“In February [1996], Sudan’s defense minister, General Elfatih Erwa, secretly visited the United States to propose a trade: Osama bin Laden’s extradition to Saudi Arabia to stand trial in return for an easing of U.S. economic sanctions against Khartoum. …the White House contacted the FBI’s JTTF [Joint Terrorism Task Force] and the SDNY [Southern District […]
Category: quotes
2/7/1996
“Citing security concerns, U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher had ordered all American personnel to leave the embassy in Khartoum [Sudan] in February [7] 1996. Later, the CIA would have to ‘withdraw’ more than one hundred of its reports on Sudan when its main source–a rebel sympathizer earning $100 per report–failed a routine polygraph test. […]
2/6/1996
U.S. ambassador to Sudan Timothy Carney met with Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha on February 6, 1996, to discuss Sudan’s support for terrorists. “Osama bin Laden was one of Sudan’s biggest sources of grief in Washington, Carney said. Sudan should expel him and provide information to the United States about his finances and his […]
1/22/1996
According to The New York Times on January 22, 1996, following the sentencing of militant Islamist Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman on January 17, 1996, “in Cairo [Egypt], the Islamic Group [aka Gamma’a al’Islamiya] issued a pledge: ‘The Gamma’a al’Islamiya vow[s] to God that it will respond blow for blow. American interests and people will be […]
1/17/1996
On January 17, 1996, “Sheikh [Omar Abdel] Rahman is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Day of Terror plot. But in a precursor of things to come, Egyptian U.S. postal worker Ahmed Abdel Sattar vows that ‘the man will never be silenced,’ and the al Gamma’a Islamiya (IG)–the Egyptian terrorist group […]
1/17/1996
“On January 17, 1996, the presiding judge [at the ‘Day of Terror’ trial in New York] handed out life sentences to the ten defendants who hadn’t entered into plea agreements with the government. El-Sayyid Nosair was finally convicted in the murder of Meir Kahane, as well as other charges, and sentenced to life in prison. […]
1/15/1996
Regarding Osama bin Laden: “In January 1996, the CIA created a counterterrorism unit of a dozen people devoted entirely to the Saudi–the bin Laden station. There was a sense that he might start taking aim at American targets abroad.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.] – Tim Weiner, Legacy of […]
1/15/1996
“In January 1996, the Intelligence Community obtained information concerning a planned suicide attack by persons associated with [militant Islamist] Shaykh [Omar Abdel] al-Rahman and a key al Qaeda operative to fly to the United States from Afghanistan and attack the White House.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.] – Peter […]
1/15/1996
“The CIA’s Counter-Terrorism Center (CTC) had established a special bin Laden unit in January 1996. By 1998, more than one hundred case officers and intelligence analysts were serving on the bin Laden station.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.] – Richard Miniter, Losing Bin Laden, Page 165 […]
1/15/1996
“Before January [1996] was over, the CIA had created ‘Alec Station,’ the first ‘virtual’ office that focused on a specific individual (as opposed to a country). Formally known as ‘the bin Laden issue station,’ it was initially staffed by sixteen analysts and located in an office park a few miles from the headquarters at Langley […]