Al-Qaeda
'plotted nuclear attacks'
Sunday, 8
September, 2002
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh
(FBI pictures) Mohammed and Binalshibh are on the
FBI's wanted list Al-Qaeda initially planned to
fly hijacked jets into nuclear installations -
rather than the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon - according to an Arab journalist who
says he interviewed two of the group's
masterminds.
The Arabic television station al-Jazeera says it
will broadcast on Thursday the interview in which
Osama Bin Laden's aides describe in detail how
they planned the 11 September attacks.
Capitol Hill - the "third target"
In an article published in several European
newspapers, documentary-maker Yosri Fouda said
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh told
him they had decided against the attack on nuclear
power plants "for the moment" because of
fears it could "get out of control".
Both men are on the FBI's most wanted list and
have a $25m bounty on their heads.
The FBI says Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is one of Bin
Laden's key lieutenants, while Ramzi Binalshibh is
said to have shared an apartment in Hamburg with
Mohammed Atta, the alleged ringleader of the
hijackers.
Department of Martyrs
Yosri Fouda said he was taken to a hideout in
Pakistan. He was told by a man there that Bin
Laden was alive and well, but was not shown any
proof of this.
Osama Bin Laden
Bin Laden - reportedly told of date for the
attacks on 6 September Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told
him he was head of the al-Qaeda military committee
and Ramzi Binalshibh the co-ordinator of what they
refer to as "Holy Tuesday".
Over the course of two days, Mr Fouda says, the
men gave him an insight into how the terror group
operates and how the 11 September attacks were
planned.
Mohammed and Binalshibh alleged that:
- The decision to
launch a "martyrdom operation inside
America" was made by network's military
committee in early 1999
- Atta was
summoned to a meeting with key hijackers in
Afghanistan that same year
- Hijackers were
recruited from al-Qaeda's Department of
Martyrs, which is still active
- Mr Binalshibh
wanted to be one of the hijackers, but was
refused a US
visa
- A number of
reconnaissance teams travelled to the US ahead
of the hijackers
- Ramzi Binalshibh
posed in e-mails as Atta's girlfriend in
Germany when the two communicated through the
internet
- The fourth
hijacked plane was heading for Congress, not
the White House, when passengers overpowered
the attackers
- The codenames
for the targets were university faculties:
"town planning" for the WTC,
"law" for Congress, "fine
arts" for the Pentagon
- On 29 August,
Atta gave the date for the attacks to Mr
Binalshibh, who ordered active cells in Europe
and the US to evacuate
Bin Laden was
told on 6 September
At the end of his two-day interview, Mr Fouda
writes, he was instructed to leave the videotapes
behind so the faces of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and
Ramzi Binalshibh could be blanked out.
Despite promises that they would be returned, the
videos never turned up. But, the journalist says,
he did eventually receive voice tapes of the
interviews.
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