-Caveat Lector-
OCTOBER 02, 16:20 EDT
Details Given in Paris Embassy Plot
By PIERRE-ANTOINE SOUCHARD
PARIS (AP) A French-Algerian man now jailed in France has given authorities
a wealth of compelling detail, describing his recruitment at Osama bin
Laden's home in Afghanistan for a suicide bombing against the U.S. Embassy
in Paris.
Djamel Beghal's revelations, made last month in Dubai and described Tuesday
by judicial officials, led authorities to arrest a number of other suspects
in a broad plot to attack U.S. interests in Europe, the officials said.
At a meeting at bin Laden's home in Afghanistan he was told by bin Laden's
aide that ``the time has come for action'' and was offered three presents.
The gifts were ``on the part of Osama bin Laden,'' according to Europe-1
radio.
French anti-terrorism Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, in charge of the
investigation, opened his probe into the alleged embassy plot on Sept. 10 a
day before the catastrophic attacks in New York and Washington.
Still unknown is whether the current case has any links to the Sept. 11
attacks. For now, French officials say the cases are separate.
Beghal, 35, was placed under formal investigation Monday, a step short of
being charged, for alleged links to a terror network, according to French
judicial officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He had been
extradited Sunday from the United Arab Emirates, where he was arrested in
late July with a false passport.
Bruguiere traveled to Dubai late last month for Beghal's interrogation.
Under questioning Sept. 22 and 23, Beghal outlined the plot for the suicide
mission against the U.S. Embassy in Paris, to be carried out before March
of next year, the judicial officials said. He spoke in great detail about
being recruited by Abu Zubaydah, bin Laden's senior aide.
The embassy declined to comment on the alleged plot, other than to say:
``This is part of an ongoing investigation by French authorities, in whom
we have full confidence.''
Now in Paris, Beghal was questioned again on Monday for 11 hours. Late
Tuesday, his lawyer, Fabrice Dubest, told The Associated Press that his
client had denied receiving orders to attack the U.S. Embassy.
However, officials say they still take very seriously the account that
Beghal gave in Dubai. ``At his new hearing on Monday,'' one said, ``Beghal
didn't give the precise target, but he never denied that there would be
attacks.''
According to the plan, another man Nizar Trabelsi, a Tunisian who was
arrested Sept. 13 in Belgium was to penetrate the embassy, strapped with
explosives. Also, a minivan packed with explosives was to explode outside
the cultural section.
Beghal said he had signed a ``pact'' with Abu Zubaydah in March in
Afghanistan, where he spent month at a training camp run by al-Qaida, bin
Laden's organization. Bin Laden was apparently not present at the meeting,
Beghal told investigators, but he said al-Qaida had deposited money for the
operation in a Moroccan bank account.
Beghal said his job in the plot was to gather information and study the
embassy's security plans. Officials said he told investigators in Dubai
that he has now ``renounced the cause'' of bin Laden. ``It is not true
religion. I was deceived.''
Beghal was the second person extradited to France in two days in connection
with the plot against U.S. interests. Kamel Daoudi, 27, also a
French-Algerian, was extradited from Britain on Saturday. Radio reports
have said the two were related.
Authorities have tied Beghal to others arrested in the Netherlands, where
four people have been arrested, and in Belgium, where two arrests were
made, one of them Trabelsi.
In addition, six Algerians were arrested in Spain last week and ordered
held without bail, stemming from Belgium's arrest of Trabelsi, Spanish
officials said.
In Rome Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy there warned that ``symbols of American
capitalism'' in Italy may be targeted for attack in the next month but
provided no details.
Elsewhere in Europe, details relating to the investigation continued to
emerge. Authorities in Switzerland said that Mohamed Atta, believed by the
United States to have been a leader of the hijacking teams in the terror
attacks, spent several hours in Zurich on his way from Miami to Madrid in
July. In Russia, a senior aide to President Vladimir Putin said at least
four of the hijackers had trained in the breakaway republic of Chechnya.
================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
================================================================
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
