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November 15, 2005
Was Al-Farouq's escape 'staged' ?
Topics: IraqIt's yesterday's news, but I missed it. A former intelligence chief says that the escape of terrorist suspect Omar al-Farouq from the United States detention may be a ploy to track down most-wanted terror master Osama bin Laden.
A.M. Hendropriyono, former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) director, told The Jakarta Post on Friday that he had strong grounds to suspect a hidden agenda behind the escape of al-Farouq, a Kuwait-born terrorist suspect who Indonesia handed over to the U.S. in September 2002, one month before the Bali blasts that killed 202 people.So, which story is true, and does it matter? In either case, it could be a win. If Hendropriyono's premise is correct, it's a win. If not, getting a story out that makes al-Farouq to be a traitor, makes him useless to al-Qaeda, or at the least, how do they know that they can trust him? And just how was it that he escaped from a secure prison with such ease? There's much more to this story than meets the eye. And we may never know the truth."Following his escape, al-Farouq appeared in an interview with an Arabian TV station brandishing an automatic rifle. It is impossible that a terrorist group would trust and give him a gun after three years in U.S. detention. It is possible that he was prepared by his users to conduct a special mission.
"Second, it is quite strange that Washington remained silent about al-Farouq's escape. It can be assumed that U.S. security authorities were informed of his escape from the prison in July, but until now, President George W. Bush has not explained it, at least not to the American public," he said.
Hendropriyono, who was responsible for al-Farouq's transfer to U.S. custody, said it was very likely that al-Farouq had been brainwashed during his confinement at the Baghram maximum security detention center in Afghanistan.
"Brainwashing does not take years, it can take just two days," he said.
Hendropriyono said it appeared that al-Farouq's brainwashing had been effective as al-Farouq was cooperative and provided detailed information when two Indonesian police officer questioned him in Afghanistan following the hand-over. Al-Farouq had led the police to Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who is serving his 30-month jail term for conspiring the 2002 Bali blasts.
He also said it was possible that the U.S. was using al-Farouq to trace terrorist networks in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and locate bin Laden, who is still at large following the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the U.S.
But neither will Al-Qaeda!
Related reading: Confessions of an al-Qaeda Terrorist
Hat tip - In The Bullpen
Posted by Richard at November 15, 2005 1:39 PM
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