Some chilly news from littlespeck:
Al Qaeda
Passage to China
A small unit of al Zarqawi's Iraq force has been assigned a new
mission: to start a terror campaign in China. Debka Weekly.
Dec 7, 2005
In mid-September, Al Qaeda diverted a small but potent force from
Iraq to a new mission: the opening of a new front in China.
The unit was smuggled into the Chinese border town of Kushi in the
Xinjiang Uygur province in November, after a meandering journey
traced by DEBKA-Net-Weekly's counter-terror sources.
There, the terrorists were quickly absorbed by the al Qaeda
infrastructure of local Uygur Muslim extremist cells.
Their plan of campaign in the first stage was to reach Beijing,
Guangzhou and Shanghai for strikes against US embassies and
consulates, American firms operating in China and American
tourists.
[A Jihadist Airlift] as having set out from Baghdad between
mid-September and early October, stopping over in Qatar and
proceeding to Konduz in northern Afghanistan for special
training.)
DEBKA-Net-Weekly's sources report the terrorists slipped north from
Konduz into Tajikistan and onto the Kyrgyz section of the strategic
Fergana Valley which straddles Central Asia.
There, they rendezvoused at two places, Osh and Jalal-Abad close to
the Kyrgyz-Uzbekistan border, establishing jumping-off points for
both China and Central Asia.
The Islamist terrorists were guided from Konduz into Kyrgyzstan by
armed men of al Qaeda's operational arm in Uzbekistan, the MUI,
which also has tentacles in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as well as
training camps in the Fergana Valley.
The commander of these cells is Tahir Yuldashev, an old comrade of
Osama bin Laden who fought alongside him in Afghanistan.
In 2004, Yuldashev returned to Tashkent from the badlands of
Pakistan's South Waziristan and was ordered to prepare facilities
in Osh and Jalal-Abad for the incoming terrorist unit.
His payment was a section of the force to boost his campaign
against Uzbek president Karimov.
The unit from Konduz accordingly divided into two heads - the
largest proceeding from Osh into China and fetching up in Kushi,
while the second group assembled in Jalal-Abad, turned west and
crossed into Uzbekistan to set up base in the Fergana town of
Andijon.
American and British military and intelligence officials picked up
the group's arrival at the Konduz training facility, but decided
after consultation that the large-scale forces needed to eradicate
the facility would be hard to muster.
They therefore resolved to await events and meanwhile find out
where the mysterious al Qaeda force was heading.
According to DEBKA-Net-Weekly's intelligence sources, Washington
reported the arrival to Moscow, hoping the counter-terror-trained
Russian Motorised Rifle Division 201 stationed in Uzbekistan would
step in to wipe out the al Qaeda intruders.
The Russians declined to take action, but said they would not
object to Beijing sending Chinese troops over the border to tackle
the incoming terrorists.
This was the first time Moscow had ever consented to the Chinese
military stepping into Central Asian soil and joining the war on
terror in that region.
Clearly, the Kremlin, which frowns on American military bases and
movements in Central Asia, was not eager to pull American chestnuts
out of the fire
The skirmishing between Washington, Moscow and Beijing over who
should tackle the al Qaeda menace - if anyone - had the result of
opening the door for al Qaeda to move a force across half the globe
from Iraq to the Far East unhindered and plant it in western China
and eastern Uzbekistan.
The Chinese government was caught totally unprepared and did its
best to tune out the loud alarums sounded by Chinese military and
security chiefs.
However, on Nov 9, the Chinese police alerted the US embassy in
Beijing to a possible attack by Islamic rebels on luxury hotels
throughout China.
The US embassy accordingly advised American visitors to "review
their plans" to stay at four- and five-star hotels in China over
the coming week.
A sharper notice was issued in the southern Chinese town of
Guangzhou relaying "credible information" that a terrorist threat
may exist against official US government facilities in the
city.
American citizens in south China were advised to remain alert to
possible threats.
China's Ministry of Public Security responded to these warnings,
which were obviously sourced in Chinese police circles, with
anger.
A statement accused an unnamed "foreign citizen" of fabricating the
so-called attack on four- and five-star hotels in China.
The Chinese foreign ministry chipped in with, "Chinese public
security has never issued such a warning for foreigners on the
hotel issue," its spokesman told reporters. "Chinese hotels are
safe!" he added.
US officials diplomatically withdrew their terror alert
notice.
However, while Chinese officials are doing their utmost to calm
fears that could affect the tourist industry, DEBKA-Net-Weekly's
counter-terror sources affirm that a terror alert is indeed in
force in Chinese cities.
