In Iraq, al Qaeda’s number two man, Abu Azzam, has been killed in a shootout in a raid on a Baghdad house. No word yet on what information may have been recovered in the raid. Being an al Qaeda leader in Iraq isn’t yet quite as unhealthy as it is in Saudi Arabia, but it’s getting close.
In Spain, a court sentenced a Syrian terrorist to 27 years in prison for participating in the September 11 plot:
Mr. Yarkas was accused of organizing a meeting in northern Spain in July 2001 in which final preparations for the Sept. 11 attacks are thought to have been made. According to the prosecution, the meeting was attended by Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker, and Ramzi bin al-Shibh, a Yemeni suspected of being a high-ranking member of Al Qaeda who played a central role in organizing the attacks.
It’s interesting that the September 11 Commission found no persuasive evidence that Atta and bin al-Shibh met with anyone else while they were in Spain. Their authority to the contrary? Bin al-Shibh himself. It isn’t clear why the Commission considered the captured Yemeni terrorist to be such a reliable source; common sense would suggest otherwise. It’s significant that bin al-Shibh is also the authority for the claim that Atta never went to Prague to meet with an Iraqi intelligence agent. Maybe the Commission’s trust in that assertion should also be re-thought.
Via Power Line News.
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