Rando
01-17-2002, 07:28 PM
Thursday, January 17, 2002
Fox News
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government on Thursday asked the public to help it identify and find five Al Qaeda terrorists it says could be plotting suicide attacks anywhere in the world.
In a press conference, Attorney General John Ashcroft showed still photographs and soundless video excerpts of the five suspects that were recovered from the rubble of a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan.
Ashcroft said the videos "depict young men delivering what appear to be martyrdom messages from suicide terrorists," and added that "these men could be anywhere in the world."
The attorney general called upon anyone with information about the suspects to help "identify, locate and incapacitate terrorists who are suspected of planning additional attacks against innocent civilians."
Ashcroft said the videotapes were recovered from the rubble of the home of Mohammad Atef, Usama bin Laden's military chief who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in November.
He said an analysis of the audio suggests "the men may be trained and prepared to commit future suicide terrorist acts."
The government has tentatively identified four of the five men shown in the videos, which Ashcroft said were being released as part of an effort to help "freedom-loving people become the best line of self defense. "In one respect," he said, "the best friend of freedom is information."
The four men he identified were:
• Muhammad Sa'id Ali Hasan
• Abd Al-Rahim
• Khalid Ibn Muhammad Al-Juhani
• Ramzi Binalshibh
Ashcroft said little is known about any of them except Binalshibh, a Yemeni who officials say was an associate of September 11 suicide hijacker Mohammed Atta.
In the indictment handed down in December against Zacarias Moussaoui, Binalshibh was named along with Atta and the 18 other hijackers as an unindicted co-conspirator.
Ashcroft said the release of specific photos allows the American people to be a "constructive part" of the investigation.
Speaking of the attacks the terrorists call for in the video, Ashcroft said: "Whether or not the attack would be imminent is something we can't determine. The right time to release is in advance of any attack, if there is to be an attack."
FBI Director Robert Mueller said the videos came "from a trove of valuable information" discovered within Afghanistan. He said the tapes are still being analyzed to determine when they were made. He said there was no evidence any of the men had entered the United States, although at least one had tried.
"Every piece of information is potentially valuable," he said. "The principle is simple: An informed and enlightened public works."
Mueller said that as the U.S. military action goes forward, "it continues in ways that I think supports what we, and the CIA, are engaged in, which is identifying terrorists and preventing future attacks."
Ashcroft said officials believe progress is being made in combating terrorism but added: "We have a long way to go.
"We're further down the road then we were before, but this is no time for us to take our foot off the accelerator," he said.
The Al Qaeda video was found by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and is among a mountain of items found in Afghanistan and elsewhere that investigators are combing through for clues about Al Qaeda, Usama bin Laden and potential new terrorist attacks.
Documents and a videotape found in Afghanistan and passed to authorities in Singapore foiled a planned terrorist attack and resulted in the breakup of an Al Qaeda cell there.
In Australia, a tape from Afghanistan showing Al Qaeda militants practicing a mass assassination of world leaders at a golf tournament and plans for an attack on a motorcade in Washington was analyzed by U.S. defense officials.
Fox News
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government on Thursday asked the public to help it identify and find five Al Qaeda terrorists it says could be plotting suicide attacks anywhere in the world.
In a press conference, Attorney General John Ashcroft showed still photographs and soundless video excerpts of the five suspects that were recovered from the rubble of a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan.
Ashcroft said the videos "depict young men delivering what appear to be martyrdom messages from suicide terrorists," and added that "these men could be anywhere in the world."
The attorney general called upon anyone with information about the suspects to help "identify, locate and incapacitate terrorists who are suspected of planning additional attacks against innocent civilians."
Ashcroft said the videotapes were recovered from the rubble of the home of Mohammad Atef, Usama bin Laden's military chief who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in November.
He said an analysis of the audio suggests "the men may be trained and prepared to commit future suicide terrorist acts."
The government has tentatively identified four of the five men shown in the videos, which Ashcroft said were being released as part of an effort to help "freedom-loving people become the best line of self defense. "In one respect," he said, "the best friend of freedom is information."
The four men he identified were:
• Muhammad Sa'id Ali Hasan
• Abd Al-Rahim
• Khalid Ibn Muhammad Al-Juhani
• Ramzi Binalshibh
Ashcroft said little is known about any of them except Binalshibh, a Yemeni who officials say was an associate of September 11 suicide hijacker Mohammed Atta.
In the indictment handed down in December against Zacarias Moussaoui, Binalshibh was named along with Atta and the 18 other hijackers as an unindicted co-conspirator.
Ashcroft said the release of specific photos allows the American people to be a "constructive part" of the investigation.
Speaking of the attacks the terrorists call for in the video, Ashcroft said: "Whether or not the attack would be imminent is something we can't determine. The right time to release is in advance of any attack, if there is to be an attack."
FBI Director Robert Mueller said the videos came "from a trove of valuable information" discovered within Afghanistan. He said the tapes are still being analyzed to determine when they were made. He said there was no evidence any of the men had entered the United States, although at least one had tried.
"Every piece of information is potentially valuable," he said. "The principle is simple: An informed and enlightened public works."
Mueller said that as the U.S. military action goes forward, "it continues in ways that I think supports what we, and the CIA, are engaged in, which is identifying terrorists and preventing future attacks."
Ashcroft said officials believe progress is being made in combating terrorism but added: "We have a long way to go.
"We're further down the road then we were before, but this is no time for us to take our foot off the accelerator," he said.
The Al Qaeda video was found by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and is among a mountain of items found in Afghanistan and elsewhere that investigators are combing through for clues about Al Qaeda, Usama bin Laden and potential new terrorist attacks.
Documents and a videotape found in Afghanistan and passed to authorities in Singapore foiled a planned terrorist attack and resulted in the breakup of an Al Qaeda cell there.
In Australia, a tape from Afghanistan showing Al Qaeda militants practicing a mass assassination of world leaders at a golf tournament and plans for an attack on a motorcade in Washington was analyzed by U.S. defense officials.