Tweet
Wow I posted a NEW thread...there may be hope!
NEW YORK (AP) - An al-Qaida operative conducting surveillance on
U.S. soil in 2000 favored using a limousine packed with explosives
or a hijacked oil tanker truck to attack financial institutions in
Manhattan and New Jersey, police officials said Thursday.
"The most obvious technique to utilize, that comes to mind ...
would be a limousine in the VIP underground car park," the
operative, Dhiren Barot, wrote in a memo about the Prudential
Building in Newark, N.J.
Barot also suggested that "arson may be the best choice" and
advised "ramming trucks (oil tankers, etc.) straight through the
glass front entrance into the lobby area."
Hijacking a truck "will probably be much easier here in New
Jersey than in New York since there is less security and no tunnels
to pass through," added Barot, who spied on one location while
sitting at a nearby Starbucks.
The memo was quoted during a New York Police Department briefing
on terror threats for private security officials from Wall Street
firms and other businesses. The memo and briefing shed more light
on the designs of Barot, a 34-year-old British convert to Islam who
was sentenced to life in prison in Britain last week after pleading
guilty to conspiring to commit mass murder.
Prosecutors in Britain said Barot shelved the plan to attack the
U.S. financial industry targets after Sept. 11, 2001, and instead
focused on using limousines loaded with gas, napalm and nails to
attack landmark London hotels and railway stations.
The proposals for the strikes in Britain and for those against
the Prudential Building, the International Monetary Fund in
Washington and the New York Stock Exchange and the Citigroup
headquarters in New York were sent to al-Qaida leadership like
"corporate reports going to head office," a British judge said.
Investigators said they uncovered some of the evidence stored on
computers seized at the home of an al-Qaida computer expert in
Pakistan in July 2004, prompting the NYPD to heighten security
around the city.
During his recognizance mission in the summer of 2000, Barot
became fixated on the black sedans regularly used by corporate
executives, according to an NYPD analyst citing the computer
evidence.
Barot noticed the chauffeured cars were given easier access to
parking in and around corporate offices, a security lapse that
enhanced the potential for a car bomb.
The operative "picked up on that - preferential treatment given
to the black cars of the corporate officers," an NYPD analyst,
Peter Patton, told the private security officials.
Barot shot video and took extensive notes while patiently
assessing the buildings, the analyst said.
"He sat in a Starbucks for days just looking at one target,"
he said. "He was just looking at his target, trying to figure out
the best time to conduct an attack that would result in the most
casualties."
In one instance, he noted, "The guards are a combination of
male and female. The uniform is that of blazer, white shirt and
trousers. They all carry wireless radios. Impersonating one would
not be difficult, but it would be very hard to fool the other
guards."
Patton said Barot considered trying to rent office space in one
of the buildings to ensure easy access. His notes show he also was
drawn to targets with vast expanses of glass - a legacy of the
al-Qaida attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa.
"One of the lessons learned after the 1998 embassy bombings was
that 80 percent of the casualties were caused by flying glass,"
Patton said.
NEW YORK (AP) - An al-Qaida operative conducting surveillance on
U.S. soil in 2000 favored using a limousine packed with explosives
or a hijacked oil tanker truck to attack financial institutions in
Manhattan and New Jersey, police officials said Thursday.
"The most obvious technique to utilize, that comes to mind ...
would be a limousine in the VIP underground car park," the
operative, Dhiren Barot, wrote in a memo about the Prudential
Building in Newark, N.J.
Barot also suggested that "arson may be the best choice" and
advised "ramming trucks (oil tankers, etc.) straight through the
glass front entrance into the lobby area."
Hijacking a truck "will probably be much easier here in New
Jersey than in New York since there is less security and no tunnels
to pass through," added Barot, who spied on one location while
sitting at a nearby Starbucks.
The memo was quoted during a New York Police Department briefing
on terror threats for private security officials from Wall Street
firms and other businesses. The memo and briefing shed more light
on the designs of Barot, a 34-year-old British convert to Islam who
was sentenced to life in prison in Britain last week after pleading
guilty to conspiring to commit mass murder.
Prosecutors in Britain said Barot shelved the plan to attack the
U.S. financial industry targets after Sept. 11, 2001, and instead
focused on using limousines loaded with gas, napalm and nails to
attack landmark London hotels and railway stations.
The proposals for the strikes in Britain and for those against
the Prudential Building, the International Monetary Fund in
Washington and the New York Stock Exchange and the Citigroup
headquarters in New York were sent to al-Qaida leadership like
"corporate reports going to head office," a British judge said.
Investigators said they uncovered some of the evidence stored on
computers seized at the home of an al-Qaida computer expert in
Pakistan in July 2004, prompting the NYPD to heighten security
around the city.
During his recognizance mission in the summer of 2000, Barot
became fixated on the black sedans regularly used by corporate
executives, according to an NYPD analyst citing the computer
evidence.
Barot noticed the chauffeured cars were given easier access to
parking in and around corporate offices, a security lapse that
enhanced the potential for a car bomb.
The operative "picked up on that - preferential treatment given
to the black cars of the corporate officers," an NYPD analyst,
Peter Patton, told the private security officials.
Barot shot video and took extensive notes while patiently
assessing the buildings, the analyst said.
"He sat in a Starbucks for days just looking at one target,"
he said. "He was just looking at his target, trying to figure out
the best time to conduct an attack that would result in the most
casualties."
In one instance, he noted, "The guards are a combination of
male and female. The uniform is that of blazer, white shirt and
trousers. They all carry wireless radios. Impersonating one would
not be difficult, but it would be very hard to fool the other
guards."
Patton said Barot considered trying to rent office space in one
of the buildings to ensure easy access. His notes show he also was
drawn to targets with vast expanses of glass - a legacy of the
al-Qaida attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa.
"One of the lessons learned after the 1998 embassy bombings was
that 80 percent of the casualties were caused by flying glass,"
Patton said.