WASHINGTON: Classified military files obtained by the WikiLeaks website reveal a range of potential al-Qaida plots against the US, including post-9/11 aircraft attacks on the West Coast, The New York Times reported Monday.
The schemes — none of which were executed — are described in US military assessments of terrorism suspects being held at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Those detainees include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
One of the dossiers described by the Times concerns Saifullah Paracha, a New York travel agent for years who allegedly worked with Mohammed on plots to follow up on the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. One plan suggested by Paracha involved smuggling plastic explosives in shipments of clothing bound for the US, the Times reported. The US assessment of Mohammed, posted on the WikiLeaks site, describes an early 2002 meeting with former Chicago gang member Jose Padilla. The file says Mohammed directed Padilla to rent an apartment in Chicago and "initiate a natural gas explosion to cause the building to collapse." Mohammed also told Padilla to "study feasibility" of setting fire to a hotel or gas station, the assessment says.
Padilla was accused in 2002 of plotting to blow up a radioactive "dirty bomb." though those claims were eventually dropped. He was later convicted along with two others in an unrelated terrorism plot.
The Mohammed file also includes discussions of plots to hijack cargo planes, hack into bank computers and cut the cables holding up the Brooklyn Bridge. The Times said the assessments were obtained last year by WikiLeaks but provided to the newspaper by another source. AP
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