Herat province, which borders Iran, when the ruling Taliban launched an offensive against opposition groups based in the north of the country. He was the supreme commander or Amir of all southwest Afghan provinces of Herat, Ghor and Farah.
Survivors of the fighting said Khan was a respected governor because he tried to put down the looting, rape and murder that followed the collapse of central government as the Taliban marched on the capital, Kabul.
[snip]
cnn.com
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