Bush details al-Qaeda plot
2006-02-09 21:39
Washington - US President George W Bush
on Thursday disclosed new details of a thwarted al-Qaeda plot
to use shoe bombs to hijack a plane and fly it into a Los
Angeles building, as he sought to justify his tactics in
Washington's war on terrorism.
With critics questioning the legality of his authorization
of a domestic spying programme, Bush used newly declassified
details of a previously disclosed plot to show that the threat
of terrorism has not abated.
Bush said that in early 2002 the United States and its
allies thwarted a plot to use bombs hidden in shoes to breach
the cockpit door of an airplane and fly it into the tallest
building in Los Angeles.
But he named the wrong building. "We believe the intended
target was Liberty Tower in Los Angeles, California," Bush
said. White House aides later said he meant Library Tower.
Last October, the Bush administration had disclosed the
plot to attack targets on the West Coast using hijacked planes,
saying this was among 10 disrupted al-Qaeda plots.
Bush said on Thursday that in October 2001, Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, the operational mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, had set in motion a plot for another attack inside
the US using shoe bombs to hijack an airplane and
fly it into the tallest building on the US west coast.
Asian men
"Rather than use Arab hijackers as he had on September 11,
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed sought out young men from Southeast Asia
whom he believed would not arouse as much suspicion," Bush
said.
Mohammed was captured in Pakistan in March 2003 and has
since been held at an undisclosed location.
In his speech, Bush
praised the efforts of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in
fighting terrorism.
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman
al-Zawahri, believed by US officials to be hiding in the
border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan, have so far eluded
the US manhunt.
Bush said Mohammed tapped a leader of an
al-Qaeda-affiliated group in Southeast Asia named Hambali, who
recruited several operatives with training in Afghanistan.
Hambali was later caught.
"Once the operatives were recruited, they met with Osama
bin Laden, and then began preparations for the West Coast
attack," Bush said.
Eavesdropping
"Their plot was derailed in early 2002 when a Southeast
Asian nation arrested a key al-Qaeda operative," he said.
Bush has been fighting criticism of his decision to
authorise the national security agency to eavesdrop without
court warrants inside the United States on international e-mails
and phone calls placed to and from people with suspected ties
to terrorism.
He has said that it was a necessary tool for fighting
terrorism and preventing another attack on America.