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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (229670)	2/21/2002 3:54:13 PM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 769667

Very interesting, thanks for the comments.....

To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (229670)	2/21/2002 4:04:20 PM
From: gao seng	Respond to of 769667

LOL! The retard actually knows chemistry? Why do I find that hard to believe? LOL! Anyway, you know how panicy the Europeans get, I suspect you are right. It is probably easy to tell and the initial report is correct, but damage control has changed the story. I think that Italy's special paramilitary police would not say it was cyanide without being pretty sure that is what it was. My 2 cents, anyway. -- Italy nabs 4 in alleged U.S. Embassy plot By Eric J. Lyman Published 2/20/2002 8:02 AM ROME, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Italian authorities arrested four Moroccans after an anti-terror probe indicated they may have been working on a plot to attack the water supply at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, a police official told United Press International Wednesday. The official from the Carabinieri, Italy's special paramilitary police, said the men had around 10 pounds of cyanide and detailed maps that highlighted the area around the embassy and its water supply routes. Additionally, the men had dozens of papers that would allow them to falsify documents foreigners must carry to remain legally in Italy. "What is clear is that a plan of some kind was in the works," the official said. "But we don't have enough information at this point to know for sure if the target was the U.S. Embassy or perhaps a broader part of Rome's water supply that included the embassy." An embassy spokesman declined to comment on the arrests. He said an official statement on the subject was being drafted. Security officials outside the embassy in Rome's historic center said security had been tightened in the wake of the arrests. The Carabinieri official said the arrests were part of an investigation into activities of those suspected of having ties to the al Qaida network and Osama bin Laden. This is the second time in 13 months Italian police uncovered an alleged plot to attack the U.S. Embassy in Rome. In January 2001, a group of men suspected of having al Qaida ties was arrested with explosives and classified information about the embassy. At that point, the embassy closed operations for three days as security procedures were revamped. After the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the embassy issued warnings to Americans in Italy that American symbols could become attack targets. Around the same time, Italian police broke up a ring of Tunisians in Milan they said were helping finance al Qaida and other terror groups. The trials for that group are just getting underway. According to the Carabinieri source, the most recent arrests -- which reportedly came after the men had been followed for several days -- were tied to the lower-profile arrests of three other Moroccans last week. He said the investigation would continue. For the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks, Italy took its search efforts public, with Italian Interior Ministry Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano appearing on Italian television Wednesday to urge residents to be on the lookout for "suspicious activities" that could be linked to terror activity. "This is a time when Italians must work together to make the country safer against terrorists," Mantovano said. "Every Italian resident can play his or her part." upi.com

To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (229670)	2/21/2002 5:19:12 PM
From: gao seng	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

JF, it was a white substance. Are you suggesting the Italians are lying? -- Italy thwarts US embassy attack February 21, 2002 ITALIAN police foiled a planned attack on the US embassy in Rome and arrested four Moroccans armed with a cyanide-based chemical and maps of the city's water network. Advertisement But Rome city officials played down the health risks posed by the substance, saying it was not toxic enough to have caused harm to residents. The arrests nonetheless appeared to confirm repeated warnings by the US State Department of the possibility of a new attack on US targets at home or abroad from members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation. The four men, aged between 30 and 40, were detained in a dawn raid yesterday on an apartment in the Tor Bella Monaca area in the south of the Italian capital, where a search also uncovered a hoard of false documents. Police said the men had been under surveillance for several days and moved in to arrest them once they had sufficient evidence they were in possession of the cyanide-based substance, which they have not publicly identified. Police seized four kilogrames of the white powdery substance from the apartment. The Corriere della Sera daily said at least two of the men had false identity papers, and at least one of them was linked with suspected terrorists arrested in northern Italy in recent months. Three other Moroccans were arrested in the Italian capital last week on suspicion of forging papers, as part of an investigation by Italian authorities into Muslim communities in Italy. Interior Minister Claudio Scajola stressed Italy's intensified efforts to combat terrorism after September 11 in a press conference late yesterday, hours before news of the latest arrests leaked. Scajola said Italian police had arrested 20 people suspected of links with Islamic terrorism and frozen 82 suspicious bank accounts worth 345 million euros ($A588.69 million). Investigations have shown that al-Qaeda and other such networks have been using Italy as a logistical base since long before the attacks, particularly to forge official documents. Seven Tunisians, many of whom were arrested last spring, are currently on trial for alleged links to bin Laden in two separate cases in Milan, home to Italy's main Islamist community. Prosecutors allege that some of the suspects had referred to plans for a chemical attack in France in intercepted telephone calls last year. Italy's Justice Minister Roberto Castelli said the swoop demonstrated that Italy "is in the front line in the war against international terrorism". "We are taking this battle forward with great determination," he said. However, police and prosecutors imposed a news blackout on the case. A furious anti-terrorist magistrate Salvatore Vecchione criticised the leaking of information about the arrests to the media, saying it had done untold damage to the investigation. Franco Frattini, minister with responsibility for Italy's secret service, said "the extraordinary delicacy of this investigation dictates that we can't say another word about it". In Washington, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher hailed the arrests and said officials did not believe there was an immediate threat to the embassy or its employees. "We commend the government of Italy for the police work that resulted in these arrests," Boucher said, echoing statements made earlier at the embassy. "The latest incident shows the continuing danger posed by terrorists and the need to remain at a high level of vigilance," he added, noting that the embassy remained open. The US embassy, which was highlighted on a map held by the men, was evacuated in January last year following intelligence reports that it could be the target of a terrorist attack. Italian press reports said the British embassy had also been highlighted among other buildings in Rome. Rome municipal governor Emilio Del Mese said after a meeting with city water company officials that tests had shown the chemical "would have been absolutely incapable" of causing harm to humans. "The substance, if it had been introduced into the water supply network, would have given it a yellow colour, which would have indicated to consumers that the water was momentarily undrinkable," he said. theaustralian.news.com.au