File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_2001/postcolonial.0110, message 143


Date: Mon, 08 Oct 2001 02:14:29 -0400
Subject: FW: THE FIRST POST-ATTACK BUZZFLASH WORLD MEDIA WATCH
From: "bob brown" <vacirca-AT-charm.net>


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-- 
"solidarity means sharing the same risks" - Che
( la solidarita significa correre gli stessi rischi)

----------
From: "BuzzFlash.com" <BuzzFlash-AT-lb.bcentral.com>
To: List Member <vacirca-AT-charm.net>
Subject: THE FIRST POST-ATTACK BUZZFLASH WORLD MEDIA WATCH
Date: Sun, Oct 7, 2001, 10:17 PM


BUZZFLASH WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR OCTOBER 8, 2001



The latest news from the DEBKAfile at www.debka.com=85Again, information from
this site may not be 100% accurate, but we are providing these stories
because, in the past, reports from this site have often been borne out=85

TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEPLOYED

6 October:  DEBKAfile's military and intelligence sources report that
Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, in a single 70-minute
conversation on September 23, eleven days after the terrorist assaults in
New York and Washington, agreed on the deployment of tactical nuclear
weapons. This is an epic shift in the global balance of strength.

 Putin gave the nod for US forces poised in Central Asia to jump into
Afghanistan to be armed with tactical nuclear weapons, such as small neutron
bombs, which emit strong radiation, nuclear mines, shells, and other nuclear
ammunition suited to commando warfare in mountainous terrain.

In return, Bush assented to Russia deploying tactical nuclear weapons units
around Chechnya after Moscow=92s ultimatum to the rebels, some of whom are
backed by Osama Bin Laden, to surrender, went by without response. (More)

Over the last week, I=92ve been wondering why things were very quiet in the
Chinese press.  Today, I again searched around several Chinese sites and
found no reports of Chinese involvement (the biggest story was China=92s
gaining its first World Cup berth).  However, Debkafile is reporting this
story:

CHINIA MOVES FORCES INTO AFGHANISTAN

October: Before even the launching of the major US military offensive in
Afghanistan, long Chinese convoys were carrying armed Chinese Muslim
servicemen through northwest China into Afghanistan, according to
DEBKAfile=92s intelligence experts.

 They were sent in to fight alongside the ruling Taliban and Osama Bin
Laden=92s Al Qaeda.  Their number is estimated roughly between 5000 and
15,000. Our sources report another three convoys are behind the first 3000,
who crossed the frontier Friday, October 5.

 They are entering Afghanistan along the ancient Krakoram Road to the
Afghan-Pakistani border, through the Kulik Pass of Little Pamir, which is
situated in one of the highest and most remote regions of the world. Beijing
is deploying this force in two places:

 A.  Whakyir, the Kirgyz tribal encampment near the Little Pamir-Tadjik
frontier, opposite the swelling concentration of US and Russian Special
Forces and air strength.   (More)

 B. Jalalabad in north Afghanistan, at the foot of the Hindu Kush range.
DEBKAfile=92s Chinese sources reveal that, immediately after the terrorist
strikes in the United States on September 11, the Chinese intelligence
service, MSS, handed in to the defense ministry in Beijing their estimation
that the United States would go to war to overthrow the Taliban regime, for
the sake of which it would sign a pact with Russia. The Chinese leadership
viewed this eventuality as the most significant shift in the global balance
since the 1962 Chinese-Russian feud, with dangerous implications for China=92s
world standing and its interests in Central and Southwest Asia. They decided
it must be counteracted.

 The only satisfactory outcome of the Bin Laden crisis in Chinese eyes is
the redeployment of Japanese-based US troops to the Persian Gulf, when the
Kitty Hawk carrier moved the 3rd Marines Division out of Okinawa last week.

 Chinese intelligence did not miss the absence of fighters and
reconnaissance craft on her decks. The planes stayed behind, but the very
fact that the Kitty Hawk is no longer within operational range of the
Straits of Taiwan leaves the disputed island with diminished protection.

 Beijing also took note of additional US military movements, including the
Army=92s 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, New York and that of
another formerly Pacific-based unit, the 25th Infantry Division, out of
Hawaii to the Persian Gulf.

 According to DEBKAfile =92s Far East experts, the removal of substantial US
military strength from the Pacific Rim opened the way for Chinese
intervention in Afghanistan and its effort to slow down the US-Russian
advance.

 NOTE:  We reported the departure of U.S. Navy amphibious units from Japan
in a previous World Media Watch.



ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Just before attacks on Afghanistan begin, The Observer
reports the FBI still warning about widespread military strikes.  Why?



Because if after bombing Afghanistan into smithereens we still don=92t catch
Bin Laden, then "it would be like kicking open a hornet=92s nest."

Meanwhile, the Afghan News Network reports via Reuters that Bin Laden could
have as many as 4 "doubles" roaming the countryside; In the previous WMW we
reported on the efforts to re-install the former king of Afghanistan in a
new government=97but the former number 2 official in the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration, Terrence Burke, says the king was surrounded by people
involved in the drug trade and the Northern Alliance as well as Bin Laden
also profit from heroin trafficking; how the war on terrorism will tie in
with the war on drugs=97a Stratfor Intelligence report details the Bin Laden
connection to East Africa=97drug arrests made September 29 in Uganda may be
tied to Bin Laden; finally, a terrible example of how bad U.S. security was
before the

WTC=97how Mohammed Atta boarded one of the planes with a passport from the
"Republic of Conch."

********************************************************************

**The Observer (London) reports that the FBI wary of strikes right up to
just before they started:

KILL BIN LADEN OR RISK CATASTROPHE, SAYS FBI

War on Terrorism: Observer special

Ed Vulliamy in New York Sunday October 7, 2001 The Observer Investigators
tracking Osama bin Laden have emerged as a cogent voice of caution over
widespread United States military strikes against Afghanistan.

There is pressure in America for action to match the rhetoric of President
George Bush and others during the first weeks of the crisis, but one
official from the security services said: 'This is not a war that will be
won by impatience.'

But those charged with the most onerous task of all - killing or catching
the world's most wanted man - acknowledge that widespread military action
might crush the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which protects their target.

But, say sources in the intelligence community, the FBI and those preparing
the legal  case against bin Laden at the Justice Department, if such action
allowed their target to escape it would prove catastrophic, igniting his
terrorist network with 'more resolve than

ever'=85

=85Officials in the Justice Department and intelligence services believe that
the bin Laden network, still operative in cells across the globe, would
implode if he were beheaded.  Investigators laid out two scenarios: 'There's
a notion that if you behead the snake, another two crawl out of the swamp,'
said one official. 'This situation is the opposite: cut off the snake's head
and the body shrivels up. The important thing is to get the man.'

On the other hand, if Afghanistan was bombed into submission and bin Laden
survived, it would be like kicking open a hornet's nest: 'This would just
burnish his image and make the network even more determined. The worst thing
would be a military operation that caused civilian casualties, let him
escape and steeled the resolve of his operatives.'  (MORE)

http://www.observer.co.uk/waronterrorism/story/0,1373,564845,00.html



**And the Afghan News Network carries a story why Bin Laden may be so hard
to find:

BIN LADEN LOOK-ALIKES REPORTEDLY PLACED IN AFGHANISTAN

DUBAI (Reuters) - The brother of Afghanistan's late opposition commander
said in remarks published on Sunday that Osama bin Laden has doubles
traveling around Afghanistan to confuse people over his whereabouts.

"The latest report we had a few days ago locates him in Jalalabad. But we
know that he has several doubles -- individuals who look like him and travel
in Toyota convoys like him -- to foment confusion," Ahmad Wali Masood told
Saudi Arabia's English-language Arab News daily.

"A few months ago we had reports of four Osama look-alikes in different
locations at the same time," said Masood, the brother of the legendary Ahmad
Shah Masood who was assassinated last month.- Article added at 12:11 PM
(CST) on 10/7/2001.

http://www.myafghan.com/news.asp?id=-1027712235



**Meanwhile, the former king of Afghanistan carries some baggage in the form
of a drug connection during his reign:

OPIUM DEN

IN THE AFGHAN BADLANDS, ADD DRUGS TO A DEVIL=92S BREW
10/5/01

By Edward T. Pound and Chitra Ragavan

King Mohammad Zahir Shah, Afghanistan=92s last monarch, is likely to play a
principal role in organizing a new Afghan government should the U.S.
coalition or internal forces topple the militant Taliban Government. The
86-year-old Zahir Shah, seen as a unifying figure by some anti-Talbian
forces, ruled Afghanistan for decades before he was deposed in 1973. But,
information is now emerging that could damage his new standing. According to
the former number 2 official in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration,
Zahir Shah=92s inner circle was heavily involved in drug trafficking during
the early 1970s, even using his plane to smuggle hashish to Italy.

The king himself was not linked to the drug business, says Terrence Burke,
the former deputy DEA administrator who was based in Afghanistan from 1971
to 1973.But, he says, a top powerful aide named Mohammed Rahim Panjshiri and
others close to Zahir Shah were profiting from the drug trade. He says his
information came from reliable informers and also from Sardar Sultan Ghazi,
whom he described as a first cousin of the king and a powerful official in
his own right. Burke says he has kept detailed notes from his days in
Afghanistan. In June 1973, he says, Prince Ghazi pledged to inform King
Zahir Shah of the drug running but warned that Panjshiri was very powerful.
"He selects the ministers,=92=92 Prince Ghazi said, according to Burke=92s
recollection. "People around the king were involved,=92=92 says Burke, who now
runs a international investigative firm outside Denver=85.

=85Should Zahir Shah become a power broker in a new government, Burke=92s
disclosures could prove troublesome. Afghanistan has been a country awash in
opium and many of its leaders have been the principal feeders at the troughThe militant Islamic Taliban government, terrorist Osama bin Laden and, to a
degree, the resistance group known as the Northern Alliance all profit from
heroin trafficking, according to American officials. "Heroin is to
Afghanistan," says one, "what oil is to Saddam Hussein."

Bin Laden=92s ties to the drug trade have been difficult to pin down. But,
American officials say that reliable intelligence reports from U.S. allies
have linked him and his terrorist al Qaeda network to the drug trade=85.

=85Opium and heroin may become a target of the U.S. war against the Taliban.
Some U.S. officials are convinced that drugs, stockpiled by the Taliban
after a ban in July 2000 in a reported scheme to drive up prices, must be
destroyed. Afghanistan became the world=92s largest producer of raw opium in
the 1990s, and the drug trade is seen as an important revenue stream,
particularly to the Taliban. In a recent report, the United Nations said the
Taliban buys arms and trains terrorists with some of the drug profits.
American officials estimate that the Taliban makes at least $50 million a
year by taxing and selling opium and by providing protection for smugglers.
Bin Laden also profits, they say, by providing armed fighters to protect
shipments. They say he did not need the money to finance his terrorist war
but wanted to cement his relationship with the Taliban, which has provided
him a safe haven since 1996.

It is not a pretty picture. In Afghanistan, explains one official, "nobody
wears a cape or a white hat.=92=92

- With Gordon Witkin and Eleni E. Dimmler

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/terror/011005.htm



**The drug connection to East Africa takes front and center stage:

EAST AFRICA: TERRORISM=92S TIES TO DRUGS  2000 GMT, 011005

Summary

Seven Pakistanis and a Zambian en route to Europe were arrested recently in
Uganda. The suspects are allegedly tied to Osama bin Laden and have also
been linked to drug trafficking. Suspected terrorist networks in East Africa
overlap with the drug trade from South Asia, making East Africa a vital
source for information on funding sources for al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Analysis

Uganda's Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce arrested seven Pakistanis and a
Zambian Sept. 29 in Entebbe, Uganda. The suspects -- thought to be both
drug traffickers and members of Saudi exile Osama bin Laden's terrorism
network -- were en route from Rwanda to Europe, The Post, a daily in
Lusaka, Zambia, reported Oct. 2.

These arrests in Uganda are part of a region-wide law enforcement effort to
sniff out possible terrorist networks. For the moment investigators are
focusing on suspects with possible ties to bin Laden. Ample evidence,
however, links the suspected terrorists to drug trafficking. These ties will
lead the FBI and Interpol to combine the hunt for terrorists with
investigations into regional drug-trafficking networks -- possibly
uncovering a key to the financial resources of both bin Laden and
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban. =85.

=85Details of the relationship between the region's drug-trafficking networks
and terrorism remain unclear. But circumstantial evidence points to a
definite connection. Drug traffickers based in Afghanistan and Pakistan have
established hubs in the predominately Muslim coastal city of Mombasa, Kenya,
and in the two islands comprising Zanzibar, Tanzania, where hundreds of
Pakistani nationals and their East African counterparts are arrested for
drug smuggling each year, according to the United Nations and government
agencies.

Several of those connected to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings hailed from
these coastal regions. Also one of South Asia's most notorious drug lords,
Dawood Ibrahim, allegedly has ties to bin Laden. Ibrahim often operates out
of Karachi, Pakistan, and has made several trips to Kabul, Aghanistan,
according to Indian intelligence officials=85

=85But reports from Pakistan indicate that heroin prices in border regions
with Afghanistan have dropped dramatically in recent days. This suggests the
Taliban and Afghan traders likely stockpiled the drug and are now dumping
heroin on the market in anticipation of U.S. strikes, Agence France-Presse
reported, quoting sources in Islamabad.

A growing tide of drugs from Afghanistan would necessitate more couriers
taking the drugs to market. This should bring more traffickers through East
Africa, giving investigators more opportunities to snag them=85

=85The United States will attempt to focus its efforts on uncovering the
financial choke points for bin Laden and the Taliban. Curtailing the drug
traffic through East Africa may be impossible. But efforts to dismantle the
supporting infrastructure will likely become a part of the hunt for
terrorists.

http://www.stratfor.com/home/0110052000.htm



**Pravda reports how the "Republic of Conch" was involved in the plane
attack on the World Trade Center and comments on the "cultural level" of the
personnel checking passports that day=85

2001-10-06

USA: TERRORIST HAD PASSPORT FROM NONEXISTENT COUNTRY

The terrorist Mohammed Atta boarded one of the aircraft that collided with
the World Trade Center on September 11th using a passport from the "Republic
of Conch," which does not exist.

The "Republic of Conch" was born in 1982, as a protest against inspection of
vehicles which were leaving Florida. The inhabitants of Key West declared
that if their vehicles were not good enough to travel to the rest of the
USA, they would declare themselves an independent country.

Peter Andersen, the leader of this "Republic" started to issue "passports"
of the "Republic of Conch." An annual fair was held at which passports and
flags of this "Republic" were sold. In the last year, demand for the
passports has soared and Mohammed Atta was one of the many buyers.

Such details show how lax security operations had become in the United
States of America and bring into question the cultural level of the person
who checked Atta=92s passport.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

LISBON PORTUGAL

http://english.pravda.ru/main/2001/10/06/17232.html

Copyright 2001, Gloria R. Lalumia

-

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HTML VERSION:

FW: THE FIRST POST-ATTACK BUZZFLASH WORLD MEDIA WATCH
--
"solidarity means sharing the same risks" - Che
( la solidarita significa correre gli stessi rischi)

----------
From: "BuzzFlash.com" <BuzzFlash-AT-lb.bcentral.com>
To: List Member <vacirca-AT-charm.net>
Subject: THE FIRST POST-ATTACK BUZZFLASH WORLD MEDIA WATCH
Date: Sun, Oct 7, 2001, 10:17 PM


BUZZFLASH WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR OCTOBER 8, 2001

 

The latest news from the DEBKAfile at www.debka.com=85Again, information from this site may not be 100% accurate, but we are providing these stories because, in the past, reports from this site have often been borne out=85

TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEPLOYED

6 October:  DEBKAfile's military and intelligence sources report that Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, in a single 70-minute conversation on September 23, eleven days after the terrorist assaults in New York and Washington, agreed on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons. This is an epic shift in the global balance of strength.

 Putin gave the nod for US forces poised in Central Asia to jump into Afghanistan to be armed with tactical nuclear weapons, such as small neutron bombs, which emit strong radiation, nuclear mines, shells, and other nuclear ammunition suited to commando warfare in mountainous terrain.

In return, Bush assented to Russia deploying tactical nuclear weapons units around Chechnya after Moscow=92s ultimatum to the rebels, some of whom are backed by Osama Bin Laden, to surrender, went by without response. (More)

Over the last week, I=92ve been wondering why things were very quiet in the Chinese press.  Today, I again searched around several Chinese sites and found no reports of Chinese involvement (the biggest story was China=92s gaining its first World Cup berth).  However, Debkafile is reporting this story:

CHINIA MOVES FORCES INTO AFGHANISTAN

October: Before even the launching of the major US military offensive in Afghanistan, long Chinese convoys were carrying armed Chinese Muslim servicemen through northwest China into Afghanistan, according to DEBKAfile=92s intelligence experts.

 They were sent in to fight alongside the ruling Taliban and Osama Bin Laden=92s Al Qaeda.  Their number is estimated roughly between 5000 and 15,000. Our sources report another three convoys are behind the first 3000, who crossed the frontier Friday, October 5.

 They are entering Afghanistan along the ancient Krakoram Road to the Afghan-Pakistani border, through the Kulik Pass of Little Pamir, which is situated in one of the highest and most remote regions of the world. Beijing is deploying this force in two places:

 A.  Whakyir, the Kirgyz tribal encampment near the Little Pamir-Tadjik frontier, opposite the swelling concentration of US and Russian Special Forces and air strength.   (More)

 B. Jalalabad in north Afghanistan, at the foot of the Hindu Kush range. DEBKAfile=92s Chinese sources reveal that, immediately after the terrorist strikes in the United States on September 11, the Chinese intelligence service, MSS, handed in to the defense ministry in Beijing their estimation that the United States would go to war to overthrow the Taliban regime, for the sake of which it would sign a pact with Russia. The Chinese leadership viewed this eventuality as the most significant shift in the global balance since the 1962 Chinese-Russian feud, with dangerous implications for China=92s world standing and its interests in Central and Southwest Asia. They decided it must be counteracted.

 The only satisfactory outcome of the Bin Laden crisis in Chinese eyes is the redeployment of Japanese-based US troops to the Persian Gulf, when the Kitty Hawk carrier moved the 3rd Marines Division out of Okinawa last week.

 Chinese intelligence did not miss the absence of fighters and reconnaissance craft on her decks. The planes stayed behind, but the very fact that the Kitty Hawk is no longer within operational range of the Straits of Taiwan leaves the disputed island with diminished protection.

 Beijing also took note of additional US military movements, including the Army=92s 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, New York and that of another formerly Pacific-based unit, the 25th Infantry Division, out of Hawaii to the Persian Gulf.

 According to DEBKAfile =92s Far East experts, the removal of substantial US military strength from the Pacific Rim opened the way for Chinese intervention in Afghanistan and its effort to slow down the US-Russian advance.

 NOTE:  We reported the departure of U.S. Navy amphibious units from Japan in a previous World Media Watch.

 

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Just before attacks on Afghanistan begin, The Observer reports the FBI still warning about widespread military strikes.  Why?

 

Because if after bombing Afghanistan into smithereens we still don=92t catch Bin Laden, then "it would be like kicking open a hornet=92s nest."

Meanwhile, the Afghan News Network reports via Reuters that Bin Laden could have as many as 4 "doubles" roaming the countryside; In the previous WMW we reported on the efforts to re-install the former king of Afghanistan in a new government=97but the former number 2 official in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Terrence Burke, says the king was surrounded by people involved in the drug trade and the Northern Alliance as well as Bin Laden also profit from heroin trafficking; how the war on terrorism will tie in with the war on drugs=97a Stratfor Intelligence report details the Bin Laden connection to East Africa=97drug arrests made September 29 in Uganda may be tied to Bin Laden; finally, a terrible example of how bad U.S. security was before the

WTC=97how Mohammed Atta boarded one of the planes with a passport from the "Republic of Conch."  

********************************************************************

**The Observer (London) reports that the FBI wary of strikes right up to just before they started:

KILL BIN LADEN OR RISK CATASTROPHE, SAYS FBI

War on Terrorism: Observer special

Ed Vulliamy in New York Sunday October 7, 2001 The Observer Investigators tracking Osama bin Laden have emerged as a cogent voice of caution over widespread United States military strikes against Afghanistan.

There is pressure in America for action to match the rhetoric of President George Bush and others during the first weeks of the crisis, but one official from the security services said: 'This is not a war that will be won by impatience.'

But those charged with the most onerous task of all - killing or catching the world's most wanted man - acknowledge that widespread military action might crush the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which protects their target.

But, say sources in the intelligence community, the FBI and those preparing the legal  case against bin Laden at the Justice Department, if such action allowed their target to escape it would prove catastrophic, igniting his terrorist network with 'more resolve than

ever'=85

=85Officials in the Justice Department and intelligence services believe that the bin Laden network, still operative in cells across the globe, would implode if he were beheaded.  Investigators laid out two scenarios: 'There's a notion that if you behead the snake, another two crawl out of the swamp,' said one official. 'This situation is the opposite: cut off the snake's head and the body shrivels up. The important thing is to get the man.'

On the other hand, if Afghanistan was bombed into submission and bin Laden survived, it would be like kicking open a hornet's nest: 'This would just burnish his image and make the network even more determined. The worst thing would be a military operation that caused civilian casualties, let him escape and steeled the resolve of his operatives.'  (MORE)

http://www.observer.co.uk/waronterrorism/story/0,1373,564845,00.html


 

**And the Afghan News Network carries a story why Bin Laden may be so hard to find:

BIN LADEN LOOK-ALIKES REPORTEDLY PLACED IN AFGHANISTAN

DUBAI (Reuters) - The brother of Afghanistan's late opposition commander said in remarks published on Sunday that Osama bin Laden has doubles traveling around Afghanistan to confuse people over his whereabouts.

"The latest report we had a few days ago locates him in Jalalabad. But we know that he has several doubles -- individuals who look like him and travel in Toyota convoys like him -- to foment confusion," Ahmad Wali Masood told Saudi Arabia's English-language Arab News daily.

"A few months ago we had reports of four Osama look-alikes in different locations at the same time," said Masood, the brother of the legendary Ahmad Shah Masood who was assassinated last month.- Article added at 12:11 PM (CST) on 10/7/2001.

http://www.myafghan.com/news.asp?id=-1027712235


 

**Meanwhile, the former king of Afghanistan carries some baggage in the form of a drug connection during his reign:

OPIUM DEN                        

IN THE AFGHAN BADLANDS, ADD DRUGS TO A DEVIL=92S BREW                         10/5/01

By Edward T. Pound and Chitra Ragavan

King Mohammad Zahir Shah, Afghanistan=92s last monarch, is likely to play a principal role in organizing a new Afghan government should the U.S. coalition or internal forces topple the militant Taliban Government. The 86-year-old Zahir Shah, seen as a unifying figure by some anti-Talbian forces, ruled Afghanistan for decades before he was deposed in 1973. But, information is now emerging that could damage his new standing. According to the former number 2 official in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Zahir Shah=92s inner circle was heavily involved in drug trafficking during the early 1970s, even using his plane to smuggle hashish to Italy.

The king himself was not linked to the drug business, says Terrence Burke, the former deputy DEA administrator who was based in Afghanistan from 1971 to 1973.But, he says, a top powerful aide named Mohammed Rahim Panjshiri and others close to Zahir Shah were profiting from the drug trade. He says his information came from reliable informers and also from Sardar Sultan Ghazi, whom he described as a first cousin of the king and a powerful official in his own right. Burke says he has kept detailed notes from his days in Afghanistan. In June 1973, he says, Prince Ghazi pledged to inform King Zahir Shah of the drug running but warned that Panjshiri was very powerful. "He selects the ministers,=92=92 Prince Ghazi said, according to Burke=92s recollection. "People around the king were involved,=92=92 says Burke, who now runs a international investigative firm outside Denver=85.

=85Should Zahir Shah become a power broker in a new government, Burke=92s disclosures could prove troublesome. Afghanistan has been a country awash in opium and many of its leaders have been the principal feeders at the trough. The militant Islamic Taliban government, terrorist Osama bin Laden and, to a degree, the resistance group known as the Northern Alliance all profit from heroin trafficking, according to American officials. "Heroin is to Afghanistan," says one, "what oil is to Saddam Hussein."

Bin Laden=92s ties to the drug trade have been difficult to pin down. But, American officials say that reliable intelligence reports from U.S. allies have linked him and his terrorist al Qaeda network to the drug trade=85.

=85Opium and heroin may become a target of the U.S. war against the Taliban. Some U.S. officials are convinced that drugs, stockpiled by the Taliban after a ban in July 2000 in a reported scheme to drive up prices, must be destroyed. Afghanistan became the world=92s largest producer of raw opium in the 1990s, and the drug trade is seen as an important revenue stream, particularly to the Taliban. In a recent report, the United Nations said the Taliban buys arms and trains terrorists with some of the drug profits.  American officials estimate that the Taliban makes at least $50 million a year by taxing and selling opium and by providing protection for smugglers. Bin Laden also profits, they say, by providing armed fighters to protect shipments. They say he did not need the money to finance his terrorist war but wanted to cement his relationship with the Taliban, which has provided him a safe haven since 1996.

It is not a pretty picture. In Afghanistan, explains one official, "nobody wears a cape or a white hat.=92=92

- With Gordon Witkin and Eleni E. Dimmler

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/terror/011005.htm


 

**The drug connection to East Africa takes front and center stage:

EAST AFRICA: TERRORISM=92S TIES TO DRUGS  2000 GMT, 011005

Summary

Seven Pakistanis and a Zambian en route to Europe were arrested recently in Uganda. The suspects are allegedly tied to Osama bin Laden and have also been linked to drug trafficking. Suspected terrorist networks in East Africa overlap with the drug trade from South Asia, making East Africa a vital source for information on funding sources for al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Analysis

Uganda's Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce arrested seven Pakistanis and a  Zambian Sept. 29 in Entebbe, Uganda. The suspects -- thought to be both  drug traffickers and members of Saudi exile Osama bin Laden's terrorism  network -- were en route from Rwanda to Europe, The Post, a daily in  Lusaka, Zambia, reported Oct. 2.

These arrests in Uganda are part of a region-wide law enforcement effort to sniff out possible terrorist networks. For the moment investigators are focusing on suspects with possible ties to bin Laden. Ample evidence, however, links the suspected terrorists to drug trafficking. These ties will lead the FBI and Interpol to combine the hunt for terrorists with investigations into regional drug-trafficking networks -- possibly uncovering a key to the financial resources of both bin Laden and Afghanistan's ruling Taliban. =85.

=85Details of the relationship between the region's drug-trafficking networks and terrorism remain unclear. But circumstantial evidence points to a definite connection. Drug traffickers based in Afghanistan and Pakistan have established hubs in the predominately Muslim coastal city of Mombasa, Kenya, and in the two islands comprising Zanzibar, Tanzania, where hundreds of Pakistani nationals and their East African counterparts are arrested for drug smuggling each year, according to the United Nations and government agencies.

Several of those connected to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings hailed from these coastal regions. Also one of South Asia's most notorious drug lords, Dawood Ibrahim, allegedly has ties to bin Laden. Ibrahim often operates out of Karachi, Pakistan, and has made several trips to Kabul, Aghanistan, according to Indian intelligence officials=85

=85But reports from Pakistan indicate that heroin prices in border regions with Afghanistan have dropped dramatically in recent days. This suggests the Taliban and Afghan traders likely stockpiled the drug and are now dumping heroin on the market in anticipation of U.S. strikes, Agence France-Presse reported, quoting sources in Islamabad.

A growing tide of drugs from Afghanistan would necessitate more couriers taking the drugs to market. This should bring more traffickers through East Africa, giving investigators more opportunities to snag them=85

=85The United States will attempt to focus its efforts on uncovering the financial choke points for bin Laden and the Taliban. Curtailing the drug traffic through East Africa may be impossible. But efforts to dismantle the supporting infrastructure will likely become a part of the hunt for terrorists.

http://www.stratfor.com/home/0110052000.htm


 

**Pravda reports how the "Republic of Conch" was involved in the plane attack on the World Trade Center and comments on the "cultural level" of the personnel checking passports that day=85

2001-10-06

USA: TERRORIST HAD PASSPORT FROM NONEXISTENT COUNTRY

The terrorist Mohammed Atta boarded one of the aircraft that collided with the World Trade Center on September 11th using a passport from the "Republic of Conch," which does not exist.

The "Republic of Conch" was born in 1982, as a protest against inspection of vehicles which were leaving Florida. The inhabitants of Key West declared that if their vehicles were not good enough to travel to the rest of the USA, they would declare themselves an independent country.

Peter Andersen, the leader of this "Republic" started to issue "passports" of the "Republic of Conch." An annual fair was held at which passports and flags of this "Republic" were sold. In the last year, demand for the passports has soared and Mohammed Atta was one of the many buyers.

Such details show how lax security operations had become in the United States of America and bring into question the cultural level of the person who checked Atta=92s passport.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY

PRAVDA.Ru

LISBON PORTUGAL

http://english.pravda.ru/main/2001/10/06/17232.html


Copyright 2001, Gloria R. Lalumia



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