More stuff that makes one go "hmmmmm".....
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=68905B3A-BEA6-4050-B018-4C6CA1F0DB03Four Chinese nationals who were arrested while being smuggled into the US from Mexico have no connection to terrorism and are simply illegal immigrants, Department of Homeland Security officials said today. "We do not believe and all indications from all the queries we have run through our joint task force agents, indicate that this is not connected to the Chinese involvement in the alerts in Boston," Alonzo R. Pena, Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said late this morning.
The case raised alarm bells because a tipster told federal officials last week that Chinese nationals being smuggled into the U.S. through Mexico were planning to set off a 'dirty bomb' in Boston. The tip led to increased security in the Boston area. Pena said the four had valid Chinese passports and the names and information on those passports was put through the government's data base of terrorist suspects, as compared with a list of Chinese nationals said to be involved in the dirty bomb plot which was released last week.
The owner of the plane, Hamid Afzal, operates a flying service, Alpha Tango Flying Service in San Antonio, and he said he has rented this plane to this same pilot before. "I rent it out for recreational flights," Afzal said. "The guy has always brought the airplane back in the past with no problem."
Afzal said he was 'shocked' to see his plane on news coverage of the incident. He said he had 'no knowledge' that his plane was being used for immigrant smuggling. Pena declined to comment on the ownership of the airplane, or somment on whether Afxzal's Arabic name heightened concerned about this incident
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Stuff googled on the company:
http://www.elexi.de/en/a/al/alpha_tango_flying_service.htmlAlpha Tango Flying Service
Alpha Tango is a flight school in San Antonio Texas that caters to mainly Mexican and Saudi Arabian/ Arabic foreign students. The equipment is poorly maintained and the operation is lax. If the FAA doesn't close them down before they kill someone I'll be suprised
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http://abdul_hakim_murad.exsudo.com/Abdul Hakim Ali Hashim Murad (January 4, 1968-) was an alleged conspirator in the Operation Bojinka planned terrorist attacks.
He used the alias Ahmed Saeed when Manila police apprehended him. He was mentioned on Ramzi Yousef's laptop personal computer as Obaid.
He was the Pakistani-born son of a crane operator working for a petroleum company in Kuwait. He graduated from a high school in Al-Jery, Kuwait.
He would then attend a series of flight schools, including Emirates Flying School in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,
the Alpha Tango Flying Service in San Antonio, Texas, and flight schools Schenectady, New York, New Bern, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Pasay City, Philippines. On June 8, 1992, he received a commercial pilot's license from Coastal Aviation Incorporated after completing 275 hours of required flight time.
Ramzi Yousef, a friend of Murad's who attended terrorist camps in Afghanistan, taught Murad how to make bombs in Lahore, Pakistan. During one of the practice sessions, a bomb exploded in Yousef's face, reducing the ability of one of his eyes to see.
While they were in Metro Manila in the Philippines, Murad and Yousef often went to two karaoke bars, the XO on Adriatico Sreet, and the Firehouse on Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City. According to Murad, they never went to the mosque.
As part of the Bojinka plot, Murad was slated to bomb two United Airlines aircraft, and was also slated to be the suicide pilot that would pilot a small plane filled with explosives into the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
He was arrested shortly after police arrived at the Doña Josefa Apartments in Manila, Philippines in January 6, 1995, soon after a fire occurred when Murad was mixing chemicals. He left after the fire, but came back after the fire was put out to remove the laptop computer in the apartment, which contained the plans for the attack. He called himself Ahmed Saeed as he was being arrested. He offered 110,740 Philippine pesos ($2,000 U.S. dollars) to the Manila police if they let him go. Although they did not make that much money in a year, Aida Fariscal, the watch commander, refused to let him go. Police grew suspicious after "Saeed" mumbled that, "two Satans that must be destroyed: the Pope and America." This led a further search of room 603, where they found a bomb factory and a computer with data relating to the plot.
"Saeed" was sent to Camp Crame, a military installation outside of Manila. Murad at first taunted investigators. For 67 days, he was subjected to "tactical interrogation", what Manila authorities called his torture. According to journalists Marites Vitug and Glenda Gloria, both of whom wrote the book Under the Crescent Moon, agents hit Murad with a chair or a long piece of wood when he didn't talk. They forced water down his throat and pressed cigarette lights on his private parts. His ribs had completely been cracked, and agents were surprised that he survived.
He finally confessed after the 67 days. When an agent pretended to be a Mossad agent and told Murad that he was being taken to Israel, Murad's fear of Jews finally broke him, according to an investiagtor.
Abdul Hakim Murad was sent to the United States on April 12, 1995 and would later help convict Yousef based on Murad's testimony. Murad got a life sentence to prison on May 16, 1998.
He was found to have many aliases. A Pakistani passport found had "Abdul Hakim, student, age 26, Pakistani passport No. C665334, issued in Kuwait."
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