OPEN for Business

A Brief Happening of events:

Irfan Iqbal Puri, tortured to extract money, officials driven by greed of reward and appreciation. Irfan was subjected to a total six months of illegal arrest including two months of a 24 hours a day solitary confinement, which also contains a 14 days period at The Attock Fort, in a 4ft x 7ft dark death cell, Irfan was not shown day light for the 14 days at The Attock Fort, was physically, mentally and verbally abused to the limit, perhaps treated as an Indian spy (They are Kept in these cells).

Irfan, was victimized for pure pleasure and greed,

1. A businessman of repute carrying on businesses among others as a member of the Karachi Stock Exchange, Oil Trading, Tank Farms for Oil Storage, Software development, Property Development, etc... Prior to his arrest on December 15, 1999, the victim carried out businesses in Pakistan with Hard work, integrity and acumen, the victim at an age of 37 had earned irreparable reputation for honesty and fair play in all his dealings, national as well as international.

2. NAB without making any good faith investigation or inquiry, which was obligatory on them, arrested Irfan, on December 15, 1999 from his office at Karachi, (On the Jan 16, 2000, the victim was forced to sign some per-dated documents, at Malir).

3. The arrest was not based on reasonable grounds. The victim was never informed of the grounds of his arrest. He was detained at Malir Cantonment for about seven weeks until February 12, 2000, then was shifted and kept at National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Police Station at M.P.A. Hostel Karachi. On February 27, 2000, he was shifted to Attock Fort where he was confined until March 11, 2000 and on which date he was shifted back to Karachi.

4. At Malir Cantonment, he was interrogated several times by the Joint Investigation Team, which included army personnel, and F.I.A. members of the Joint Investigation team searched and collected extensive records of the Companies in futile endeavor to find evidences of corrupt practices on the part of Irfan Puri. The thrust of inquiries and investigation related to foreign currency accounts and evasion of income tax. Irfan, maintained and explained that in view of the Tax Amnesty Scheme announced by the Chief Executive, General Pervaiz Musharaf, on December 15, 1998 and in view of the provisions contained in the protection of Economics Reforms Act 1992 there was no warrant or justification on the part of the Joint Investigation Team to investigate and inquire about his foreign currency accounts and income tax matters. In course of this investigation, it further appeared that Irfan, was detained due to a malicious complaint by one Mr. Mohammad Taufiq El Khattani motivated by enmity and greed for extracting money from his ex-employer, Saudi Pak LPG. Mr. Khattani was pressurizing him to use his business influence on Saudi Pak LPG to which he did not agree.

5. During his confinement at Malir Cantonment, he was kept in Solitary Confinement with effect from January 15, 2000 until he was shifted to the NAB police station situated at M.P.A. Hostel Karachi.

6. Due to extreme agony and distress caused by his detention, both mental and physical health of his wife was gravely affected and his wife suffered a miscarriage.

7. Time and Time again his wife Naveen Puri through her lawyers requested NAB through letters, fax etc to inform of the grounds of arrest and to allow clarification of any alleged Corruption of which he may have been accused. But NAB never informed the grounds and substance on the basis of which the he had been arrested. NAB had no valid ground for his arrest and detention.

8. On February 12, 2000 he was shifted to Nab Police Station at M.P.A. Hostel Karachi where he was kept in Solitary Confinement without any facilities. He was not allowed to meet anyone and was neither provided with proper food or medical facilities despite requests, which were of utmost importance as he is suffering from heart problem since his childhood. Here too he was extensively interrogated and was threatened that his family members would also be arrested if he would not agree with them.

9. ON February 27, 2000, Irfan was flown to Islamabad and was then taken to Attock Fort. There he was confined in a solitary cell, measuring about 4 feet x 7 feet with 18 feet high walls. There was a yellow zero watt bulb on top of an extensively high ceiling and a flat sheet steel door. Light was such that he could not even read the Quran. he went through a series of interrogations at all hours of the day and night. As a form of torture he was forced to keep his hands above his head for hours and was manhandled, pushed/thrown from one to another with a sack covering his head, was subjected to the worst verbal, physical, mental torture. He was threatened with dire consequences, including risk to his life and his family members. Sleep deprivation methods were used upon him. He would be taken out of the cell at odd hours and his head covered with a black sack/hood and a band tied over the hood around his eyes and army men holding him by his arms for interrogation purpose dragging him to another room where he would be interrogated for hours on end. Time and time again he would be asked what his family members were willing to pay to save his life. They would threaten him that if he would not pay up his family members would also be arrested and brought to Attock Fort, the family received phone calls at odd times, also in the middle of the nights and by FIA/NAB officials giving threats, and calling for family members to visit the NAB office/FIA center.

10. After spending 14 days in this death cell without seeing light, Irfan was allowed to meet his father and wife in light and in presence of army men, where his father told him that the NAB officials have been making phone call to Irfan’s father asking him to come over to the NAB offices, that was the final breaking point where Irfan asked his dad to hold it for two days and that Irfan will try is best to settle one way or the other with NAB… if only one could imagine what this meant to Irfan…

11. Since his unlawful arrest he underwent extreme mental torture leading to a complete nervous breakdown and deterioration in his childhood heart condition. He lost more than 12 kg in weight.

12. He finally broke down under threat intimidation and coercion and it was in such a state that he agreed to make payment of sum of Rs. Three Hundred Million to the NAB.

13. After his verbal agreement at Attock Fort to arrange for payment of Rs. 300,000,000/-, he was brought to Karachi on PIA flight from Islamabad in handcuffs on March 11, 2000. The Plaintiff saw sunlight for the first time since he was brought to Attock Fort when he was taken out of his cell without any cloth covering his eyes.

14. At NAB Police Station in Karachi he was threatened, pressurized coerced to agree in writing to the payment of Rs. 300 million, of which Rs. 100 million had to be paid in advance before his release. He was told, “there is no law just pay up”.

15. The FIA and other staff of NAB started visiting the offices and house of Irfan from day to day and harassing the staff members and hindering work, rather making it impossible to run a business. The offices were surrounded by FIA, NAB, Rangers` officials and military personals demanding the remaining payment and threatening dire consequences otherwise. The abuse stretched to a point where some senior office executives were made to strip naked by removal of all clothes hence torture and harassment to unparalleled height.

16. He was also coerced to hand over property documents as “security” for payment of the remaining amount of Rs. 200,000,000/- (Rupees two hundred million). Hence, had to hand over original property documents over to NAB of five (5) properties which actually have an aggregate value of Rs. 400,000,000/- (Rupees Four Hundred Million)..
17. Even after all this, NAB did not release him, but kept him under house arrest / unlawful detention until June 14, 2000.

18. Whilst Irfan, was under house arrest two dozen Rangers were stationed around the clock in and around the house.

19. Irfan, ultimately released from house arrest on June 14, 2000 after 3 months. Total captivity being six months, had several meetings with General Amjad, and suggestions made by Irfan, resulted in savings of over a billion rupees in Oil imports.

20. General Syed Amjad made many promises/ commitments in the name of justice that money extracted from Irfan Puri would be returned to him. General Amjad appreciated and understood that grave injustice had been done, both in private and in presence of various individuals.

21. Irfan, in frustration filed a number of court cases against NAB, FIA, etc, giving the ordeal of the experience gone through, as a result, bogus Income tax/Wealth Tax demands have been issued by the department on the behest of NAB officials visiting the department forcing tax officers to issue demands.

22. Irfan, then also had meetings with General Khalid Maqbool the new Chairman of NAB for justice but regrettably no action was taken.


23. However, on the 17th of May 2003, General Munir Hafiz (as NAB Chairman) visited Irfan`s house in Karachi to meet with his family, Said ``all you have seen of NAB is tha hard side, I want to show the family the softer side of NAB``, during the earlier meetings that Irfan had with General Hafiz, Irfan was told a number of times by General Hafiz that he would arrange for a face to face meeting with General Amjad, Himself (to witness) and Irfan, however, when Irfan asked General Hafiz, as to when the meeting would happen, General Hafiz said ``The meeting can`t take place, I would not want to embarass the General (General Amjad)``.

General Hafeez, on his visit was Kind, straight fowrard, and honest, however, he asked Irfan to withdraw legal prodeeding against NAB, and that NAB would make sure Irfan benefits in other areas, or else.... you can`t fight us.

23. He also sought an appointment with Chief Executive General Pervaiz Musharraf, without success.

Still goes on...

---

JUNOON Special on tonight at 10 PM (West Coast)on the VH1 Channel.

Good article on them in the Sacramento Bee today.

Ras

FYI

Please Pass on this information....

JUNOON SPECIAL ON VH1 TONIGHT

After reporting on just about every entertainment entity to originate from
Pakistan in the past decade for Link readers, it is great to inform you that
one of ours is being featured on mainline American television. Especially
after seeing Salman Ahmad going to bat for our country of origin on CNN and
on ABC television recently (and doing a decent job under the circumstances),
one cannot let go of this opportunity to inform Pakistanis and their friends
in North America that the Sufi-Rock Group JUNOON will be featured in a 30
minute News Special called ``Islamabad: Rock City`` on Thursday, November 29
at 10 PM (Eastern time) and on Saturday, December 1 at 11 PM (Eastern time)
on the VH1 Channel. Please check your local listings for further details or
visit the following website for further details at:
http://www.vh1.com/insidevh1/shows/newsspecials/islamabad/

This is only the second time that we will have the pleasure of seeing
Pakistani entertainers projected as such on American TV. The last one so
honored was the late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. And now Brian O`Connell,
Salman Ahmad and Ali Azmat are on the same path and make us proud. Let us
see how this band, which is described as ``the U2 of Pakistan`` is received is
received by America.


For further information on Junoon please visit:

http://www.msnbc.com/news/661455.asp?cp1=1#BODY


http://www.popcultmedia.com/bla111601.html


Ras

OPEN Silicon Valley Launched

The Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America (OPEN) has launched its Silicon Valley Chapter (see http://www.open-us.org./ for details). It also held its first networking and social event amidst considerable local participation on Tuesday, November 13, 2001 at the Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel in the posh San Francisco Bay Area City of Palo Alto (known throughout the world for its Stanford University Campus).
OPEN, established in Boston in 1998 is dedicated to the promotion of entrepreneurship within the Pakistani community and has now launched its third chapter (New York being the second) in Silicon Valley, often referred to as one of the world’s centers of innovation and future technology. This is one place where the brains from around the globe have successfully teamed with the Venture Capital (VC) financing from local and Wall Street institutions to give birth to a large number of startup companies headed by South-Asians. And on a number of occasions this marriage of sorts has not only fueled the engine of Hi-Technology for America and the world, but in the process has created a number of very wealthy individuals from countries like Pakistan.
But to get there is not easy unless you know how to “talk the talk” and “walk the walk”. That is where OPEN comes in. These are certain experiences that are learned and need to be are shared at such gatherings. Having a great idea is not enough. Unless one can market that idea and get it to the potential customer/consumer/end user in a speedy manner, it will not mean much. And unless one is already extremely wealthy, the amount of money that it takes to develop and make the product ready for the market makes such a venture beyond one’s reach. That is where the Venture Capitalist comes in. The person with the idea (usually a technical sort) has to convince the VC that this is where he/she should invest money. And to convince them one has to come up with what is called a Business Plan. Not going too much into the stories of the old, but one cannot resist the “OPEN Sesame” (Khul Ja Sum Sum) analogy. The gates of Venture Capital are easier to open for the person with the ideas if he/she knows what to say in their Business Plan. And OPEN is an organization that provides the platform where those new to this game can benefit from accumulated wisdom of people what have already been there.
After the recent burst of the Dotcom market bubble, VC’s are not very generous with their investment money. So the topic of discussion and the focus at this event in Palo Alto so very eloquently opened and closed by current OPEN President Asim Abdullah (former CEO of Veo Systems), was “Entrepreneurship in the Post Dotcom Era”. Moderated by Arif Janjua (CEO iDrive), the presentation by a panel of experts, Ammar Hannafi (VP of Business Development at Cisco), Asad Jamal (Managing Director DFJ ePlanet Ventures), Faysal Sohail (EVP, Numerical Technologies) and young Zia Chisti (CEO of Align Technologies who has made quite an impact with his ventures both here and in Pakistan) proved to be very enlightening. Add to that interaction of close to 200 (standing room only) of some of the brightest minds from the Pakistan-American community in the Bay area, this gathering was certainly worth the 3-hour drive from Sacramento.
The panel and the audience participation (questions & Answers) spoke for almost 2 hours. It was refreshing to witness the professionalism exhibited throughout this event as Arif, Ammar, Faysal, Asad & Zia held our close attention while they shared their personal experiences from the vantage points of both the Entrepreneur and VC with us. And some very good suggestions also came from the listeners who added their views on how to set up American funded businesses in Pakistan, using educated Pakistani talent in the hi-tech work force over there.
A point that this reporter made at this meeting was that OPEN should utilize the existing Pakistani-American media to communicate in the business arena. I mentioned that www.pakistanlink.com and www.chowk.com could provide the platform for much needed intra-Pakistani community business dialogue. Add to that the Pakistan News Service (PNS) and any other website or paper publication which the Pakistani-American community subscribes to and reads, and we just might develop our own channels of doing business while investing in the development/improvement of these existing publications in the process.
OPEN currently has two levels of membership. A list of 18 individuals who are Charter Members has been widely distributed and is accessible via the OPEN website. Regular membership is also available to people of Pakistani heritage living in North America.
People interested in membership can contact http://www.open-us.org./chapters_opensilicon.htm for more membership details.
In conclusion, it was great to see engineering and business professionals from the Pakistan-American Community interact at this first OPEN event in Silicon Valley.
It would be an understatement to mention here that this is the direction that Pakistani-Americans should be taking to help both themselves and people in Pakistan. And judging from what this reporter witnessed at this event, both the quality and quantity of participation already exists. The only challenge left now is to continue this momentum.

Ras H. Siddiqui 11-23-01

I was happy to see this effort taking off.

I am a non-valley Public Health scientist on the east coast, and therefore unfamiliar with the dynamics of OPEN et al. Nevertheless, I would like to make one comment:

Female Pakistani entrepreneur might be a rare species, but fora such as OPEN can present a positive and progressive image of Pakistan only if they have women amongst themselves. In fact, it goes beyond image. A modern Pakistan can`t be built without active inclusion of women at all levels.

Saad bin Omer

UMAIR KHAN!UMAIR KHAN!UMAIR KHAN!

Please see this same post on the Farzana board.There is a message for you also.I pray that you somehow benefit from it.



Say what you want, but this war is illegal

by Michael Mandel

A well-kept secret about the U.S.-U.K. attack on Afghanistan is that it is clearly illegal. It violates international law and the express words of the United Nations Charter.

Despite repeated reference to the right of self-defence under Article 51, the Charter simply does not apply here. Article 51 gives a state the right to repel an attack that is ongoing or imminent as a temporary measure until the UN Security Council can take steps necessary for international peace and security.

The Security Council has already passed two resolutions condemning the Sept. 11 attacks and announcing a host of measures aimed at combating terrorism. These include measures for the legal suppression of terrorism and its financing, and for co-operation between states in security, intelligence, criminal investigations and proceedings relating to terrorism. The Security Council has set up a committee to monitor progress on the measures in the resolution and has given all states 90 days to report back to it.

Neither resolution can remotely be said to authorize the use of military force. True, both, in their preambles, abstractly ``affirm`` the inherent right of self-defence, but they do so ``in accordance with the Charter.`` They do not say military action against Afghanistan would be within the right of self-defence. Nor could they. That`s because the right of unilateral self-defence does not include the right to retaliate once an attack has stopped.

The right of self-defence in international law is like the right of self-defence in our own law: It allows you to defend yourself when the law is not around, but it does not allow you to take the law into your own hands.

Since the United States and Britain have undertaken this attack without the explicit authorization of the Security Council, those who die from it will be victims of a crime against humanity, just like the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Even the Security Council is only permitted to authorize the use of force where ``necessary to maintain and restore international peace and security.`` Now it must be clear to everyone that the military attack on Afghanistan has nothing to do with preventing terrorism. This attack will be far more likely to provoke terrorism. Even the Bush administration concedes that the real war against terrorism is long term, a combination of improved security, intelligence and a rethinking of U.S. foreign alliances.

Critics of the Bush approach have argued that any effective fight against terrorism would have to involve a re-evaluation of the way Washington conducts its affairs in the world. For example, the way it has promoted violence for short-term gain, as in Afghanistan when it supported the Taliban a decade ago, in Iraq when it supported Saddam Hussein against Iran, and Iran before that when it supported the Shah.

The attack on Afghanistan is about vengeance and about showing how tough the Americans are. It is being done on the backs of people who have far less control over their government than even the poor souls who died on Sept. 11. It will inevitably result in many deaths of civilians, both from the bombing and from the disruption of aid in a country where millions are already at risk. The 37,000 rations dropped on Sunday were pure PR, and so are the claims of ``surgical`` strikes and the denials of civilian casualties. We`ve seen them before, in Kosovo for example, followed by lame excuses for the ``accidents`` that killed innocents.

For all that has been said about how things have changed since Sept. 11, one thing that has not changed is U.S. disregard for international law. Its decade-long bombing campaign against Iraq and its 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia were both illegal. The U.S. does not even recognize the jurisdiction of the World Court. It withdrew from it in 1986 when the court condemned Washington for attacking Nicaragua, mining its harbours and funding the contras. In that case, the court rejected U.S. claims that it was acting under Article 51 in defence of Nicaragua`s neighbours.

For its part, Canada cannot duck complicity in this lawlessness by relying on the ``solidarity`` clause of the NATO treaty, because that clause is made expressly subordinate to the UN Charter.

But, you might ask, does legality matter in a case like this? You bet it does. Without the law, there is no limit to international violence but the power, ruthlessness and cunning of the perpetrators. Without the international legality of the UN system, the people of the world are sidelined in matters of our most vital interests.

We are all at risk from what happens next. We must insist that Washington make the case for the necessity, rationality and proportionality of this attack in the light of day before the real international community.

The bombing of Afghanistan is the legal and moral equivalent of what was done to the Americans on Sept. 11. We may come to remember that day, not for its human tragedy, but for the beginning of a headlong plunge into a violent, lawless world.



Michael Mandel is a Professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. He specializes in International Criminal Law.

Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi on Late Edition with
Wolf Blitzer on CNN Sunday morning (tomorrow) at 12:00 noon Eastern time (9 AM California).
She and Condi Rice will be the main guests.

Ras

PILLOW TALK- INTERVIEW WITH UMAIR KHAN- CHARTER MEMBER OF OPEN.

PT, when the image of pakistan is battered so much, it is probably the appropriate time to correct it by a new organisation.

UK, I agree with this completely. Pakistanis, the ordinary ones are being abandoned by the government. Thousands are slaughtered in afghanistan, hundreds in kashmir. But the govt cannot even accept the dead bodies because of deniability. Pakistanis are abandoned by their govts.

PT, that is a pathetic situation to be in. What are you doing about it.

UK, OPEN is the appropriate response, pakistanis can cry in each others shoulders, with out the sniggering of the wretched hindoos.

PT, But the impression is that OPEN is for IT people.

UK, well you know that there is no IT in pakistan. Remeber, after nawax ciezed all the bank accounts of the non-resident pakis there is no legal flow of money into pakistan. With B52 in the air, jihadists on the ground, and ISI in between, no one will put their money in pakistan, let alone vist. further it is well known that It thrives in an environment of openness, not parochialism.

PT, that is an interesting observation. How do you say that.

UK, a good example is Kerala in india. Highest literacy rate, a lot of good educational institutions, but no IT worth mentioning. keralites are parochial people, in kerala there are no one other than keralites, while say in bangalore only 40 percent are the locals, and that is long before electrons started moving into wafers. So there is no hope for iT in pakistan, they wont even recognise a nobel laurette, because he is a kafir.

PT, then why are you going ahead with this OPEN with focus on IT.

UK, well, the indians are doing it, we have to follow, that is what jinnah said, two nations, means two of every thing.

PT, you are a genious, a proud pakistani.

RE: Semipreciousyou # 28

The URL is http://www.pakistanlink.com/

Ras

Ras Siddiqui

“tahmed123 & Romair

I`ll put some more details together soon.

Got there kind of late. But it was sure worth

the drive. Nice to see Pakistani-Americans/Pakistanis on the right track.

Please see next week`s issue of Pakistan Link.”

…..do you have a url for that?…

PILLOW TALK- AN INTERVIEW WITH OSAMA,

PT- now that the al quaida is alost wiped out what are your future plans

OBL- this is only a strategic withdrawal. We have alternate plans

PT - what are those plans

OBL, they are plans of the god, they come in many shapes. You all think tyhat al quaida are muslims in long beards and loose clothes.

PT- that exactly what we saw in CNN

OBL, that is where you are wrong. All our members dont carry guns, some carry computers, now all wars we high tech.

PT are you open-ing new schools.

OBL, it is all the wish of god, when one door closes, others OPEN

PT, so your strategy will be highly dependant on these new OPEN doors.

OBL, there is a saying in the book, the god guides those whose hearts are OPEN, and so with doors that are OPEN.

PT, now I fully understand what is happening in the IT field in pakistan, and the desire to have new organisations.

PS. If chowk publishes this interview, they are di//ck heads

tahmed123 & Romair

I`ll put some more details together soon.
Got there kind of late. But it was sure worth
the drive. Nice to see Pakistani-Americans/Pakistanis on the right track.
Please see next week`s issue of Pakistan Link.

Ras

RanaRansher

“Is this a new front for laundering terrorism funds ? “

…..damn….you found out…there go our simulator lessons and crop dusters….

AND FINALLY THE THANEDAR HAS BROUGHT FORTH THE``CHRGE-SHEET`` AFTER THE EFFECT OF JUDGE DEREDS JUDGE & EXECUTION OF JUSTICE

LIKE THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE .



Sponsored By:

British Evidence Against Bin Laden

Wednesday, November 14, 2001

Respond to Editor

Email this Article



Following is the official ``executive summary`` of the British government`s new presentation of evidence against Usama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network. All original spellings have been preserved.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TERRORIST ATROCITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, 11 SEPTEMBER 2001 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The attached document summarises both the public and newly declassified material linking Usama Bin Laden and the Al Qaida network to the terrorist atrocities of 11 September 2001. It updates the document published by the Prime Minister on 4 October.

The update has been produced to remind people why we are engaged in this action, and to publish new information:

• There is now information linking the majority of the hijackers with Al Qaida, rather than just the three originally stated.

• A senior Bin Laden associate has admitted since 4 October to have trained some of the hijackers in Afghanistan.

• Bin Laden`s own statements and those of his lieutenants since 4 October have also been increasingly self-incriminatory. He has made no attempt to deny responsibility for the attacks:

— On 7 October he said: ``Here is America struck by God Almighty ... so that its greatest buildings are destroyed ... I swear to God that America will not live in peace before peace reigns in Palestine, and before the army of the infidels depart the land of Mohammed``.

— On 9 October one of his spokesmen praised the 11 September atrocities as ``a good deed`` which ``transferred the battle into the US heartland``. He warned ``the storm of plane attacks will not abate``.

— On 13 October, one of his associates broadcast direct threats referring back to 11 September: ``we ... advise the Muslims in the United States and Britain ... not to travel by plane. We also advise them not to live in high-rise buildings and towers``.

• Bin Laden has come closest to admitting responsibility in an inflammatory video made on 20 October which has been circulating among supporters of the Al Qaida network:

— Referring to the attacks on US buildings: ``It is what we instigated for a while, in self-defence ... So if avenging the killing of our people is terrorism, let history be a witness that we are terrorists``.

— He also issued explicit threats: ``Bush and Blair ... don`t understand any language but the language of force. Every time they kill us, we kill them, so the balance of terror is achieved``.

— He pledged to continue the campaign of terror: ``The battle has been moved inside America, and we shall continue until we win this battle, or die in the cause and meet our maker``.

— He again admitted to terrorism: ``The bad terror is what America and Israel are practising against our people ... what we are practising is the good terror that will stop them doing what they are doing``.

• In an interview to the Pakistani paper Dawn in November 2001, he again made a number of self-incriminatory threats and statements.



Following is the British government`s official updated evidence document of the case against Usama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda organization. All spellings have been preserved.

This document does not purport to provide a prosecutable case against Usama Bin Laden in a court of law. Intelligence often cannot be used evidentially, due both to the strict rules of admissibility and to the need to protect the safety of sources. But on the basis of all the information available HMG is confident of its conclusions as expressed in this document.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TERRORIST ATROCITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, 11 SEPTEMBER 2001 AN UPDATED ACCOUNT

INTRODUCTION

1. The clear conclusions reached by the government are:

• Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida, the terrorist network which he heads, planned and carried out the atrocities on 11 September 2001;

• Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida retain the will and resources to carry out further atrocities;

• the United Kingdom, and United Kingdom nationals are potential targets; and

• Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida were able to commit these atrocities because of their close alliance with the Taleban régime, which allowed them to operate with impunity in pursuing their terrorist activity.

2. The material in respect of 1998 and the USS Cole comes from indictments and intelligence sources. The material in respect of 11 September comes from intelligence and the criminal investigation to date. The details of some aspects cannot be given, but the facts are clear from the intelligence.

3. The document does not contain the totality of the material known to HMG, given the continuing and absolute need to protect intelligence sources.

SUMMARY

4. The relevant facts show:

Background

• Al Qaida is a terrorist organisation with ties to a global network, which has been in existence for over 10 years. It was founded, and has been led at all times, by Usama Bin Laden.

• Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida have been engaged in a jihad against the United States, and its allies. One of their stated aims is the murder of US citizens, and attacks on America’s allies.

• Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida have been based in Afghanistan since 1996, but have a network of operations throughout the world. The network includes training camps, warehouses, communication facilities and commercial operations able to raise significant sums of money to support its activity. That activity includes substantial exploitation of the illegal drugs trade from Afghanistan.

• Usama Bin Laden’s Al Qaida and the Taleban régime have a close and mutually dependent alliance. Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida provide the Taleban régime with material, financial and military support. They jointly exploit the drugs trade. The Taleban régime allows Bin Laden to operate his terrorist training camps and activities from Afghanistan, protects him from attacks from outside, and protects the drugs stockpiles. Usama Bin Laden could not operate his terrorist activities without the alliance and support of the Taleban régime. The Taleban’s strength would be seriously weakened without Usama Bin Laden’s military and financial support.

• Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida have the capability to execute major terrorist attacks.

• Usama Bin Laden has claimed credit for the attack on US soldiers in Somalia in October 1993, which killed 18; for the attack on the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998 which killed 224 and injured nearly 5000; and was linked to the attack on the USS Cole on 12 October 2000, in which 17 crew members were killed and 40 others injured.

• They have sought to acquire nuclear and chemical materials for use as terrorist weapons.

In relation to the terrorist attacks on 11 September

5. After 11 September we learned that, not long before, Bin Laden had indicated he was about to launch a major attack on America. The detailed planning for the terrorist attacks of 11 September was carried out by one of UBL’s close associates. Of the 19 hijackers involved in 11 September 2001, it has been established that the majority had links with Al Qaida. A senior Bin Laden associate claimed to have trained some of the hijackers in Afghanistan. The attacks on 11 September 2001 were similar in both their ambition and intended impact to previous attacks undertaken by Usama Bin laden and Al Qaida, and also had features in common. In particular:

• Suicide attackers

• Co-ordinated attacks on the same day

• The aim to cause maximum American casualties

• Total disregard for other casualties, including Muslim

• Meticulous long-term planning

• Absence of warning.

6. Al Qaida retains the capability and the will to make further attacks on the US and its allies, including the United Kingdom.

7. Al Qaida gives no warning of terrorist attack.

THE FACTS

Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida

8. In 1989 Usama Bin Laden, and others, founded an international terrorist group known as “Al Qaida” (the Base). At all times he has been the leader of Al Qaida.

9. From 1989 until 1991 Usama Bin Laden was based in Afghanistan and Peshawar, Pakistan. In 1991 he moved to Sudan, where he stayed until 1996. In that year he returned to Afghanistan, where he remains.

The Taleban Régime

10. The Taleban emerged from the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan in the early 1990s. By 1996 they had captured Kabul. They are still engaged in a bloody civil war to control the whole of Afghanistan. They are led by Mullah Omar.

11. In 1996 Usama Bin Laden moved back to Afghanistan. He established a close relationship with Mullah Omar, and threw his support behind the Taleban. Usama Bin Laden and the Taleban régime have a close alliance on which both depend for their continued existence. They also share the same religious values and vision.

12. Usama Bin Laden has provided the Taleban régime with troops, arms and money to fight the Northern Alliance. He is closely involved with Taleban military training, planning and operations. He has representatives in the Taleban military command structure. He has also given infrastruture assistance and humanitarian aid. Forces under the control of Usama Bin Laden have fought alongside the Taleban in the civil war in Afghanistan.

13. Omar has provided Bin Laden with a safe haven in which to operate, and has allowed him to establish terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. They jointly exploit the Afghan drugs trade. In return for active Al Qaida support, the Taleban allow Al Qaida to operate freely, including planning, training and preparing for terrorist activity. In addition the Taleban provide security for the stockpiles of drugs.

14. Since 1996, when the Taleban captured Kabul, the United States government has consistently raised with them a whole range of issues, including humanitarian aid and terrorism. Well before 11 September 2001 they had provided evidence to the Taleban of the responsibility of Al Qaida for the terrorist attacks in East Africa. This evidence had been provided to senior leaders of the Taleban at their request.

15. The United States government had made it clear to the Taleban régime that Al Qaida had murdered US citizens, and planned to murder more. The US offered to work with the Taleban to expel the terrorists from Afghanistan. These talks, which have been continuing since 1996, have failed to produce any results.

16. In June 2001, in the face of mounting evidence of the Al Qaida threat, the United States warned the Taleban that it had the right to defend itself and that it would hold the régime responsible for attacks against US citizens by terrorists sheltered in Afghanistan.

17. In this, the United States had the support of the United Nations. The Security Council, in Resolution 1267, condemned Usama Bin Laden for sponsoring international terrorism and operating a network of terrorist camps, and demanded that the Taleban surrender Usama Bin Laden without further delay so that he could be brought to justice.

18. Despite the evidence provided by the US of the responsibility of Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida for the 1998 East Africa bombings, despite the accurately perceived threats of further atrocities, and despite the demands of the United Nations, the Taleban régime responded by saying no evidence existed against Usama Bin Laden, and that neither he nor his network would be expelled.

19. A former Government official in Afghanistan has described the Taleban and Usama Bin Laden as “two sides of the same coin: Usama cannot exist in Afghanistan without the Taleban and the Taleban cannot exist without Usama”.

Al Qaida

20. Al Qaida is dedicated to opposing ‘un-Islamic’ governments in Muslim countries with force and violence.

21. Al Qaida virulently opposes the United States. Usama Bin Laden has urged and incited his followers to kill American citizens, in the most unequivocal terms.

22. On 12 October 1996 he issued a declaration of jihad as follows:

“The people of Islam have suffered from aggression, iniquity and injustice imposed by the Zionist-Crusader alliance and their collaborators ...

It is the duty now on every tribe in the Arabian peninsula to fight jihad and cleanse the land from these Crusader occupiers. Their wealth is booty to those who kill them.

My Muslim brothers: your brothers in Palestine and in the land of the two Holy Places [Saudi Arabia] are calling upon your help and asking you to take part in fighting against the enemy — the Americans and the Israelis. They are asking you to do whatever you can to expel the enemies out of the sanctities of Islam.”

Later in the same year he said that

“terrorising the American occupiers [of Islamic Holy Places] is a religious and logical obligation”.

In February 1998 he issued and signed a ‘fatwa’ which included a decree to all Muslims:

“... the killing of Americans and their civilian and military allies is a religious duty for each and every Muslim to be carried out in whichever country they are until Al Aqsa mosque has been liberated from their grasp and until their armies have left Muslim lands.”

In the same ‘fatwa’ he called on Muslim scholars and their leaders and their youths to

“launch an attack on the American soldiers of Satan”

and concluded:

“We — with God’s help — call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God’s order to kill Americans and plunder their money whenever and wherever they find it. We also call on Muslims ... to launch the raid on Satan’s US troops and the devil’s supporters allying with them, and to displace those who are behind them.”

When asked, in 1998, about obtaining chemical or nuclear weapons he said “acquiring such weapons for the defence of Muslims [is] a religious duty”, and made the following claim in an interview printed in the Pakistan newspaper Dawn in November 2001:

“I wish to declare that if America used chemical or nuclear weapons against us, then we may retort with chemical and nuclear weapons. We have the weapons as deterrent.”

In an interview aired on Al Jazira (Doha, Qatar) television he stated:

“Our enemy is every American male, whether he is directly fighting us or paying taxes.”

In two interviews broadcast on US television in 1997 and 1998 he referred to the terrorists who carried out the earlier attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 as “role models”. He went on to exhort his followers “to take the fighting to America”.

23. From the early 1990s Usama Bin Laden has sought to obtain nuclear and chemical materials for use as weapons of terror.

24. Although US targets are Al Qaida’s priority, it also explicitly threatens the United States’ allies. References to “Zionist- Crusader alliance and their collaborators”, and to “Satan’s US troops and the devil’s supporters allying with them” are references which unquestionably include the United Kingdom. This is confirmed by more specific references in a broadcast of 13 October, during which Bin Laden’s spokesman said:

“Al Qaida declares that Bush Sr, Bush Jr, Clinton, Blair and Sharon are the arch-criminals from among the Zionists and Crusaders ... Al Qaida stresses that the blood of those killed will not go to waste, God willing, until we punish these criminals ... We also say and advise the Muslims in the United States and Britain ... not to travel by plane. We also advise them not to live in high-rise buildings and towers.”

25. There is a continuing threat. Based on our experience of the way the network has operated in the past, other cells, like those that carried out the terrorist attacks on 11 September, must be assumed to exist.

26. Al Qaida functions both on its own and through a network of other terrorist organisations. These include Egyptian Islamic Jihad and other north African Islamic extremist terrorist groups, and a number of other jihadi groups in other countries including the Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and India. Al Qaida also maintains cells and personnel in a number of other countries to facilitate its activities.

27. Usama Bin Laden heads the Al Qaida network. Below him is a body known as the Shura, which includes representatives of other terrorist groups, such as Egyptian Islamic Jihad leader Ayman Zawahiri and prominent lieutenants of Bin Laden such as Mohamed Atef (also known as Abu Hafs Al-Masri). Egyptian Islamic Jihad has, in effect, merged with Al Qaida.

28. In addition to the Shura, Al Qaida has several groups dealing with military, media, financial and Islamic issues.

29. Mohamed Atef is a member of the group that deals with military and terrorist operations. His duties include principal responsibility for training Al Qaida members.

30. Members of Al Qaida must make a pledge of allegiance to follow the orders of Usama Bin Laden.

31. A great deal of evidence about Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida has been made available in the US indictment for earlier crimes.

32. Since 1989, Usama Bin Laden has conducted substantial financial and business transactions on behalf of Al Qaida and in pursuit of its goals. These include purchasing land for training camps, purchasing warehouses for the storage of items, including explosives, purchasing communications and electronics equipment, and transporting currency and weapons to members of Al Qaida and associated terrorist groups in countries throughout the world.

33. Since 1989 Usama Bin Laden has provided training camps and guest houses in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Sudan, Somalia and Kenya for the use of Al Qaida and associated terrorist groups. We know from intelligence that there are currently at least a dozen camps across Afghanistan, of which at least four are used for training terrorists.

34. Since 1989, Usama Bin Laden has established a series of businesses to provide income for Al Qaida, and to provide cover for the procurement of explosives, weapons and chemicals, and for the travel of Al Qaida operatives. The businesses have included a holding company known as ‘Wadi Al Aqiq’, a construction business known as ‘Al Hijra’, an agricultural business known as ‘Al Themar Al Mubaraka’, and investment companies known as ‘Ladin International’ and ‘Taba Investments’.

Usama Bin Laden and previous attacks

35. In 1992 and 1993 Mohamed Atef travelled to Somalia on several occasions for the purpose of organising violence against United States and United Nations troops then stationed in Somalia. On each occasion he reported back to Usama Bin Laden, at his base in the Riyadh district of Khartoum.

36. In the spring of 1993 Atef, Saif al Adel, another senior member of Al Qaida, and other members began to provide military training to Somali tribes for the purpose of fighting the United Nations forces.

37. On 3 and 4 October 1993 operatives of Al Qaida participated in the attack on US military personnel serving in Somalia as part of the operation ‘Restore Hope.’ Eighteen US military personnel were killed in the attack.

38. From 1993 members of Al Qaida began to live in Nairobi and set up businesses there, including Asma Ltd, and Tanzanite King. They were regularly visited there by senior members of Al Qaida, in particular by Atef and Abu Ubadiah al Banshiri.

39. Beginning in the latter part of 1993, members of Al Qaida in Kenya began to discuss the possibility of attacking the US Embassy in Nairobi in retaliation for US participation in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia. Ali Mohamed, a US citizen and admitted member of Al Qaida, surveyed the US Embassy as a possible target for a terrorist attack. He took photographs and made sketches, which he presented to Usama Bin Laden while Bin Laden was in Sudan. He also admitted that he had trained terrorists for Al Qaida in Afghanistan in the early 1990s, and that those whom he trained included many involved in the East African bombings in August 1998.

40. In June or July 1998, two Al Qaida operatives, Fahid Mohammed Ali Msalam and Sheik Ahmed Salim Swedan, purchased a Toyota truck and made various alterations to the back of the truck.

41. In early August 1998, operatives of Al Qaida gathered in 43, New Runda Estates, Nairobi to execute the bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi.

42. On 7 August 1998, Assam, a Saudi national and Al Qaida operative, drove the Toyota truck to the US Embassy. There was a large bomb in the back of the truck.

43. Also in the truck was Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al ‘Owali, another Saudi. He, by his own confession, was an Al Qaida operative, who from about 1996 had been trained in Al Qaida camps in Afghanistan in explosives, hijacking, kidnapping, assassination and intelligence techniques. With Usama Bin Laden’s express permission, he fought alongside the Taleban in Afghanistan. He had met Usama Bin Laden personally in 1996 and asked for another ‘mission.’ Usama Bin Laden sent him to East Africa after extensive specialised training at camps in Afghanistan.

44. As the truck approached the Embassy, Al ’Owali got out and threw a stun grenade at a security guard. Assam drove the truck up to the rear of the Embassy. He got out and then detonated the bomb, which demolished a multi-storey secretarial college and severely damaged the US Embassy, and the Co-operative bank building. The bomb killed 213 people and injured 4500. Assam was killed in the explosion.

45. Al ‘Owali expected the mission to end in his death. He had been willing to die for Al Qaida. But at the last minute he ran away from the bomb truck and survived. He had no money, passport or plan to escape after the mission, because he had expected to die.

46. After a few days, he called a telephone number in Yemen to have money transferred to him in Kenya. The number he rang in Yemen was contacted by Usama Bin Laden’s phone on the same day as Al ‘Owali was arranging to get the money.

47. Another person arrested in connection with the Nairobi bombing was Mohamed Sadeek Odeh. He admitted to his involvement. He identified the principal participants in the bombing. He named three other persons, all of whom were Al Qaida or Egyptian Islamic Jihad members.

48. In Dar es Salaam the same day, at about the same time, operatives of Al Qaida detonated a bomb at the US Embassy, killing 11 people. The Al Qaida operatives involved included Mustafa Mohamed Fadhil and Khaflan Khamis Mohamed. The bomb was carried in a Nissan Atlas truck, which Ahmed Khfaklan Ghailani and Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, two Al Qaida operatives, had purchased in July 1998, in Dar es Salaam.

49. Khaflan Khamis Mohamed was arrested for the bombing. He admitted membership of Al Qaida, and implicated other members of Al Qaida in the bombing.

50. On 7 and 8 August 1998, two other members of Al Qaida disseminated claims of responsibility for the two bombings by sending faxes to media organisations in Paris, Doha in Qatar, and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

51. Additional evidence of the involvement of Al Qaida in the East African bombings came from a search conducted in London of several residences and businesses belonging to Al Qaida and Egyptian Islamic Jihad members. In those searches a number of documents were found including claims of responsibility for the East African bombings in the name of a fictitious group, ‘the Islamic Army for the liberation of the Holy Places’.

52. Al ‘Owali, the would-be suicide bomber, admitted he was told to make a videotape of himself using the name of the same fictitious group.

53. The faxed claims of responsibility were traced to a telephone number, which had been in contact with Usama Bin Laden’s cell phone. The claims disseminated to the press were clearly written by someone familiar with the conspiracy. They stated that the bombings had been carried out by two Saudis in Kenya, and one Egyptian in Dar es Salaam. They were probably sent before the bombings had even taken place. They referred to two Saudis dying in the Nairobi attack. In fact, because Al ‘Owali fled at the last minute, only one Saudi died.

54. On 22 December 1998 Usama Bin Laden was asked by Time magazine whether he was responsible for the August 1998 attacks. He replied:

“The International Islamic Jihad Front for the jihad against the US and Israel has, by the grace of God, issued a crystal clear fatwa calling on the Islamic nation to carry on Jihad aimed at liberating the holy sites. The nation of Mohammed has responded to this appeal. If instigation for jihad against the Jews and the Americans ... is considered to be a crime, then let history be a witness that I am a criminal. Our job is to instigate and, by the grace of God, we did that, and certain people responded to this instigation.”

He was asked if he knew the attackers:

“... those who risked their lives to earn the pleasure of God are real men. They managed to rid the Islamic nation of disgrace. We hold them in the highest esteem.”

And what the US could expect of him:

“... any thief or criminal who enters another country to steal should expect to be exposed to murder at any time ... The US knows that I have attacked it, by the grace of God, for more than ten years now ... God knows that we have been pleased by the killing of American soldiers [in Somalia in 1993]. This was achieved by the grace of God and the efforts of the mujahideen ... Hostility towards America is a religious duty and we hope to be rewarded for it by God. I am confident that Muslims will be able to end the legend of the so-called superpower that is America.”

55. In December 1999 a terrorist cell linked to Al Qaida was discovered trying to carry out attacks inside the United States. An Algerian, Ahmed Ressam, was stopped at the US-Canadian border, and over 100 lbs of bomb-making material was found in his car. Ressam admitted he was planning to set off a large bomb at Los Angeles International airport on New Year’s Day. He said that he had received terrorist training at Al Qaida camps in Afghanistan and then been instructed to go abroad and kill US civilians and military personnel.

56. On 3 January 2000, a group of Al Qaida members, and other terrorists who had trained in Al Qaida camps in Afghanistan, attempted to attack a US destroyer with a small boat loaded with explosives. Their boat sank, aborting the attack.

57. On 12 October 2000, however, the USS Cole was struck by an explosive-laden boat while refuelling in Aden harbour. Seventeen crew were killed, and 40 injured.

58. Several of the perpetrators of the Cole attack (mostly Yemenis and Saudis) were trained at Usama Bin Laden’s camps in Afghanistan. Al ‘Owali has identified the two commanders of the attack on the USS Cole as having participated in the planning and preparation for the East African Embassy bombings.

59. In the months before the September 11 attacks, propaganda videos were distributed throughout the Middle East and Muslim world by Al Qaida, in which Usama Bin Laden and others were shown encouraging Muslims to attack American and Jewish targets.

60. Similar videos, extolling violence against the United States and other targets, were distributed before the East African Embassy attacks in August 1998.

Usama Bin Laden and the 11 September attacks

61. Nineteen men have been identified as the hijackers from the passenger lists of the four planes hijacked on 11 September 2001. Many of them had previous links with Al Qaida or have so far been positively identified as associates of Al Qaida. An associate of some of the hijackers has been identified as playing key roles in both the East African Embassy attacks and the USS Cole attack. Investigations continue into the backgrounds of all the hijackers.

62. From intelligence sources, the following facts have been established subsequent to 11 September; for intelligence reasons, the names of associates, though known, are not given.

• In the run-up to 11 September, Bin Laden was mounting a concerted propaganda campaign amongst like-minded groups of people — including videos and documentation — justifying attacks on Jewish and American targets; and claiming that those who died in the course of them were carrying out God’s work.

• We have learned, subsequent to 11 September, that Bin Laden himself asserted shortly before 11 September that he was preparing a major attack on America.

• In August and early September close associates of Bin Laden were warned to return to Afghanistan from other parts of the world by 10 September.

• Immediately prior to 11 September some known associates of Bin Laden were naming the date for action as on or around 11 September.

• A senior associate claimed to have trained some of the hijackers in Afghanistan.

• Since 11 September we have learned that one of Bin Laden’s closest and most senior associates was responsible for the detailed planning of the attacks.

• There is evidence of a very specific nature relating to the guilt of Bin Laden and his associates that is too sensitive to release.

63. In addition, Usama Bin Laden has issued a number of public statements since the US strikes on Afghanistan began. The language used in these, while not an open admission of guilt, is self-incriminating.

64. For example, on 7 October he said:

“Here is America struck by God Almighty in one of its vital organs, so that its greatest buildings are destroyed. Grace and gratitude to God ... I swear to God that America will not live in peace before peace reigns in Palestine, and before all the army of infidels depart the land of Mohammed, peace by upon him.”

65. On 9 October his spokesman praised the “good deed” of the hijackers, who “transferred the battle into the US heartland”. He warned that the “storm of plane attacks will not abate”.

66. On 20 October Bin Laden gave an inflammatory interview which has been circulating, in the form of a video, among supporters in the Al Qaida network. In the transcript, when referring to the US buildings that were attacked, he says:

“It is what we instigated for a while, in self-defence. And it was in revenge for our people killed in Palestine and Iraq. So if avenging the killing of our people is terrorism, let history be a witness that we are terrorists.”

Later in the interview he said:

“Bush and Blair ... don’t understand any language but the language of force. Every time they kill us, we will kill them, so the balance of terror can be achieved.”

He went on:

“The battle has been moved inside America, and we shall continue until we win this battle, or die in the cause and meet our maker.”

He also said:

“The bad terror is what America and Israel are practising against our people, and what we are practising is the good terror that will stop them doing what they are doing.”

67. Usama Bin Laden remains in charge, and the mastermind, of Al Qaida. In Al Qaida, an operation on the scale of the 11 September attacks would have been approved by Usama Bin Laden himself.

68. The modus operandi of 11 September was entirely consistent with previous attacks. Al Qaida’s record of atrocities is characterised by meticulous long-term planning, a desire to inflict mass casualties, suicide bombers, and multiple simultaneous attacks.

69. The attacks of 11 September 2001 are entirely consistent with the scale and sophistication of the planning which went into the attacks on the East African Embassies and the USS Cole. No warnings were given for these three attacks, just as there was none on 11 September.

70. Al Qaida operatives, in evidence given in the East African Embassy bomb trials, have described how the group spends years preparing for an attack. They conduct repeated surveillance, patiently gather materials, and identify and vet operatives, who have the skills to participate in the attack and the willingness to die for their cause.

71. The operatives involved in the 11 September atrocities attended flight schools, used flight simulators to study the controls of larger aircraft and placed potential airports and routes under surveillance.

72. Al Qaida’s attacks are characterised by total disregard for innocent lives, including Muslims. In an interview after the East African bombings, Usama Bin Laden insisted that the need to attack the United States excused the killing of other innocent civilians, Muslim and non-Muslim alike.

73. No other organisation has both the motivation and the capability to carry out attacks like those of the 11 September — only the Al Qaida network under Usama Bin Laden.

Conclusion

74. The attacks of the 11 September 2001 were planned and carried out by Al Qaida, an organisation whose head is Usama Bin Laden. That organisation has the will, and the resources, to execute further attacks of similar scale. Both the United States and its close allies are targets for such attacks. The attack could not have occurred without the alliance between the Taleban and Usama Bin Laden, which allowed Bin Laden to operate freely in Afghanistan, promoting, planning and executing terrorist activity.

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