"WASHINGTON (Agencies): The United States is expecting a terrorist
attack orchestrated by the Saudi extremist Osama bin Laden soon, and
has placed its forces in the Middle East on the highest level of
alert." 7/22/2001

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Subject: Taliban praise Bin Ladin
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian, soc.culture.pakistan, soc.culture.usa,
alt.religion.islam
View: Complete Thread (2 articles) | Original Format
Date: 2001-07-22 15:25:52 PST

Bush just needs to win one war to become popular the world
over , and the next terrorist attack on USA by Bin Ladin could give
him the chance.

Taliban Diplomat Praises Bin Laden

Saturday, July 21, 2001 3:02 PM EDT

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- A diplomat representing Afghanistan's
Taliban rulers said suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden should be
praised for his services to Afghanistan and vowed never to deliver him
to the United States, a news agency reported.

``Osama is our benefactor and a holy warrior,'' Abdul Salam Zaeef told
Pakistani religious students Saturday in Abbottbad in northwestern
Pakistan, according to the News Network International.

Zaeef, the Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan, said handing bin Laden
over would betray ``our sacrifices,'' referring to the Islamic
insurgency against the invading Soviet Union in 1979. ``Osama's
protection is our m{*filter*}and Islamic duty,'' he said.

Bin Laden, who helped fight against Russian soldiers throughout their
10-year occupation of Afghanistan, is accused by the United States of
masterminding bombings that killed 224 people at two American
embassies in Africa in 1998.

The billionaire Saudi exile has been living since early 1996 in
Afghanistan, where he was granted refuge status.

The United States imposed sanctions against Afghanistan to punish the
Taliban for not handing over bin Laden, and last year, at American
urging, the United Nations did the same.

Zaeef said the United States has no evidence of bin Laden's
involvement in terrorism.

The Taliban militia controls about 95 percent of Afghanistan and
espouses a strict version of Islam. But most Muslim countries,
including neighboring Pakistan, which is considered a close ally of
the Taliban, have said the Taliban's version of Islam reflects their
tribal culture rather than Islamic teachings.

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Coded message allegedly reveals Osama's plot

Frontier Post
7/22/2001 6:28:08 PM

WASHINGTON (Agencies): The United States is expecting a terrorist
attack orchestrated by the Saudi extremist Osama bin Laden soon, and
has placed its forces in the Middle East on the highest level of
alert.State Department officials said intelligence services had
intercepted a coded message to one of bin Laden's senior operatives
outlining plans for the attack.

The suspected target was in either Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, the
officials said.

They described the intelligence as highly credible and instantly
issued the warning through military and diplomatic channels.

The State Department has had all its embassies on a heightened level
of alert since late May, when four of bin Laden's followers were
convicted in a New York court over the 1998 bombings of two US
embassies in Africa.

Intelligence services have been expecting a reprisal attack since the
verdict and believe on the basis of the intercepted message that one
is now imminent.

The message was being sent to a bin Laden associate known to be
involved in a radical cell of terrorists operating on the Arabian
Peninsula.

"In the past such individuals have not distinguished between official
and civilian targets," the State Department said.

"As always, we take this information seriously.

US government facilities remain at a heightened state of alert.

American citizens in the region are urged to remain vigilant with
regard to their personal security and to exercise caution." Government
officials said their public warning was in line with US policy, which
dictates that US citizens be told if there is credible evidence of a
possible terrorist attack.

Bin Laden remains at large but has been indicted by the US Federal
Court for his role in masterminding the simultaneous 1998 attacks on
the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Several of his followers, apart from the four convicted men, have also
been indicted and are being sought by international intelligence
services.

The US launched a series of missile attacks on bin Laden's reputed
training sites in Afghanistan and on a Sudanese pharmaceutical company
suspected of making chemical weapons.

Bin Laden is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan with the sanction of
the Taliban Government.

He rose to prominence as a soldier with the US-supported mujahideen
guerilla fighters in Afghanistan's war against the Soviet Union in the
1980s, then pursued lucrative business dealings in Saudi Arabia and
became a leading campaigner against US influence.

The exiled financier is suspected of masterminding a series of
terrorist attacks in recent years, including the suicide bombing of
the USS Cole in Yemen in October that killed 17 sailors.

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