Ключевой элемент - в следующих словах:
Spanish police intercepted telephone calls in August and September between an al-Qaida operative and the apparent leader of the Spanish-based cell, Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, in which they allegedly spoke in code about the suicide attacks, judge Baltasar Garzon wrote in his indictment on Sunday.
Garzon said that in an Aug. 27 conversation, the al-Qaida operative, identified only as Shakur, told Yarkas: "I have cut all communications and I am more tranquil psychologically."
Shakur added: "At this time, I am doing something, I am taking classes. In the classes we have entered the field of aviation and we've even cut the throat of the bird." <...>
The indictment said Shakur was a "suspected member of the suicide commandos," though none of the suspected hijackers are identified by that name.
Откуда звонил этот Шакур? Где он брал уроки? Какие уроки? Кто этот Шакур? Хотя нельзя исключать, что это и есть искомая ниточка. Но - сомнительно.
Линк
Judge Details Cell Tied to Attacks
By Daniel Woolls
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, November 20, 2001; 4:08 PM
MADRID, Spain –– One lived in a nondescript, mustard-colored apartment building in an upper middle-class neighborhood. Residents say he liked incense, and was tightlipped but polite.
Another was a balding, bespectacled father of four living in another well-to-do part of Madrid. He made a living buying and selling used cars.
But the men's veneer of normality masked a sinister life as Islamic militants loyal to Osama bin Laden who helped organize the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, a Spanish judge charged in an indictment. The men and six others have been jailed on suspicion of membership in the al-Qaida terrorist network.
Spanish police intercepted telephone calls in August and September between an al-Qaida operative and the apparent leader of the Spanish-based cell, Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, in which they allegedly spoke in code about the suicide attacks, judge Baltasar Garzon wrote in his indictment on Sunday.
Garzon said that in an Aug. 27 conversation, the al-Qaida operative, identified only as Shakur, told Yarkas: "I have cut all communications and I am more tranquil psychologically."
Shakur added: "At this time, I am doing something, I am taking classes. In the classes we have entered the field of aviation and we've even cut the throat of the bird." Several of the Sept. 11 hijackers took flying lessons in preparation for their deadly mission.
The indictment said Shakur was a "suspected member of the suicide commandos," though none of the suspected hijackers are identified by that name.
According to Garzon's indictment, Yarkas' Madrid phone number was found in a diary seized at a Hamburg, Germany, apartment where hijacker Mohamed Atta use to live. Authorities believe Atta was the ringleader of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Spain's top investigative magistrate, best known for his attempt to put former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet on trial for human rights abuses, says the Spanish-based al-Qaida cell took root in 1994 at a mosque in Madrid. Members handed out literature describing activities of Muslim militants in countries including Afghanistan.
Yarkas, who was also known as Abu Dahdah, prayed at another mosque that was part of Madrid's Islamic Cultural Center, according to the center's spokesman, Mohamed al Afifi.
Yarkas and 10 other men were arrested in a series of morning raids last week. Three of the 11 were released after a 12-hour interrogation led by Garzon.
The only Spanish-born detainee is Luis Jose Galan, 37, a convert to Islam who changed his name to Yusuf. At the time of his arrest he was living in the same Madrid neighborhood where he was raised, just up the street from his parents' home on Paseo de Rosales, one of Madrid's priciest strips of real estate.
A neighborhood candy store owner who asked not to be named said he remembers Galan as a young boy.
Another merchant, Enrique Perez, who owns a health food store near Galan's home, said Galan regularly bought incense. He wore a Muslim-style tunic and cap and didn't speak much, Perez said.
Meanwhile Tuesday, police announced that they had arrested 11 others suspected of belonging to a Lebanese crime ring that allegedly supplied money and arms to militants in the Middle East. A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, linked the group to Hezbollah and the Syria-backed Amal movement which both operate in southern Lebanon.
Police suspect the gang forged credit cards, robbed tourists and made fraudulent real estate deals. The group allegedly raised $11 million, but police did not say how much of it went to the Middle East.