onlineredaktion – Profits from drugs trafficking through Bulgaria have been used to fund organizations like Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, the parliamentary security commission said.

Bulgarian crime groups trading in synthetic drugs and Arabs linked to militant groups had been cooperating in the trafficking. „Part of the money accumulated from drugs trafficking are being used to fund terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad,“ said the report, but gave no further details.

Lebanese Hezbollah, a guerrilla group backed by Iran, fought a 34-day war in 2006 against Israel. Islamic Jihad is a Palestinian militant group sworn to destroying Israel.

Bulgaria lies on one of the main drug trafficking routes between Europe and southwest Asia. There is growing pressure on Bulgaria’s Socialist-led government at home and from the European Union to get serious about fighting rampant organized crime and graft. High-ranking police officials were arrested last month and accused by prosecutors of passing sensitive information to shadowy businessmen.

The draft report, based on data from the national security agency, said drug seizures had fallen after interior ministry officials passed classified information to crime groups. Last week, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev gave the interior minister 10 days to draft plans to rid his ministry of corrupt police officers linked to crime bosses.

The report cites interior ministry data showing police seized 169 kilos of amphetamines last year, compared with 324 in 2006 and 1,018 kilos in 2005. Despite its declared war on crime and corruption, Bulgaria has not charged any senior officials with graft and has put only one organized crime boss behind bars.

Local observers and EU diplomats say politicians and magistrates are often linked to crime groups, and tensions within the ruling coalition are also not helping any clean-up.

ROBERT H. REID (AP) – An Iraqi judicial committee has dismissed terrorism-related allegations against Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein and ordered him released nearly two years after he was detained by the U.S. military.

Hussein, 36, remained in custody Wednesday at Camp Cropper, a U.S. detention facility near Baghdad’s airport.

A decision by a four-judge panel said Hussein’s case falls under a new amnesty law. It ordered Iraqi courts to „cease legal proceedings“ and ruled that Hussein should be „immediately“ released unless other accusations are pending.

The ruling is dated Monday but AP’s lawyers were not able to thoroughly review it until Wednesday. It was unclear, however, whether Hussein would still face further obstacles to release.

U.S. military authorities have said a U.N. Security Council mandate allows them to retain custody of a detainee they believe is a security risk even if an Iraqi judicial body has ordered that prisoner freed. The U.N. mandate is due to expire at the end of this year.

Also, the amnesty committee’s ruling on Hussein may not cover a separate allegation that has been raised in connection with the case.

AP President Tom Curley hailed the committee’s decision and demanded that the U.S. military „finally do the right thing“ and free Hussein.

In response to a question from the AP, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said it „will be up to officials in Iraq“ on whether to release Hussein. The decision, he said, will be „based upon their assessment as to whether he remains a threat.“

Under Iraq’s 2-month-old amnesty law, a grant of amnesty effectively closes a case and does not assume guilt of the accused.

Hussein has been held by the U.S. military since being detained by Marines on April 12, 2006, in Ramadi, about 70 miles west of Baghdad. Throughout his incarceration, he has maintained he is innocent and was only doing the work of a professional news photographer in a war zone.

The amnesty committee’s decision covers various allegations by the U.S. military against Hussein, including claims he was in possession of bomb-making material, conspired with insurgents to take photographs synchronized with an explosion and offered to secure a forged ID for a terrorist evading capture by the military.

The committee may still be reviewing a separate allegation that Hussein had contacts with the kidnappers of an Italian citizen, Salvatore Santoro, whose body was photographed by Hussein in December 2004 with two masked insurgents standing over Santoro with guns.

Hussein was one of three journalists who were stopped at gunpoint by insurgents and taken by them to see the propped-up body. None of the journalists witnessed his death, said Santiago Lyon, AP’s director of photography. The AP wrote a story about the incident at the time.

The AP said a review of Hussein’s work and contacts also found no evidence of any activities beyond the normal role of a news photographer. Hussein was a member of an AP team that won a Pulitzer Prize for photography in 2005, and his detention has drawn protests from rights groups and press freedom advocates such as the Committee to Protect Journalists.

„The Amnesty Committee took only a few days to determine what we have been saying for two years. Bilal Hussein must be freed immediately,“ said Curley, the AP’s president.

„The U.S. military has said the Iraqi process should be allowed to work. It has, and the military must finally do the right thing by ending its detention of a journalist who did nothing more than his job. Bilal’s imprisonment stands as a sad black mark on American values of justice and fairness,“ Curley added.

The U.S. military referred the case in December to an investigating judge, who reviewed the evidence and submitted his findings to the Central Criminal Court of Iraq to determine whether the case should go to trial.

In February, however, parliament approved a law providing amnesty to those held for insurgency-related offenses — including detainees such as Hussein who have never been convicted.

The committee from the Iraqi Federal Appeals Court ruled Monday that allegations against Hussein were covered by the Anti-Terrorist Law and were subject to the amnesty law.

The order was sent to the Iraqi public prosecutor, but it was unclear if it had been received.

A lawyer for the AP was provided a copy of the order, but Wednesday was a public holiday in Iraq and government offices were closed.

The amnesty committee — or any Iraqi institution — cannot force the U.S. military to release or turn over any of the estimated 23,000 detainees it holds in Iraq. But a provision in the amnesty law states that the Iraqi government „is committed to take the necessary measures to move the arrested people“ from U.S. control.

„The detention of Bilal Hussein has been a terrible injustice, and we are relieved that his ordeal might finally come to an end after nearly two years behind bars,“ said Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Sylvia Smith, president of the National Press Club in Washington, called the amnesty ruling „a long-overdue decision.“

„The next step is to free him,“ she said.

Associated Press military writer Robert Burns in Washington and AP writer Carley Petesch in New York contributed to this report.

The AP’s site on Bilal Hussein: http://www.ap.org/bilalhussein/
The AP’s site on the Santoro slaying: http://www.ap.org/santoro/

onlineredaktion – Auch im St.-Lorenz-Golf scheint es jetzt „Piraten“ zu geben, allerdings gehören die mutmaßlich der kanadischen Küstenwache an. Im Streit über die Robbenjagd soll die kanadische Küstenwache nach Angaben der Umweltschutzorganisation Sea Shepherd Conservation Society das Kommando über eines ihrer Schiffe übernommen haben. Wie Paul Watson, der Präsident der Umweltgruppe, sagte, sollen mehrere bewaffnete Besatzungsmitglieder zweier Schiffe der Küstenwache am Samstag die «Farley Mowat» im St.-Lorenz-Golf betreten und die Kontrolle übernommen haben. Und weil sie angeblich zu nahe an die Robbenjäger heran gekommen waren, haben die kanadischen Behörden in der vergangenen Woche zwei Mitglieder der Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, den Kapitän und den Ersten Offizier der „Farley Mowat“, wegen der Verletzung von „Fischereigesetzen“ verklagt.

Satire – SLABBERS WELT (3)

World Content News – Der mehr als vier Jahre von den USA gefangen gehaltene Deutsch-Türke Murat Kurnaz wird erstmals im TV-Sender CBS über Einzelheiten seiner Folterhaft in Kandahar berichten.

Die gewöhnlich als Publikumsmagnet gepriesene Sendung „60 Minutes“ soll am 30. März ausgestrahlt werden. Das Interview das vorab aufgezeichnet wurde, enthält erschütternde, in der Öffentlichkeit in diesen Einzelheiten bisher so nicht bekannte Details.

Kurnaz klärt US-Bürger über die Verbrechen ihrer Regierung auf

http://www.cbs.com/thunder/swf/rcpHolderCbs-prod.swf

Er erzählt, wie er in Afghanistan in einem Flugzeughangar mit dem Kopf nach unten an der Decke aufgehängt wurde. Dass man seinen Kopf unter Wasser drückte. Er schildert, wie er elektrische Schläge auf sein Fußsohlen verpasst bekam, wie er dabei von den Ärzten auf seine weitere „Foltertauglichkeit“ untersucht wurde:

„Every five or six hours they came and pulled me back down and the doctor came,“ he recalls. „He looked into my eyes. He checked my heart and when he said ‚okay,‘ then they pulled me back up,“ he tells Pelley.

„They used to beat me when my head was underwater…they beat me into my stomach….I had to inhale the water,“ he tells Pelley.

Auch nach seiner Überstellung von Kandahar nach Guantanamo, wo er laut eigenen Worten als einer der ersten „feindlichen Kombattanten“ angekommen sein soll, wurde er weiter gequält. Es gab Schläge auf seine Hände von US-Soldaten in voller Kampfmontur, Schlafentzug und Einzelhaft.

„It’s dark inside, no lights and they can punish you in isolation… by coldness or…heat. They have special air conditioners. Very strong. They can turn it very cold or very hot.“

Das Pentagon hat sich bisher auf Anfragen so dazu geäußert:

„We treat all detainees humanely… and all credible claims are investigated thoroughly…. The abuses Mr. Kurnaz alleges are not only unsubstantiated and implausible, they are simply outlandish.“

Outlandish hat laut Wörterbuch unterschiedliche Bedeutungen:

ausgefallen – ausländisch – fremdartig – haarsträubend – seltsam

Quelle:

CBS (Bericht und Vorschau-Video):

Ex-Terror Detainee Says U.S. Tortured Him
Tells 60 Minutes He Was Held Underwater, Shocked,
And Suspended From the Ceiling

siehe auch:
Analyse: Der Fall Kurnaz im US-Wahlkampf
(Berliner Zeitung, 29.03.2008)
Kurnaz-Anwalt kündigt Beschwerde gegen Staatsanwaltschaft an
(Yahoo News, 12.03.2008)
KSKler droht kritischem Offizier Jürgen Rose
(readers-edition.de, 26.03.2008)
Ermittlungen im Fall Kurnaz erneut eingestellt
(Gießener Anzeiger, 13.03.2008)

Dieser Artikel erschien erstmalig bei World Content News

Cooperativeresearch – A contributor to the History Commons has obtained a 298-page document entitled Hijackers Timeline (Redacted) from the FBI, subsequent to a Freedom of Information Act request. The document was a major source of information for the 9/11 Commission’s final report. Though the commission cited the timeline 52 times in its report, it failed to include some of the document’s most important material.

The History Commons needs your help.

The printed document is dated November 14, 2003, but appears to have been compiled in mid-October 2001 (the most recent date mentioned in it is October 22, 2001), when the FBI was just starting to understand the backgrounds of the hijackers, and it contains almost no information from the CIA, NSA, or other agencies. This raises questions as to why the 9/11 Commission relied so heavily on such an early draft for their information about the hijackers.

Specific new information:
New evidence suggests that some of the hijackers were assisted by employees of the Saudi government. It has previously been reported that Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi who was paid by the Saudi government despite not doing any work, assisted hijackers Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi when they first moved to the US. The FBI timeline shows that when these two hijackers moved into their first San Diego apartment, they indicated that they had been living with Bayoumi in the apartment next door for the previous two weeks. In fact, they had been with him in that apartment since January 15, 2000, the very day they first flew into the US, arriving in Los Angeles. The timeline also reveals that hijacker Hani Hanjour was seen in Bayoumi’s apartment.

Atta day by day

Omar al-Bayoumi. [Source: Saudi Government via Al Arabiya] The new book The Commission by New York Times reporter Philip Shenon published last week further reveals that Bayoumi had close ties to Fahad al-Thumairy, a radical imam working in the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles. For instance, Bayoumi frequently called al-Thumairy while living next door to the two hijackers, and also frequently called the Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C. The book also reveals that the 9/11 Commission was aware of “explosive” revelations about the ties between Bayoumi, Thumairy, and the two hijackers, but the commission’s final report omitted “virtually all of the most serious allegations against the Saudis,” due to diplomatic considerations. Now, thanks to this FBI timeline, we are discovering more of this suppressed evidence relating to Saudi Arabia.

Security camera footage obtained by the FBI after 9/11 indicated that Khalid Almihdhar and possibly Salem Alhazmi cased Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., the evening before 9/11. This fits the account of a security guard , related in Unsafe at Any Altitude by Joe and Susan Trento, who independently claimed to have seen two hijackers, Salem’s brother Nawaf and Marwan Alshehhi, casing Dulles Airport the night before 9/11. This guard claims the two hijackers were part of a group of five men, three of whom were dressed in United Airlines ramp worker uniforms, that behaved suspiciously. Despite a lawsuit by 9/11 victims’ relatives against United Airlines and others for negligence, the US government has never revealed the existence of this video footage which might support claims that the hijackers had inside help.

Hijackers Marwan Alshehhi and Hamza Alghamdi purchased hundreds of dollars of “pornographic video and sex toys” in Florida. They spent $252 on video and toys in early July 2001, and then another $183 later that month. Furthermore, Satam Al Suqami likely paid for a sex escort in Boston on September 7, 2001. Alshehhi was also recognized by six dancers at Cheetah’s, a nightclub in Pompano Beach, Florida. This fits in with other evidence of the hijackers drinking alcohol, paying for lap dancers, watching pornographic videos, etc…—hardly the expected behavior of religious radicals.

On March 20, 2000, either Khalid Almihdhar or Nawaf Alhazmi used a phone registered to Alhazmi to make a call from San Diego to an al-Qaeda communications hub in Sana’a, Yemen, run by Almihdhar’s father-in-law. The call lasted 16 minutes. According to the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry, the call was intercepted by the NSA, which had been intercepting Alhazmi and Almihdhar’s calls for over a year, but the FBI was not informed of the hijackers’ presence in the US. The call is only briefly mentioned as a family phone call by the 9/11 Commission in a endnote, and it is not mentioned that the call was monitored.

Satam Al Suqami ‘s remarkably undamaged passport, marked and wrapped in plastic. [Source: FBI] When hijacker Satam Al Suqami’s passport was recovered on 9/11 on the street near the World Trade Center, it was “soaked in jet fuel.”

Hijacker Hamza Alghamdi booked several flights after 9/11. He booked a continuation from Los Angeles to San Francisco later on the day of the attacks. Then, on September 20, he planned to fly from Rome to Casablanca, to Riyadh, to Damman, Saudi Arabia.

It has been widely assumed that the hijackers did everything using their real names, or aliases close to their real names. But a still-classified CIA report found that the hijackers used 364 aliases and name variants. The FBI’s timeline discloses what some of them were. For example, Hani Hanjour and Ahmed Alghamdi rented a New Jersey apartment using the names Hany Saleh and Ahmed Saleh. Fayez Ahmed Banihammad used the aliases Abu Dhabi Banihammad and Fayey Rashid Ahmed. Mohamed Atta frequently liked to use variants of the name El Sayed, for instance calling himself Awaid Elsayed and even Hamburg Elsayed. And when Majed Moqed flew into the US on May 2, 2001, the name Mashaanmoged Mayed was on the flight manifest. This suggests that some travel and actions of the hijackers could have been missed when they used unlikely aliases.

An ATM video still of Hani Hanjour (left) and Majed Moqed (right). [Source: FBI] There has been very little video footage released of the hijackers. So far, the only known footage has been two video stills of Hani Hanjour and Majed Moqed using an ATM machine, one still each of Waleed Alshehri and Satam Al Suqami, several stills of Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari in Portland the night before 9/11, and a few more stills and footage of several hijackers in airports on the morning of 9/11. But the FBI’s timeline reveals there is more video footage that has never even been publicly hinted at: Mohamed Atta used an ATM in Palm Beach, Florida, on July 19, 2001. Salem Alhazmi and Ahmed Alghamdi used an ATM in Alexandria, Virginia, on August 2. Hanjour and Mojed used a Kinko’s for half an hour in College Park, Maryland, on August 10. Moqed and Nawaf Alhazmi shopped at an Exxon gas station in Joppa, Maryland, on August 28.

Waleed and Wail Alshehri wandered around a Target store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on September 4. Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari were in a Florida bank lobby on September 4, and the audio of Atta calling Saudi Arabia was even recorded in the process. Fayez Ahmed Banihammad used an ATM on September 7 in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Salem Alhazmi was at the Falls Church DMV on September 7. Low quality surveillance video at the Milner Hotel in Boston showed Alshehhi and possibly Mohand Alshehri on multiple occasions in the days just before 9/11. Ziad Jarrah and possibly Saeed Alghamdi were videotaped using a Kinko’s for about an hour near Newark on September 10.

Some credit cards used by the hijackers were still used in the US after 9/11. For instance, a credit card jointly owned by Mohamed Atta and Marwan Alshehhi was used twice on September 15. This helps confirm news reports from late 2001 that hijacker credit cards were used on the East Coast as late as early October 2001. At the time, a government official said that while some of the cards might have been stolen, “We believe there are additional people out there” who helped the hijackers.

The FBI timeline shows other intriguing hints that the hijackers had associates in the US. For instance, on September 8, 2001, hijackers Majed Moqed and Hani Hanjour went to a bank with an unnamed Middle Eastern male. This man presented a Pennsylvania driver’s license for identification, but none of the 9/11 hijackers have been reported to have a driver’s license from that state. There is also a highly redacted section hinting that a woman in Laurel, Maryland, was helping Middle Eastern men and may have had links to hijackers Mohamed Atta and Ziad Jarrah.

Around 10:00 a.m. on the morning of 9/11, a housekeeper at the Park Inn in Boston went to clean the room that hijackers Wail and Waleed Alshehri used the night before. She was confronted by a foreign male who told her that someone was still sleeping in the room and that she should come back around 1:00 p.m. The FBI was obviously puzzled by this, as the FBI’s timeline entry for this event ends with five question marks.

It has previously been reported that shortly before 9/11, hijackers Nawaf Alhamzi and Khalid Almihdhar left a bag at a mosque in Laurel, Maryland, with a note attached to it saying, “Gift for the brothers.” The FBI’s timeline identifies this mosque as the Ayah Islamic Center. But the only contents mentioned in the bag were pilot log books, receipts, and other evidence documenting the brief flight training that Alhazmi and Almihdhar underwent in San Diego in early 2000. It is unclear why they would have kept the receipts, some mentioning their names, for over a year and then left them at a mosque to be found. After 9/11, a former high-level intelligence official told journalist Seymour Hersh that “Whatever trail was left [by the hijackers] was left deliberately—for the FBI to chase.”

On June 11, 2001, hijackers Saeed Alghamdi, Ahmed Alnami, Marwan Alshehhi, and Mohamed Atta checked in to the Deluxe Inn, in Dania, Florida. The manager of the hotel later identified Saeed Alghamdi as having been there at the time with the others. However, travel records indicate Alghamdi did not arrive in the US until June 27. Other previously released evidence has suggested that many other hijackers were in the US before they officially arrived.

Luai Sakra imprisoned in Turkey. [Source: Reuters] Several months ago, the London Times reported on an al-Qaeda leader imprisoned in Turkey named Luai Sakra. Sakra claims to have trained six of the hijackers in Turkey, including Satam Al Suqami. The FBI’s timeline supports his account, because Al Suqami’s passport record indicates he spent much of his time between late September 2000 and early April 2001 in Turkey. Furthermore, Sakra claimed that Al Suqami was one of the hijacker leaders, and not just another “muscle” hijacker as US investigators have alleged. The FBI’s timeline supports this, because it shows that Al Suqami was frequently on the move from 1998 onwards, flying to Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Malaysia, as well as Turkey, and he travelled to most of these countries more than once.

This is particularly important because contributors to the History Commons have put together evidence suggesting that Sakra was a CIA asset before 9/11, which would suggest that Al Suqami and other hijackers were actually trained by a CIA asset.

When Ahmed Alghamdi arrived in the US from London on May 5, 2001, an immigration inspector apparently noted that Alghamdi commented to him that the media was distorting the facts about Osama bin Laden and that bin Laden was a good Muslim. Alghamdi also indicated that he was travelling with more than $10,000 worth of currency. Shortly after 9/11, the New York Times, Washington Post, and other newspapers reported that by the spring of 2001, US customs was investigating Alghamdi and two other future 9/11 hijackers for their connections to known al-Qaeda operatives. One British newspaper even noted that Alghamdi should have been “instantly ‘red-flagged’ by British intelligence” as he passed through London on his way to the US because of a warning about his links to al-Qaeda. It has not been explained how Alghamdi was able to pass through British and US customs, even as he was openly praising bin Laden.

Hijacker Nawaf Alhazmi was mugged outside of his apartment in Alexandria, Virginia, by an “unknown black male” on May 1, 2001. He filed a police report about this and gave his correct name and address. In August 2001, Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar were watchlisted by the CIA, and an FBI investigator began looking for them in the US. But, as one news report later noted, the investigator “never performed one of the most basic tasks of a police manhunt. He never ran Almihdhar or Alhazmi through the NCIC computer,” a widely used police database that should have listed this mugging, as well as a speeding ticket Alhazmi had received the month before.

On August 26, 2001, Nawaf Alhazmi’s car was queried by police in Totowa, New Jersey, just a few miles from where he was living in Paterson. Police took down details of his rental car and put all the information in the NCIC database. On August 29, with Alhazmi still living in Paterson, an FBI agent was assigned to look for him. But as mentioned above, he didn’t search the NCIC database. On September 2, this agent did search a national motor vehicle database, and this, the mugging, and other encounters Alhazmi had with police should have shown up there as well, but for some inexplicable reason the agent still did not discover that Alhazmi was in the US.

Hijacker Abdulaziz Alomari lost his plane ticket just before 9/11. He reported it lost on September 8, and picked a replacement ticket up from the American Airlines terminal at Logan airport in Boston the next day. The US government has generally promoted what one FBI official has called “the Superman scenario” – the idea that the hijackers made no mistakes. For instance, in 2004 one FBI official claimed, “These guys were pros. For us to have done anything, these guys had to make a mistake. And they didn’t.”

Read all and get the FBI files at Cooperativeresearch

World Content News – Die Londoner Times hat soeben Auszüge aus einer in Kürze erscheinenden Autobiografie Bhuttos veröffentlicht. Darin nennt sie, wie zuvor schon in einem Interview mit der BBC im November letzten Jahres die Namen derer, die ihr nach dem Leben trachteten. Darunter: Hamza Bin Laden, der 16-jährige Sohn von Osama Bin Laden.

Die BBC hatte die Video-Aufzeichnung des Interviews mit David Frost im nachhinein aufwändig manipuliert und die entsprechende Passage mit der Namensaufzählung herausgeschnitten und sogar die Tonspur geschleift, damit die Lücken nicht auffielen. Möglicher Grund: Dort ging es auch um die Behauptung Bhuttos, Bin Laden wäre ermordet worden. Erst nachdem es Proteste von Zuschauern hagelte, stellte die BBC vor kurzem wieder die Original-Version des Interviews ins Netz.

Hamza Bin Laden soll der Anführer von vier Gruppen sein, die ihren Tod wollten: der Talibanführer Baitullah Mehsud, ein militante Gruppe aus der Umgebung der Roten Moschee und eine weitere militante Gruppe aus Karachi. So die Autobiographie.

Im Interview dagegen, das sie nach dem ersten misslungenen Mordanschlag am 2. November 2007 mit David Frost führte (einen Tag vor Verhängung des Ausnahmezustandes in Pakistan), hatte sie zusätzlich einen hohen Militärbeamten der pakistanischen Regierung beschuldigt.

Nach dem Tode zensiert, weil „versprochen“: Bin Laden was murdered …

Der von der BBC zensierte Teil des Interviews sei hier nochmals dokumentiert (ab 03:50):
…

Frost: “Does anyone know yet who was responsible for this assassination attempt? There was one report that you had arranged to send President Musharraf a letter, to be sent in the event of your death by assassination, urging him to investigate certain individuals in his government. Is that true?”

Bhutto: “Yes, it is true that I wrote to General Musharraf. I received information from General Musharraf that a friendly country had passed on to them. The information that I could be attacked by a gang from the Afghan warlord Baitullah Mehsud, or by Hamza bin Laden, the son of Usama bin Laden, or by the Pakistani Taliban in Islamabad, or by a group in Karachi. So, I sent back a letter saying that while these groups may be used, I thought it was more important to go after the people who supported them, who organized them, who could possibly be the financers, or the organizers of the finance, for those groups, and I named three individuals who I thought were the sympathizers.

Now I understand that I could be wrong, and my suspicions could be misplaced, but these are the people that I suspect want to stop the restoration of democracy, they want to stop my return, because they know in 1993, when Pakistan was on the brink of being declared a terrorist state, I stopped the rise of terrorism, and they know that I can do it again. So I feel that these are the forces that want to stop, not just me, but the democratic process and the will of the people from triumphing.

Frost: “And in terms of these three people that you mentioned, were they members of or associated with the government?”

Bhutto: “Yes, well one of them is a very key figure in security. He is a former military officer. He is someone who has had dealings with the Jesha Muhammad, one of the banned groups, with Maulana Azhar, who was in an Indian jail for decapitating three British tourists, and three American tourists, and he also had dealings with Omar Sheikh, the man who murdered Osama Bin Laden.

Ein durchaus merk-würdiges Zitat. Wohl meinende Beobachter gehen davon aus, dass sich Bhutto hier schlicht versprochen hat und in Wirklichkeit meinte: „Omar Sheikh, der Mann der den Journalisten Daniel Pearl ermordete“. Doch ganz so einfach sollte man es sich nicht machen:

Zum einen soll unter US-Folter einer der Anführer von Al Kaida, Khalid Scheich Mohammed, ein Geständnis abgelegt haben, Daniel Pearl enthauptet zu haben. Sicher wusste auch Frau Bhutto, dass es beträchtliche Zweifel um die tatsächliche Urheberschaft des Mordes gab und sie machte durchaus nicht den Eindruck, als müsste sie sich korrigieren. Offensichtlich war ihr bewusst, was sie da Ungeheuerliches sagte.

Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, von dem es Berichte gibt, dass er zur Zeit noch am Leben ist und in einem pakistanischen Foltergefängnis festgehalten wird, war vor seinem Überlauf zu Al Kaida laut mehrerer übereinstimmender Quellen ein britischer MI6-Agent und soll auch für den pakistanischen Geheimdienst ISI und möglicherweise sogar für die CIA gearbeitet haben. Zehn Tage nach der Entführung Pearls, als dieser noch am Leben war, tauchte er unbehelligt in der pakistanischen ISI-Residentur von Lahore auf und wurde erst eine Woche später festgenommen. Er wurde zum Tode verurteilt, ohne ihn jedoch der Durchführung des Mordes bezichtigt zu haben.

Der Vollständigkeit halber sei noch erwähnt, dass erst vor wenigen Monaten zwei Mitglieder der militanten sunnitischen Gruppe Lashkar-e-Jhangvi festgenommen wurden, die als die mutmaßlichen Anführer der Entführung gelten. Einer der beiden, Saud Memon, wurde von der CIA so schwer gefoltert, dass er daran gestorben sein soll.

Und andererseits: Welcher Teufel hat die BBC geritten, die oben zitierte Passage im Video nach dem Tod von Benazir Bhutto so kunstvoll umzumodulieren, dass auch technisch geschulte Betrachter nicht auf Anhieb feststellen konnten, dass das Video in den so entscheidenden Stellen zusammen geschnitten war: Kein Wort mehr über ihre Feinde und den Tod Bin Ladens.

So hat die Times denn vorschnell verkauft, exklusiv über die letztendlich tödlichen Vorahnungen berichten zu können. Und der Rest der Presse plappert nun nach. Ganz im Gegensatz zu anderen Veröffentlichungen des gleichen Blattes, wo eisernes Schweigen dazu herrscht, als es um den US-Atom-Proliferationsskandal ging. Das einfache westliche Weltbild darf halt nicht zu sehr zerrüttet werden.

Quellen:
Exclusive: Benazir Bhutto’s last testament
(timesonline.co.uk, 03.02.2008)
Benazir Bhutto accuses Osama Bin Laden’s son from beyond the grave
(timesonline.co.uk, 03.02.2008)
Bin Ladens Sohn soll Mordpläne gegen Bhutto geschmiedet haben
(Spiegel Online, 03.02.2008)
Ließ bin Ladens Sohn Benazir Bhutto ermorden? (Die Welt, 03.02.2008)
BBC entschuldigt sich für Zensur des Bhutto-Interviews
(diekritischeyogini.wordpress.com, 08.01.2008)
Hamza Bin Laden – The little boy who learnt to kill (The Age, 22.01.2006)

Dieser Artikel erschien erstmalig bei World Content News

World Content News – 728 von insgesamt 774 Gefangenen, die in Guantanamo registriert wurden, sind offenbar mit Duldung oder Unterstützung der Regierung Portugals über portugiesisches Staatsgebiet nach Guantanamo Bay überstellt worden. Viele von ihnen seien bereits vor dem Transport gefoltert worden, berichtet die Menschenrechtsorganisation Reprieve in ihrem Report „Journey Of Death“. WCN geht den dokumentierten Flugspuren nach.

Insgesamt 48 Flüge hat Reprieve recherchiert, die über die Azoren ins Gefangenenlager nach Guantanamo den portugiesischen Luftraum durchquerten. Viele davon waren Sammeltransporte mit Militärflugzeugen, anhand des Abgleichs mit Informationen aus dem US-Verteidigungsministerium über die Ankunft der Gefangenen ließ sich nachvollziehen, wer wann in welcher Maschine saß.

Die Mehrzahl von ihnen dürfte aus Folter-Gefängnissen in Kandahar oder Kabul ausgeflogen worden sein. Als Tankstop wurde überwiegend der militärische US-Stützpunkt Incirlik in der Türkei genutzt, den insgesamt 688 Gefangene passieren mussten. Bei 46 Häftlingen konnte nicht nachgewiesen werden, auf welchem Weg sie nach Guantanamo gelangten.

Aber auch Spanien wird wegen der Militärtranssporte schwer belastet. Im November letzten Jahres veröffentlichte die spanische Zeitung El Pais einen Untersuchungsbericht, wonach 47 Flüge über Spanien von oder nach Guantánamo gingen. Etliche der von Reprieve ermittelten Flüge über Portugal durchquerten auch den spanischen Luftraum und konnten von den dortigen Behörden bestätigt werden.

Die folgenden Flugdaten wurden aus dem Reprieve-Report übernommen und dort um zusätzliche Informationen ergänzt, wo es möglich war. Unter dem Verweis ‚Details‘ lassen sich die Namen der Gefangenen nachschlagen, die mit dem jeweiligen Flug transportiert wurden.

Gefangenentransporte nach Guantanamo:
Datum – Flugnummer – letzter Stop

2002

11.01.02   RCH7502   from Morón Air Base (Spain)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil. Version einer Hercules C-130, USA), bei den portugiesischen Behörden angemeldeter Flug, urspr. Herkunft: Kandahar (Afghanistan), 23 Gefangene –   Details

14.01.02   RCH076y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil., USA), , angemeldeter Flug, urspr. Herkunft: ?, 30 Gefangene –   Details

16.01.02   RCH077y   from Incirlik (Turkey) –
17.01.02   RCH178y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, insgesamt 59 Gefangene –   Details

20.01.02   RCH317y   from Incirlik (Turkey) –
21.01.02   RCH180y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil), USAF-Ident-Nr. UJM166301019, urspr. Herkunft: Tuzla, Bosnien-Herzegowina, 42 (?) Gefangene, darunter 6 Bosnier, die unter dem Namen Algerian Six bekannt wurden. Laut Berichten stiegen in Incirlik mind. 28 Gefangene zu, die mit einem anderen Flugzeug aus Kandahar kamen. Wurde nachweislich von EUCOM in Stuttgart aus gesteuert. Zitat aus einem bekannt gewordenen Geheimdokument:
“Primary C-130 transporting the detainees is Msn # UJM166301019. Departs [redacted]. Back up C-130 is UQU09Z10L019 [redacted].” …“Back up C-130 is UQU09Z10L019 [redacted]. Will not return to Ramstein until primary C-130 is in the air en route to Incirlik with detainees.” (Centcom Update for Friday, 18 Jan 02)
“Detainee mission scheduled to depart for Tuzla at 190930Z. Total detainees transported to date: 110.” (Situation Report 130 of the U.S. Commander-In-Chief, Europe (USCINCEUR), 19January 2002)…“[P]lan to pick-up 6 Algerians in Incirlik moved by EUCOM assets.” (Future Detainee Mission Flow, GitmoIncirlik Mission Flow) …“5th Mission: – En route to Guantanamo, ETA 201930Z“…- 34 total detainees. – 28 from Qandahar, – 6 Algerians [redacted]”
“Follow-on missions depart Incirlik: 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31 Jan, 1 Feb” (Quelle)
In Pentagondokumenten wird das Ankunftsdatum in Guantanamo fälschlicherweise mit 09-May-03 und 08-Jul-03 angegeben. –   Details

07.02.02   RCH071y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, 27 Gefangene, das Pentagon bestätigte nur 25. –   Details

09.02.02   RCH074y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, 33 Gefangene, das Pentagon sagt 35. –   Details

11.02.02   RCH481y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, 37 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 35 . –   Details

13.02.02   RCH485y   Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, bei den portugiesischen Behörden angemeldeter Flug, 28 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 35 . –   Details

15.02.02   RCH486y   No ICAO code for the airport
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil. Version einer Boeing 757), urspr. Herkunft: vermutlich Kandahar, angemeldeter Flug, 17 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 10 . Darunter befand sich auch der deutschstämmige Murat Kurnaz, der in Afghanistan von deutschen KSK-Soldaten misshandelt worden sein soll.-   Details

26.03.02   ELD5110   (Electra Airlines), from Santa Maria (Azores)
Flugzeugtyp: DC10 (zivil), Electra Airlines war eine griechische Fluggesellschaft, die zu diesem Zeitpunkt 2 Maschinen dieses Flugzeugtyps besaß: RegNr. SX-CVH (cn 48258/346) und SX-CVP (cn 48294/372). Letztere pendelte möglicherweise im KFOR-Auftrag zwischen Pristina im Kosovo und Wien. Die Maschine war von einer Firma namens Clipper Leasing geleased.

Reprieve merkt an: „In addition to flights crossing Portuguese airspace, a number landed on Portuguese territory of Lajes, in the Azores. For instance, on 26 March 2002 – ELD5110 (Electra Airlines) – flew from Santa Maria (Azores) –to Guantanamo (Cuba) leaving Portuguese airspace at 13:32 that day. On 29 March 2002 Afghan citizen Mohamed Kabel, aged 39 years, was in-processed into Guantanamo Bay.“…“ It is quite possible that Kabel was being held in a secret prison or “black site” prior to his arrival in Portuguese territory“   (Quelle, pdf, S.18)

01.05.02   RCH705y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, 32 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 30. –   Details

03.05.02   RCH108y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, 31 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 30. –   Details

05.05.02   RCH711y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, 23 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 25. –   Details

08.06.02   RCH781y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, 20 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 25. –   Details

10.06.02   RCH784y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, 23 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 20. –   Details

12.06.02   RCH787y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, 34 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 40. –   Details

14.06.02   RCH790y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, 29 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 30. –   Details

16.06.02   RCH793y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil), Flugbestätigung durch Spaniens staatlicher Luftfahrtbehörde AENA, urspr. Herkunft: ?, 33 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 35. –   Details

18.06.02   RCH796y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-141 (mil), Flugbestätigung durch Spanien, urspr. Herkunft: ?, 26 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 30. –   Details

05.08.02   RCH233y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil), Flugbestätigung durch Spanien, urspr. Herkunft: ?, 35 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 35. –   Details

28.10.02   RCH184y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
28.10.02   RCH319y   from Rota Nava Air Base (Spain)
Flugzeugtyp: 2 x C-17 (mil), An diesem Tag gab es 2 Flüge mit einer C17, einmal von Spanien und einmal von Portugal aus. In welcher Maschine die Gefangenen jeweils saßen, konnte nicht ermittelt werden, Flugbestätigung durch Spanien, urspr. Herkunft: ?, 27 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 35. –   Details

24.12.02   PAT653   from Lajes (Azores)
Flugzeugtyp: Gulf V (mil), Spezialflug an Heilig Abend 2002. Das Kürzel „PAT“ steht für PRIORITY AIR TRANSPORT (Davison Aviation Command, Fort Belvoir , VA). Es handelte sich um eine Gulfstream V, deren Flug nach Guantanamo eine ausdrückliche Staatsbewilligung durch die portugiesische Regierung erteilt wurde (STS). Abflug von Terceira (Lajes): 05:44 Uhr. Wer an Bord war konnte nicht ermittelt werden.

2003

07.02.03   RCH191y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil), Flugbestätigung durch Spanien, urspr. Herkunft: ?, 27 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 25. –    Details

23.03.03   RCH191y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, 30 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 30. –    Details

09.05.03   RCH594y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, Flugbestätigung durch Spanien, 35 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 35. –    Details

18.07.03   RCH918y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, Flugbestätigung durch Spanien, 5 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 10. –    Details

23.09.03   N313P   (Premier Executive Transport Services) from Rabat (Morocco)
Flugzeugtyp: Boeing 737-7BC (zivil), c/n 33010, Operator: Richmor Aviation/Stevens Express Leasing, Passagiere: unbekannt, mehr Flugdaten: hier
urspr. Herkunft: from 20.09. Washington, USA – Praha, Czech Republic – 21.09. Tashkent, Usbekistan – … – 22.09. Kabul, Afghanistan – Szymani, Poland – Bukarest, Romania – Rabat, Morocco
forward to Turks&Caicos – 25.09. Washington, USA

Sicher bestätigt werden kann bei diesem Flugzeug eine Entführung: 23./24.01.04 Khaled el Masri von Skopje, Macedonia nach Kabul, Afghanistan. Den Flugdaten nach kann man davon ausgehen, dass damit auch einen Tag zuvor auch Binyam Mohamed von Rabat, Morocco nach Kabul, Afghanistan überführt wurde. Ein mögliches weiteres Entführungsopfer ist Abduh Ali Shaqawi, der am 07.01.04 von Amman, Jordanien nach Kabul, Afghanistan verschleppt wurde. Der Anflug nach Amman erfolgte von Frankfurt, Deutschland aus (06.01). Das Flugzeug weist insgesamt 47 Landungen in Deutschland auf (inkl. Nachfolgenummer N4476S)

Weitere Flüge der N313P nach Guantanamo:
23.09.03 von Rabat, Marokko
21.11.03 von Rabat, Marokko
27.12.03 von Providenciales, Turks&Caicos
26.10.04 von Washington, USA

Das Flugzeug ist gegenwärtig (seit: 08.08.06) unter der Registriernummer N720MM im Besitz der Firma MGM MIRAGE AIRCRAFT HOLDINGS. Diese gehört zum Imperium des Milliardärs, Hotel- und Spielkasinobesitzers Kirk Kerkorian. Aktuelle Flüge: hier

22.11.03   N313P   (Premier Executive Transport Services) from Rabat (Morocco)
N313P Beschr. siehe vorherg., Passagiere unbekannt, Gefangene möglicherweise 1-6, da Pentagon am nächsten Tag insgesamt 20 Gefangene bestätigte (siehe nachfolg.)
Route:
13.11.03 Washington DC, USA – Frankfurt, Deutschland
14.11.03 Frankfurt, Deutschland – Moskau, Russland
14.11.03 Moskau, Russland – Frankfurt, Deutschland
17.11.03 Frankfurt, Deutschland – Bagdad, Irak
19.11.03 Abu Dhabi, VAE – Rabat, Marokko
20.11.03 Rabat, Marokko – Frankfurt, Deutschland
20.11.03 Frankfurt, Deutschland – Kabul, Afghanistan
21.11.03 Kabul, Afghanistan – Rabat, Marokko
21.11.03 Rabat, Marokko – Guantanamo, Kuba
23.11.03 Turks&Caicos Islands (brit.) – Washington, USA
23.11.03 Washington, USA – Kinston, NC, USA

23.11.03   RCH901y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, 14 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: 20. –    Details

03.12.03   N379P   (Premier Executive Transport Services, Inc.) from Rabat (Morocco)
Flugzeugtyp: Gulfstream V (zivil), c/n 581, Operator: s.o., Passagiere: unbekannt, mehr Flugdaten: hier
urspr. Herkunft: from 02.12. Washington, USA – Porto – Portugal – Rabat, Morocco
forward to Washington, USA – 04.12. Praha, Czech Republic – 05.12. Amman, Jordan – 06.12. Frankfurt, Germany – Washington, USA

Das Flugzeug, bekannt auch als „Guantanamo Bay Express“ (37 Landungen in Deutschland), ist nach bisherigen Erkenntnissen für die meisten Entführungen in Gebrauch gewesen, wie der Abgleich von Entführungs- und Flugdaten zeigt:

October 23, 2001 Jamil Qasim Saeed Mohammed from Pakistan to Jordan
December 18, 2001 Mohamed Al Zery and; Ahmed Agiza from Sweden to Egypt
January 11, 2002 Muhammad Saad Iqbal Madni from Indonesia to Egypt
March 28, 2002 Abu Zubaydah from Pakistan to CIA custody
April 18, 2002 Martin Mubanga from Zambia to Guantánamo
June 5, 2002. Omar al-Faruq, a Kuwaiti, arrested in West Java and reported taken by CIA officers to Kabul, Afghanistan.
May 14, 2002 Abu Abdul Halim Dalak,Omar Ghramesh, and un-named teenager from Pakistan to Syria
May 24, 2002 Abu al-Kassem Britel from Pakistan to Morocco
July 19, 2002 Mohamedou Ould Slahi from Jordan to Afghanistan
July 21, 2002 Binyam Mohamed from Pakistan to Morocco
September 11, 2002 Ramzi Binalshibh from Pakistan to CIA custody
September 28, 2002, Abdulsalam al-Hela from Egypt to Kabul
November 8, 2002 Abd al-Rahim, al-Nashri from United Arab Emirates to CIA custody
December 8, 2002 Bisher al-Rawi and Jamil al Banna from Gambia to Afghanistan
July 22, 2003 Saifulla Paracha from Thailand to Afghanistan
October 26, 2003 Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali and Muhammad Bashmilah from Jordan to Afghanistan
March 3, 2004 Mohamed al-Assad and Muhammad Bashmilah from Djibouti to Afghanistan
(Quelle: Stephen Grey: Timeline of the War on Terror)

Weitere Flüge der N379P nach Guantanamo:
16.08.02 von Washington DC, USA
20.11.02 von Washington DC, USA
03.12.03 von Rabat, Marokko
als N8068V:
11.03.04 von Rabat, Marokko
09.04.04 von Turks&Caicos
27.07.04 von Washington DC, USA
31.08.04 von Mitiga, Libyen
03.09.04 von West Palm Beach, FL, USA
07.09.04 von Mitiga, Libyen
15.09.04 von West Palm Beach, FL, USA

Das Flugzeug ist gegenwärtig (seit: 04.05.07) unter der australischen Registriernummer VH-CCC im Besitz der Firma CROWN MELBOURNE LIMITED. Diese gehört zum Imperium des Verlegers, Hotel- und Spielkasinobesitzers James Packer, der als reichster Mann Australiens gilt (> 6 Milliarden Dollar). Weiterhin ist er bekennender Scientologe, zu seinen engsten Freunden zählt auch der Hollywood-Schauspieler und angebliche geheime Vize-Chef der Scientologen Tom Cruise, der bei der Hochzeit Packers mit dem Starmodel Erica Baxter im Sommer 2007 anwesend war.

Exkurs zur Wiedervereinigung: Die beiden Folterflieger-Besitzer Packer (ex-N379P) und Kerkorian (ex-N313P) betreiben seit kurzem zwei Spielcasinos in Macau, die zu den modernsten und größten der Welt zählen. Teilhaber an beiden (!) Unternehmen ist die Familie des chinesischen Milliardärs Stanley Ho (>7 Milliarden Dollar). Man munkelt, von dort wären Anfang der sechziger Jahre auch die Startgelder zum Aufbau des sagenhaften Reichtums von Kerkorian und Packer sen. geflossen.

2004

08.03.04   RRR6868   (UK Royal Air Force) from Brize Norton (England)
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil), Großbritanniens Luftwaffe auf dem Hinflug nach Guantanamo, um fünf freigelassene Briten von dort abzuholen (Bericht). Man darf wohl annehmen, dass hier keine Gefangenen transportiert wurden.

12.03.04   N8068V   (Premier Executive Transport Services) from Rabat (Morocco)
Gulfstream V (zivil), ex-N379P (siehe oben), Betreiber: Premier Executive Transport Services, Anzahl Passagiere unbekannt, ursprüngliche Herkunft: from 07.03. Former, Hongkong – Rabat, Morocco
forward to Turks & Caicos (brit.) – 13.03. Washington, USA

26.07.04   FAF4050   (French Air Force) from Evreux (France)
Flugzeugtyp: K35R Stratotanker (mil) der französischen Luftwaffe, urspr. Herkunft: ?, Passagiere unbekannt, Flog einen Tag später zurück nach Terceira, Portugal.

31.07.04   N85VM   (Richmor Aviation – Assembly Point AV) from Santa Maria (Azores)
Flugzeugtyp: Gulfstream IV (zivil), c/n 1172, Passagiere: unbekannt, lt. Gomes-Report sollen es insges. 5 Passagiere gewesen sein, mehr Flugdaten: hier
urspr. Herkunft: from 25.07. Rabat, Morocco – Washington, USA – Santa Maria, Azores -26.07. Mitiga, Lybia (dep. 29.07)- Santa Maria, Azores – Washington DC, USA – 30.07. Rabat, Morocco – Santa Maria (Azores)
forward to Rabat, Morocco (01.08.) – Tenerife Sur, Spain (02.08.) – Washington, USA, dep. 03.08

Beim Rückflug von Guantanamo nach Marokko (01.08., wiederum über Portugal) waren fünf marokkanische Gefangene an Bord, die den marokk. Behörden übergeben wurden.

Das Flugzeug (12 Landungen in Deutschland) geriet in den Fokus der Öffentlichkeit, als es am 17. Februar 2003 den in Mailand auf offener Straße entführten Osama Nasr Mostafa Hassan, genannt Abu Omar, von Ramstein, Deutschland nach Kairo, Ägypten verbrachte. Abu Omar wurde mit einem Militärflugzeug (Rufzeichen: SPAR 92) vom US-Luftwaffenstützpunkt Aviano Air Base eingeflogen und in Deutschland zum Umsteigen gezwungen. Eine Woche zuvor, am 10. Februar, kam es in Ramstein zu einem „Meeting“ der Entführungsflugzeuge N313P und N85VM.

Die N85VM hält den bisherigen Rekord an Guantanamo-Landungen (mind. 56x). Dies impliziert aber nicht, dass damit besonders viele Personen entführt wurden, meist flog sie von Washington aus nach Guantanamo.

Eigentümer des Flugzeugs, das im September 2004 auf die Nummer N227SV umregistriert wurde, ist die Firma ASSEMBLY POINT AVIATION INC. Die Wirtschaftsauskunftei Dun & Bradstreet beschreibt Assembly Point als „religiöse Organisation“. Der Direktor dieser Firma ist der Multimillionär Phillip H. Morse, der wiederum Miteigentümer der legendären Baseball-Mannschaft Boston Red Sox ist. Ein weiteres Flugzeug mit der Registriernummer N982RK gehörte ebenfalls bis zum Jahr 2001 der Firma Assembly Point. Dieses Flugzeug flog Khaled el Masri am 28.05.04 vom Foltergefängnis in Kabul zurück nach Bezat-Kucova, Albanien, wo er freigelassen wurde. Aktuelle Flüge der N227SV: hier

08.09.04   N8068V   (Premier Executive Transport Services) from Mitiga, Libya
Gulfstream V (zivil), ex-N379P (siehe oben), Betreiber: Premier Executive Transport Services, Anzahl Passagiere unbekannt, urspr. Herkunft: from Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Stephen Grey weiß dazu: TRANSFER OF LIBYAN INTERROGATORS. September 8-9, 2004: Libyan dissident Omar Deghayes claims he was interviewed by Libyan secret police in Guantanamo (Quelle: Timeline of the War on Terror).

19.09.04   RCH948y   from Incirlik (Turkey)
20.09.04   RCH947   from Lajes (Azores)
Flugzeugtyp: 2x C-17 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, RCH948y: Flugbestätigung durch Spanien, bei den Behörden in Portugal angemeldeter Flug (RES), insges. 9 Gefangene, lt. Pentagon: keine Bestätigung . –    Details.

2005

14.03.05   RCH914y   from Lajes (Azores)
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, Passengers unknown, dep. 01:29. Das Flugzeug flog zuvor unter der gleichen Rufnummer am 11.03. von Guantanamo nach Incirlik, Türkei

20.04.05   RCH950y   from Rota Nava Air Base (Spain)
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, Passengers unknown. Das Flugzeug flog zuvor unter der gleichen Rufnummer am 18.04. von Guantanamo nach Incirlik, Türkei

22.07.05   RCH925   from Lajes (Azores)
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, dep. 01:52, Passengers unknown. Das Flugzeug flog zuvor unter der gleichen Rufnummer am 19.07. von Guantanamo nach Incirlik, Türkei

22.08.05   RCH924   from Lajes (Azores)
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil), urspr. Herkunft: ?, dep. 18:47, Passengers unknown. Das Flugzeug flog zuvor unter der gleichen Rufnummer am 20.08. von Guantanamo nach Incirlik, Türkei

08.09.05   N248AB   (Prime Jet LLC) from Santa Maria (Azores)
Flugzeugtyp: Gulfstream IV (zivil), c/n 1474, Operator: Prime Jet LLC, Passagiere: unbekannt, ursprüngliche Herkunft ?, dep. 06:25, Fotos: hier

Das Flugzeug gehörte bis vor kurzem zu den aktivsten Flugzeugen der CIA mit zahlreichen Europaaufenthalten. Am 21.02.07 wurde es umregistirert auf die Treuhandgesellschaft Wells Fargo Bank Northwest, die Gulf fliegt jetzt unter der Nummer N7799T (siehe Foto). Neuer Eigentümer ist die Firma Global Business Asset Investments. Es gibt Grund anzunehmen, dass sie immer noch für die CIA fliegt, denn am 01.12.07 tauchte sie zusammen mit einem anderem Guantanamo-Flieger mit der Registriernummer N970SJ auf dem Flughafen London- Luton auf (Quelle). Aktuelle Flüge der N7799T: hier.

08.11.05   RCH985   from Morón Air Base (Spain
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil), urspr. Herkunft:?, Passengers unknown. Das Flugzeug flog zuvor unter der gleichen Rufnummer am 04.11. von Guantanamo nach Incirlik, Türkei

2006

10.02.06   RCH919   from Rabat (Morocco)
Flugzeugtyp: DC10 (mil), urspr. Herkunft:?, Passengers unknown. Das Flugzeug flog zuvor unter der gleichen Rufnummer am 07.02. von Guantanamo nach Rabat, Marokko

07.05.06   RCH957   from Lajes (Azores)
Flugzeugtyp: C-17 (mil), urspr. Herkunft:?, dep. 06:27, Passengers unknown. Das Flugzeug flog zuvor unter der gleichen Rufnummer am 05.05. von Guantanamo nach Tirana, Albanien

Was leider fehlt: Der finale USAF-Transport vom 04.09.2006, bei dem die letzten 14 Gefangenen in Guantanamo Bay auftauchten.
Dessen Route ist völlig unbekannt, gab es doch entsprechende Vermutungen über ein Geheimgefängnis der CIA in Deutschland, das genau zu diesem Zeitpunkt geräumt worden sein soll.

Ebenfalls nicht verzeichnet sind die Flüge, die in umgekehrter Richtung von Guantanamo aus nach Europa oder Afrika gingen. Zuweilen wurden Gefangene vorübergehend aus Guantanamo herausgeschafft, bekannt ist der Fall von Abdurrahman Khadr der am 07.11.03 mit der Gulfstream N85VM von Guantanamo mit einer Zwischenlandung auf den Azoren nach Tuzla in Bosnien geflogen wurde.

Der Report von Reprieve verdankt übrigens seinen harschen Titel dem Gefangenen Adil Al-Zamil, über den folgendes Zitat überliefert ist:

„I call the journey to Guantanamo the ‚journey of death‘. I discreetly wished that the plane would fall to end the pain I felt.„

Quellen:
Report: THE “JOURNEY OF DEATH” (Reprieve, 29.01.2008)
Pressemitteilung: REPRIEVE REPORT DOCUMENTS OVER 700 PRISONERS ILLEGALLY RENDERED TO GUANTANAMO BAY WITH THE HELP OF PORTUGAL (Reprieve, 29.01.2008)
Menschenrechtler: Portugal half USA bei Transporten nach Guantanamo
(Der Standard, 29.01.2008)
Portugal: Neue Enthüllungen zu Gefangenenflügen (WCN, 08.01.2007)

Weitere News:
Dänemark: Aufregung um CIA-Gefangenentransporte
(diepresse.com, 31.01.2008)
CIA-Flüge: Dänen wollen Auskunft (Wiener Zeitung, 31.01.2008)
CIA flights to Greenland investigated (CNN, 31.01.2008)

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onlineredaktion – Die russische Nachrichten Agentur „Interfax“ meldete die Bombardierung eines russischen Landhauses, einer Datsche in der Nähe von Moskau, durch ein „unbekanntes Flugobjekt“. Doch dann berichtete das russische Fernsehen, das „UFO“ sei eine fehl geschossene Rakete der russischen Armee gewesen. Sie habe keinen Sprengkopf besessen, sei „nur“ ins Haus gekracht und habe dort ein klaffendes Loch, wie Zuschauern gezeigt wurde, in der Hauswand verursacht. Es gab kein Feuer. Oberst Igor Konaschenko erklärte, die Eigentümer der Datsche hätten „mit sehr viel Verständnis“ reagiert; sie erhielten demnächst 60.000 Rubel Entschädigung. Die Information, demnach die Eigentümer Briten seien, soll ein böses Gerücht sein.

Das britische Kulturinstitut British Council hat seine Arbeit in den zwei russischen Niederlassungen in St. Petersburg und Jekaterinburg bis auf weiteres eingestellt. Russlands „Einschüchterungs-Kampagne“ mache die Arbeit „unmöglich“, sagte der Chef der Institution, Martin Davidson, in London. An oberster Stelle stehe die Sicherheit der Mitarbeiter; die Niederlassungen blieben geschlossen. Die russische Regierung hatte die Briten beschuldigt die Büros ohne Rechtsgrundlage und ohne Steuerzahlungen zu betreiben. Das jedoch hatte die britische Regierung als illegal bezeichnet und die Büro nach der Weihnachtspause am vergangenen Montag zunächst wieder geöffnet.

Das russische Außenministerium bestellte daraufhin den britischen Botschafter ein und warf den Briten Provokation und vorsätzliche Beschädigung der Beziehungen vor. Die russische Polizei hatte außerdem den Institutsleiter von St. Petersburg, Stephen Kinnock, wegen eines angeblichen Verkehrsverstoßes vorübergehend festgenommen. Der russische Geheimdienst FSB hatte zudem Mitarbeiter des britischen Kulturinstituts in Jekatarinburg verhört, was schon am Mittwoch in St. Petersburg mit den dort tätigen Mitarbeitern geschahen war.

Offensichtlich ist, dass die russische Regierung nach der Ermordung des früheren Geheimdienstmitarbeiters Alexander Litwinenko mit dem Strahlengift Polonium in London im November 2006 einen Kalten Krieg gegen Großbritannien führt.

London fordert seitdem von Moskau die Auslieferung des Mordverdächtigen Andrej Lugowoi, einem früheren sowjetischen Geheimdienstagenten. Moskau antwortete mit Scheinangriffen auf Großbritannien. Dagegen hatte die britische Regierung protestiert.

Der britische Außenminister Miliband fordert, der Fall Litwinenko und die Schließungen des British Councils sollten als zwei „völlig verschiedene“ Probleme behandelt werden. Die Russen aber sehen das mutmaßlich anders.

Nach der Ermordung Litwinenkos war Präsident Putin seitens westlicher Medien beschuldigt worden, den Mord in Auftrag gegeben zu haben.

Einst, in Zeiten des Kalten Krieges, hatten die Sowjets gerne Raketen „fehl geschossen“. Sie schlugen in Finnland ein oder flogen bis über die norwegische Inselgruppe Lofoten hinaus, stürzten in den Nordatlantik, wie beispielsweise im Februar 1985 geschehen, wo sie schnell versanken und wohl bis heute noch in mehrere tausend Metern Tiefe liegen. Zu tief und zu unspektakulär für eine Bergung. So scheint es, aber wer weiß… Die norwegische Marine kann auch ganz tief tauchen. Und damals suchte sie im Meer westlich von Lofoten intensiv nach diesen Raketen. Dies blieb der Lokalpresse – der Zeitung „Lofot Posten“ nicht verborgen. In Svolvaer, Lofoten-Hafenstadt, sollen einige Leute schon mit neuen Überfliegern aus Russland rechnen, die auf Großbritannien gezielt werden.

onlineredaktion – Pakistans Präsident Pervez Musharraf schließt Ermittlungen der Vereinten Nationen zur Aufklärung des Mordes an Oppositionsführerin Benazir Bhutto aus, weil eine internationale UNO-Untersuchung nicht nötig sei, da kein anderes Land hinter dem Attentat stecke, hatte Musharraf in einem Interview der französischen Zeitung „Le Figaro“ gesagt. In Pakistan wie auch international wird die pakistische Regierung verdächtigt den Mord lanciert zu haben – und damit mutmaßlich Musharraf .

Woher aber weiß er so genau, dass kein anderes Land hinter dem Mord steckt? Hat er Täterwissen?

Eine andere Erklärung scheint es nicht zu geben, denn Bhuttos Partei hatte die UN-Untersuchung gefordert und Musharraf verwies nun ausweichend auf den Mordfall des ehemaligen libanesischen Ministerpräsidenten Rafik al-Hariri. „Pakistan ist nicht Libanon“, hatte Musharraf hinzugefügt. 2005 galt Syrien als Auftraggeber des Mordes.

Wenn jedoch ein anderes Land hinter dem Mord an Bhutto steckt, welches Land will Musharraf dann mit mit der Verhinderung einer UN-Untersuchung schützen?

Und es kommt noch prekärer: Musharraf wirft dem Mordopfer Bhutto vor, mitschuldig am Mord zu sein.

Doch wenn das pakistanische Volk ihn nicht mehr wolle, so sagte er dem SPIEGEL, sei nach den Ereignissen der vergangenen sieben, acht Monate der Rückzug das Einfachste. Er wolle keine Sekunde länger warten, wenn er zur Überzeugung gekommen sei, dass das Volk dies wolle.

Hamid Mir – Benazir Bhutto left this world in 2007, but she will keep shining on international scene with a new agenda in 2008. The late Benazir Bhutto wanted to become a bridge between the Muslim world and the West. Can her wish become a reality after her assassination on December 27th 2007?

“Life and death is in the hands of Allah and that is why I have the courage to stare in the eyes of death without any fear.“

The answer is “yes.” Just a few days before her death, the first woman Prime Minister of a Muslim country finalized the manuscript of her new book entitled “Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West”. Mark Siegel had worked on it with Benazir Bhutto as a collaborating writer from the West. HarperCollins, the renown American publishing company, is trying to market this book in February 2008.The launching of the book will accelerate the debate about the reconciliation between Islam and the West through democracy. This debate may give a new life to Benazir Bhutto, but keeping this debate alive will be the biggest challenge for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in 2008.

Father and son at the helm of PPP
The new year 2008 will bring a lot of challenges for the new Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party Mr.Bilawal Zardari (19) and the Co-Chairperson Mr. Asif Ali Zardari (53).The same kind of challenges were faced by the late Benazir Bhutto in 1979, after the hanging of her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto by a Pakistani military regime.

At that time, her mother Nusrat Bhutto took over the party as Chairperson and Benazir Bhutto (26) was declared Co-Chairperson. In 1979, General Zia ul Haq postponed the general elections for an indefinite period because he was aware that PPP would be benefited by the wave of sympathy created after the hanging of its founder chairman. PPP never faced the challenge of going into elections in 1979. The only big challenge was the political survival of the party and the Bhutto ladies met that challenge with a lot of courage. Later on it was the Co-Chairperson Benazir Bhutto who led the party in practical terms and now her husband will lead the party as Co-Chairperson in the same way.

In 2008, the new Chairman and Co-Chairman of PPP will have to face much bigger problems than their party faced in 1979. President Pervez Musharraf cannot delay the elections for more than two months, and actually they have been scheduled for February 18, 2008. The Bhutto’s party will go into the election campaign almost immediately after the assassination of its legendary leader Benazir. Finding out the mastermind behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto is another big challenge. Her widower Asif Ali Zardari is not interested in any investigation of the case under the current regime.

He has already pointed his fingers towards alleged suspects. He is more focused on the coming elections as he is sure of sweeping the polls and he would like to get the killers of his wife when his party comes into power. His son Bilawal is ready to participate in the election campaign because he also wants to contribute in the “revenge through democracy” plan.

A majority of activists and sympathizers of PPP were very happy at the first press conference of Asif Ali Zardari as the Co-Chairman because he showed a lot of confidence and spirit to continue the mission of his wife. On the other side, many in the government were not looking comfortable when Asif declared pro-Musharraf Muslim League-Q as the “Killers League.” It is feared that when PPP sweeps the coming polls it will immediately start confronting some alleged suspects who are very close to President Musharraf.

There are no doubts that the year 2008 will be much more tough for President Musharraf than 2007.Some of his close advisers are trying to find out a way through which they could avoid a direct confrontation with the PPP but they are facing problems. Bilawal is not ready to forgive the killers of his mother like Benazir forgave the killers of her father in the larger interest of the country in 1988. He cannot forget the pains and problems his mother faced without her husband in exile.

In the footsteps of grandfather
Bilawal was only one year old in 1989 when his Prime Minister mother Benazir Bhutto clearly hinted for the first time that her son “will be the next leader of Pakistan People’s Party.” Bashir Riaz (called “Bash“) was the press spokesman of Benazir Bhutto at that time, who also worked for her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and for her brother Murtaza Bhutto. One day “Bash” showed to his leader a picture on the title page of a French magazine “Paris Match”, in which Benazir Bhutto was standing with her little son Bilawal. Benazir was very happy to see the picture.

“Dear Uncle Bash, will you be my spokesman when I will grow up?“

She immediately asked for a black marker and wrote a question on the magazine’s cover in the name of her infant son: “Dear Uncle Bash, will you be my spokesman when I will grow up?“

That same year little Bilawal met US President George H W Bush Sr. with his mother when she was on an official visit to Washington, D.C. Benazir Bhutto actually followed the footsteps of her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who took his 21-year-old daughter to India with him in 1974, where he held talks with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Bilawal was only two years old when the first government of his mother was dismissed by President Ghulam Ishaque Khan after 20 months.

President Ishaque was part of the establishment which hanged Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto but Benazir accepted, hoping for a new beginning of democracy in Pakistan. Unfortunately she was betrayed. Bilawal was five years old when his mother became Prime Minister again in 1993. This time, too, she was not allowed to complete her five years’ term and she lost the power after three years in 1996. Bilawal spend the next nine years in exile, without his father who was imprisoned in Pakistan. Half of the 19 years of his life was spent without his father and now the rest of his life will be continued without his mother. Bilawal believes that the killers of his mother are part of the Musharraf regime.

Last-minute threats
Just a few hours before her assassination on December 27th, Benazir Bhutto informed Afghan President Hamid Karzai about threats on her life. She was also warned that her meeting with Hamid Karzai – just a few days before the Pakistani elections scheduled for January 8, 2008 – could create more troubles for her. She was advised to avoid meeting Karzai because some extremists would have another opportunity to declare that a “Pakistani American Agent” (as they often called her) met an “Afghan American Agent”(Karzai).

But she ignored all the concerns raised by her close associates. Sources present at the last Karzai-Bhutto meeting revealed that the Afghan President prayed for the safety of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan and in return Benazir responded that “life and death is in the hands of Allah and that is why I have the courage to stare in the eyes of death without any fear.“

During the last working lunch at her Islamabad residence Zardari House, on December 27th, her Security Adviser Rehman Malik expressed some concerns about Benazir’s security in Rawalpindi. He was worried why his leader had not been provided jammers (devices preventing bomb blasts) by the Police on that day. He wrote a letter to the Interior Ministry on December 26th and requested more security. He was trying to contact the Inspector General of the Police in Punjab province on the 27th of December, but he was not able to establish any contact with IGP.

On the other side the organizers of the public meeting in Liaqat Bagh [Park] in Rawalpindi informed Zardari House in Islamabad that they were ready to receive Benazir Bhutto with thousands of her supporters. Despite all the security concerns, Benazir Bhutto once again decided to take a big risk and proceeded to Liaqat Bagh. When she reached in the public meeting, many people noticed the absence of a police contingent outside Liaqat Bagh. Asif Ali Zardari was immediately informed in Dubai by a close friend that his wife was left without proper security but he was unable to do anything from a distant country.

The ill- fated Bhutto dynasty
After delivering her last speech, in front of a big crowd in Rawalpindi, Mrs. Bhutto was very happy and that was why she ignored the threat again. She started waving to her followers by coming out of the sun roof of the armored and blast-resistant vehicle on her way back from Liaqat Bagh to Islamabad. That was the best moment for the assassin(s) to hunt her down because she was without any proper protection.

She was only 26 years old when her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged in Rawalpindi in 1979, she was only 32 when her younger brother Shahnawaz Bhutto was mysteriously killed in France in 1985. She was 43 when her second brother Murtaza Bhutto was killed by the Pakistani police in 1996.That was a great tragedy for her because she had lost her brother when she was Prime Minister of the country and people accused her of not having prevented his death. Just a few months after the assassination of Murtaza, Benazir Bhutto lost her government and then her husband Asif Ali Zardari faced a very long (11 years) imprisonment. Benazir Bhutto spent more than 9 years in exile without her husband. She raised her children as a single parent.

She used to teach them the Holy Quran regularly with an English translation. She tried her level best that her kids should not feel the absence of their father. When her very sick husband was released from prison in Pakistan after 8 years, on medical grounds, he was sent to the USA for treatment, and once again Benazir was left all alone in Dubai with her kids. After all the bitter experience in the past, she never allowed her husband and their three kids to come along with her to Pakistan on October 18th 2007.

Benazir’s ‘second life’
The last 30 years of her life were full of struggle and troubles, but she proved to be a “lady of iron nerves.” She was a caring wife, a loving mother and a very courageous political leader. Just a few days before her assassination, Benazir Bhutto told this scribe at a breakfast meeting that she was aware of the threats for her life but she still believed that “there is a difference between a politician and a leader; a politician always asks [others] for sacrifices and a leader always offers their own sacrifice and she is ready to sacrifice her life for Pakistan”.

Just a few days after having spoken these words, she became martyred for the sake of democracy in Pakistan. I remember that she was feeling betrayed by President Musharraf, who was not only denying proper security to her but also was making plans for rigging the elections (scheduled for January 8, 2008) with the help of Muslim League-Q headed by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. Benazir Bhutto was sure that, despite the rigging plans, she would be able to launch an anti-Musharraf mass movement in early 2008. She was becoming a really big threat to the President and his regime because she was pulling big crowds despite threats of suicide bombings. She was speaking more strongly against the pro-Musharraf Muslim League-Q than against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. That’s why slogans were raised against Musharraf immediately after her assassination.

Her party is sure that the bullet which hit Benazir Bhutto in the neck killed her physically but the same bullet killed Musharraf politically.
 
Her son Bilawal is sure that democracy will not only be the best “revenge” of his mother’s assassination but the best way to complete her wish for becoming a bridge between Islam and the West, because only true democracy can become the common agenda of cooperation between the two civilizations.

Only true democracy can resolve the problems of extremism and terrorism.
The late Benazir Bhutto had plans for an international conference of world leaders to initiate a grand dialogue between the Muslim world and the West in 2008. She even planned the engagement of those forces of the current regime who were later blamed for her assassination. Now it will be the duty of the PPP to complete the unfinished agenda of Benazir Bhutto. PPP should not forget what Benazir Bhutto wrote in her coming book and must contribute positively to the grand cause for reconciliation between Islam and the West.

Hamid Mir, the author of this article, is a top Pakistani reporter, head of the Geo TV Bureau in Islamabad. He has won a world-wide acclaim for his interviews with Osama bin Laden and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, before and following 9/11. His new book about OBL is due to appear in Britain, later this year.

This article was first published at Canada Free Press