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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Dayuhan who wrote (37410)8/12/2002 10:48:23 PM
From: Hawkmoon  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 281500
 
The amounts of money involved are not so great that they require state support, and the terrorists themselves are better sheltered - and more able to do their dirty work

I can agree and disagree on this point. But they do require some complicity on the part of governmental officials in countries through which these terrorists transit.

The fact that Muhammed Atta was seen meeting with someone in Prague, alledgedly an Iraqi intelligence officer, is indicative that SOMEONE was being watched, either Atta or the other fellow. And if Atta was not previously suspected of being a terrorist, then the person he met with was of some particular note to justify an expensive surveillance operation.

In the strongest official statement to date alleging Iraqi involvement in the new wave of anti-Western terrorism, on Friday night Milos Zeman, the Czech Prime Minister, told reporters and Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, that the Czech authorities believed Atta and al-Ani met expressly to discuss a bombing. He said they were plotting to destroy the Prague-based Radio Free Europe with a truck stuffed with explosives, adding: 'Yes, you cannot exclude also the hypothesis that they discussed football, ice hockey, weather and other topics. But I am not so sure.

observer.co.uk

The fact that the Prime Minister of the Czech republic possessed sufficient belief to state that his agents had observed an Iragi intelligence officer meeting with Atta is quite telling that one of the two individuals were of sufficient interest that they were surveilled.

But the fact that now we're seeing "hesitation" about whether this meeting actually occurred seems indicative that that there are some "second thoughts" occurring about whether they should have mentioned anything.

Why such original confidence, and now so much doubt??

Especially after the Czechs went so far as to expel this Iraqi for being a "hostile spy"??

On 17 April, the Czechs expelled al-Ani, who had diplomatic cover, as a hostile spy. Last night, a senior US diplomatic source told The Observer that Atta was not the only suspected al-Qaeda member who met al-Ani and other Iraqi agents in Prague. He said the Czechs monitored at least two further such meetings in the months before 11 September.

Hawk