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Mahathir Lambasts FBI, Says Malaysia Not Launch Pad For Sept 11 Attacks
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| Mahathir:
"There is no Malaysian connection in the US attacks" |
By Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA,
January 29 (IslamOnline) - Malaysian Premier, Mahathir Mohammad, denied charges
by Newsweek magazine that Malaysia was probably the launch pad for the September
11 attacks on New York, news reports said on Monday.
The
charges were met with indignation at Putra Jaya, the administrative and
political heart of Malaysia. Mahathir urged the U.S. based weekly to provide
proof of the secret FBI allegation that his country was at the center of the
deadly operations that struck U.S. financial and military targets.
In
its latest edition, Newsweek said that U.S. intelligence sources believe former
Malaysian army captain, Yazid Sufaat, helped develop a support network for Osama
bin Laden in Malaysia and throughout Southeast Asia.
Sufaat
is one of 23 alleged Islamic militants who have been detained under the Internal
Security Act (ISA) during the past two months.
As
the key man, he would place Malaysia at the center of the turmoil in the
aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
The
FBI believes Malaysia was the primary launch pad where the suspects met and
discussed or even drew plans that led to the attacks.
Last
year the FBI revealed that two of the suspects who died in the airplane
hijacking operations that wrecked the World Trade Center (WTC) and damaged the
Pentagon, had visited Malaysia in 2000.
In
January 2000, Sufaat allegedly held a meeting in his Kuala Lumpur condominium
with top associates of Osama bin Laden in accordance with instructions given to
him by an Indonesian cleric.
The
cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, is said to have ties with Al-Qaeda. However, on
Thursday, January 24, 2002, he denied having any ties with Osama bin Laden,
though he agreed that he admired the struggle of the Saudi-born dissident.
Two
of those who attended the alleged meeting in Kuala Lumpur - Khalid Almidhar and
Nawaf Alhazmi - surfaced in the United States where they enrolled in flight
schools and later piloted the plane that struck the Pentagon, the Newsweek
report claimed.
 In
Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad demanded proof to support the "secret" FBI
report, adding that: "As far as we know, there is no Malaysian connection
in the attacks in the U.S."
Malaysian
police in Kuala Lumpur said Sufaat is a member of the Malaysian Militant Group
(KMM) which planned to topple the government. The police discounted suggestions
of a role being played by the KMM in the U.S. attacks.
"What
we do know is that there are Malaysians who go to train in Pakistan and
Afghanistan and have come back with the intention to destabilize this
country," Mahathir said on Monday.
"Let's
see the evidence. It is very easy to say ... did he (Yazid) do it in Malaysia?
Did he plan everything? I doubt it. It is too sophisticated an operation."
He
said some individuals implicated in the U.S. attacks might have come to Malaysia
as tourists but authorities could not arrest them as they were not aware of
their backgrounds or plans.
Newsweek
claimed that "Kuala Lumpur is the perfect place for Arabs to lie low taking
into consideration that Arab tourists and Malaysian law allows Muslims to enter
and exit the country without visas."
The
fact that Sufaat hosted Zacarias Moussaoui, a French national of Moroccan
descent, the only man charged so far in connection with the September 11
attacks, raised the concern of the FBI.
Allegedly,
Sufaat gave Moussaoui letters of employment as "marketing consultant"
for Infocus Tech, which were found in his Minneapolis apartment, and agreed to
pay him US$2,500 a month during his stay in the U.S. along with a lump sum of
US$35,000 to get him started.
In
January this year, Sufaat denied having any contacts with Moussaoui, saying his
company was so small it did not need an agent based in the U.S.
Court
papers supporting the indictment of Moussaoui suggested that Sufaat’s company
effectively employed the French Moroccan citizen. Moussaoui reportedly visited
Bangkok and Malaysia in 2001.
News
agencies say that last December, Malaysian investigators discovered that Sufaat
had ordered four tons of ammonium nitrate, a powerful explosive used in truck
bombs.
Police
in Kuala Lumpur say Sufaat, 38, a biochemistry graduate of California State
University, was arrested on December 9.
Singapore
authorities said that Sufaat was also the leader of the Jemaah Islamiah, whose
members (15 Malay-Muslims) were arrested in December under the ISA.
The
Jemaah Islamiah, Singapore says, was planning to bomb the U.S. embassy and other
Western targets in the island state.
In
Kuala Lumpur’s diplomatic circles, the allegations by the FBI are seen as an
attempt to discredit Malaysia, a country that has always supported the
Palestinian cause.
Malaysia
has so far arrested more than 45 men allegedly belonging to the KMM. It is
continuing a crack down on alleged militancy among Malay Muslims indicating that
another 200 people are members of the Mujahidin group.
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