While I wouldn't like to discount the alarming possibility of terror ships,
I would have thought that they would be highly exposed to accidental
discovery. If one is discovered, then the security around international
shipping would become so strict that the rest would probably be found too.
The idea of an 'innocent' ship, train or lorry being used to transport a
container of WMD is more likely. Also one can't totally discount the
possibility a handful of qualified airline pilots being Al Qaeda 'sleepers'
awaiting the call for 'martyrdom'.
cheers, RB
<jk11@noapampa.net> wrote in message
news:ssNWb.1709$h86.1273360@monger.newsread.com...
"TonyZ2001" <tonyz2001@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040212101129.13694.00001194@mb-m27.aol.com...
OSAMA'S NAVY
Feb 12 2004
Bin Laden has bought fleet of 15 ships for terror attacks
By Gary Jones
OSAMA bin Laden has a "terrorist navy" of 15 ships.
And Scotland Yard has warned one could sail up the Thames to attack
Parliament.
The vessels - capable of carrying lethal chemicals or a dirty bomb -
could
also
ram cruise liners, oil rigs or enter ports on missions of destruction.
A private memo sent to police chiefs by the Met's marine unit is
headlined:
Next Terror Attack Waterborne?
Ship insurer Lloyd's of London is said to be helping MI6 and the CIA
trace
vessels bought by al-Qaeda from a Greek shipping magnate with links to
bin
Laden.
The memo states shipping agents have been asked to help in the search.
The report by the Met - which says it obtained its intelligence from
maritime
agencies - states: "Al-Qaeda has reportedly taken possession of 15
ships,
forming what could be described as the first terrorist navy. The ships
fly
the
flags of Yemen and Somalia where they are registered - and are capable
of
carrying lethal cargoes of chemicals or a dirty bomb."
Vessels flying the flags of Senegal, Liberia and the Caribbean island of
St
Vincent are also under suspicion.
The ships are believed to be in the Indian or Pacific oceans. But with
120,000
vessels worldwide, the chance of finding them is slim.
Armed police are already routinely patrolling the Thames to protect
Parliament,
MI6, and other possible targets. The Royal Navy, Special Forces and the
Yard's
anti-terrorism squad are looking for unusual" shipping movements near
Britain's
oilfields and oil refineries.
US intelligence experts believe an al-Qaeda ship carried explosives used
to
bomb two US embassies in Africa in 1998. The explosives used in the Bali
nightclub were brought in by ship.
US officials have captured al-Qaeda's chief of naval operations,
Abdulrahim
Mohammed Abda Al-Nasheri, who is known as the Prince of the Sea. They
believe
he masterminded the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden which
killed
17 sailors and wounded 40 others.
Al-Nasheri plotted an attack on British and US warships in the Gibraltar
Straits, but the Moroccan security services prevented the suicide
missions
by
arresting Saudi Arabian al-Qaeda members.
My God! If he has eye patches the world is in real trouble! Arrrggghhh
matey.
.
