Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
Pakistani Officials Thwart Attempt to Assassinate U.S. Diplomats
Aired December 15, 2002 - 08:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: We are learning more about a breaking story out of Pakistan. Pakistani officials say that they have thwarted another attempt to assassinate American diplomats. This one was apparently supposed to be a car bombing and suspects have been arrested.
Let's go live to CNN producer Sayed Moshin Naqvi, who is in Karachi on the phone -- Sayed, what can you tell us about these suspects and this apparent bomb plot?
SAYED MOSHIN NAQVI, CNN PRODUCER: Karachi police yesterday have arrested three people who were planning to kill two senior American diplomats. These people are from organization Naer Alqata Jihadi Islami (ph). Police also told CNN that these people got training in Afghanistan. They haven't told any connection with al Qaeda yet. They are still investigating them. But they think that they will get some type of indication that they have some type of connection with al Qaeda.
Police have also found a car in which there was 10 kilos of explosives in it. These people got arrested from a warehouse in Karachi. The police have also recovered two 50 bags of ammonium nitrate, which you usually use for car bombings and this kind of stuff. So that is also very prominent.
MOLINEAUX: Now, is there any indication as to the history of this group? Is this group someone that we have heard about before and connected to any militancy or terrorism?
NAQVI: Yes. One person who got arrested, Ashid Raheed (ph), he, police sources are telling us that this person was also involved in the Sheraton Hotel attack on 8th May, and this person was also involved in a lot of other murder cases and attacks on diplomats here in Pakistan. So he is a very key fellow, person.
MOLINEAUX: And now this May 8th bombing killed 11 French engineers as well as three Pakistanis outside of a hotel. Is there any indication from the Pakistani authorities how they actually tracked down these suspects?
NAQVI: Actually, they raided quite a few places in this last one week and they have arrested a few other people also, but they were not prominent and so that this one, the raid which they have done yesterday is a very prominent one and they arrested these three people who were planning to kill two American senior diplomats. MOLINEAUX: OK, thank you very much, Sayed Moshin Naqvi.
A very disturbing story. Of course, we've been hearing about al Qaeda, if a connection with al Qaeda is established, has been planning to go after American diplomats around the world.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we've been talking about soft targets. We were talking about that just before the break.
We want to go back to our security analyst, Kelly McCann, to talk more about this targeting of soft targets.
So it's happened again, Kelly.
J. KELLY MCCANN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Absolutely, Carol. You know, the thing is is a lot of people believe that the start point of all of this was 9/11 because it was the most significant event. But it wasn't. I mean terrorism has been going on for a long time and obviously there is no stop point. You merely endure a war on terrorism by sustaining fewer casualties and engaging more of the opponent than they can of you.
So I think this is a clear indication of what I was saying last segment, which is their intent is to continue to do this and we have to be clear on that.
COSTELLO: Do you know anything about this group who's accused of doing this, this Alqata Jihadi Islami?
MCCANN: The wire that was just handed to me links them to the same attack that was occurred, that occurred against the French engineers in the Club Roda (ph) region of Karachi. And that region is where all the five star hotels are, where a lot of the expatriates and diplomats stay. And it's been used over and over again all the way back to the four people that were killed from Union Texas Petroleum that were killed in retaliation for Emil Hanzi (ph) being sentenced to death.
So that region, obviously, of the city is scrutinized by terrorists because they know that they can get to people.
COSTELLO: And police also recovered 250 bags of ammonium nitrate and a Volkswagen packed with 10 kilograms of explosive material. That's a lot of firepower.
MCCANN: And to give you an idea of the effect of that, Carol, an ammonium nitrate bomb can also be called a fertilizer bomb. It depends on how it's configured. But that was the same kind of configuration that was used in the Oklahoma City bombing. So it could have been a very significant event.
COSTELLO: That U.S. diplomats are being targeted, are any precautions being taken, extra -- I mean I know since Mr. Foley was killed, there have been extra precautions taken. But are they enough?
MCCANN: They are. The regional security officers, who are the ones that basically guide the security efforts around diplomats overseas from the embassies, when a lot of the diplomats travel, they've already been trained in a lot of different types of protective measures, anti-terrorist driving techniques, different methods of surveillance detection, etc. But, you know, time is your enemy. And as you are in an area and you don't perceive that anything's happening, people have a tendency to become complacent, and it's human nature.
So I think that incidents like this, near misses always wake people up, always make people suddenly pay more attention to the individual protective measures that they've been trained to employ.
COSTELLO: OK, I have to ask you this before I go because Charles brings up a good point. So they're now targeting U.S. diplomats. But the word is out on that, so maybe they'll stop. How in danger are American tourists overseas and will they become targets?
MCCANN: There is no predicting what these people will do other than to say they will be unpredictable. In other words, and I've said this many times, Carol, even on the network, is the way that you get in front of this problem is not trying to predict necessarily the exact point they're going to interact with you. Sure, you'll do that.
The way that you get in front of it is by generally, across-the- board, embracing the fact that if you are an American, diplomat or businessman or connected to an American company, you are at risk, and that is a significant understanding. Until people realize their value to these terrorist groups as a target, then they will continue to let themselves be vulnerable. So I think that better what we need to do is just get everybody on board with this program and move ahead.
COSTELLO: All right, Kelly McCann, thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Diplomats>
Aired December 15, 2002 - 08:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: We are learning more about a breaking story out of Pakistan. Pakistani officials say that they have thwarted another attempt to assassinate American diplomats. This one was apparently supposed to be a car bombing and suspects have been arrested.
Let's go live to CNN producer Sayed Moshin Naqvi, who is in Karachi on the phone -- Sayed, what can you tell us about these suspects and this apparent bomb plot?
SAYED MOSHIN NAQVI, CNN PRODUCER: Karachi police yesterday have arrested three people who were planning to kill two senior American diplomats. These people are from organization Naer Alqata Jihadi Islami (ph). Police also told CNN that these people got training in Afghanistan. They haven't told any connection with al Qaeda yet. They are still investigating them. But they think that they will get some type of indication that they have some type of connection with al Qaeda.
Police have also found a car in which there was 10 kilos of explosives in it. These people got arrested from a warehouse in Karachi. The police have also recovered two 50 bags of ammonium nitrate, which you usually use for car bombings and this kind of stuff. So that is also very prominent.
MOLINEAUX: Now, is there any indication as to the history of this group? Is this group someone that we have heard about before and connected to any militancy or terrorism?
NAQVI: Yes. One person who got arrested, Ashid Raheed (ph), he, police sources are telling us that this person was also involved in the Sheraton Hotel attack on 8th May, and this person was also involved in a lot of other murder cases and attacks on diplomats here in Pakistan. So he is a very key fellow, person.
MOLINEAUX: And now this May 8th bombing killed 11 French engineers as well as three Pakistanis outside of a hotel. Is there any indication from the Pakistani authorities how they actually tracked down these suspects?
NAQVI: Actually, they raided quite a few places in this last one week and they have arrested a few other people also, but they were not prominent and so that this one, the raid which they have done yesterday is a very prominent one and they arrested these three people who were planning to kill two American senior diplomats. MOLINEAUX: OK, thank you very much, Sayed Moshin Naqvi.
A very disturbing story. Of course, we've been hearing about al Qaeda, if a connection with al Qaeda is established, has been planning to go after American diplomats around the world.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we've been talking about soft targets. We were talking about that just before the break.
We want to go back to our security analyst, Kelly McCann, to talk more about this targeting of soft targets.
So it's happened again, Kelly.
J. KELLY MCCANN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Absolutely, Carol. You know, the thing is is a lot of people believe that the start point of all of this was 9/11 because it was the most significant event. But it wasn't. I mean terrorism has been going on for a long time and obviously there is no stop point. You merely endure a war on terrorism by sustaining fewer casualties and engaging more of the opponent than they can of you.
So I think this is a clear indication of what I was saying last segment, which is their intent is to continue to do this and we have to be clear on that.
COSTELLO: Do you know anything about this group who's accused of doing this, this Alqata Jihadi Islami?
MCCANN: The wire that was just handed to me links them to the same attack that was occurred, that occurred against the French engineers in the Club Roda (ph) region of Karachi. And that region is where all the five star hotels are, where a lot of the expatriates and diplomats stay. And it's been used over and over again all the way back to the four people that were killed from Union Texas Petroleum that were killed in retaliation for Emil Hanzi (ph) being sentenced to death.
So that region, obviously, of the city is scrutinized by terrorists because they know that they can get to people.
COSTELLO: And police also recovered 250 bags of ammonium nitrate and a Volkswagen packed with 10 kilograms of explosive material. That's a lot of firepower.
MCCANN: And to give you an idea of the effect of that, Carol, an ammonium nitrate bomb can also be called a fertilizer bomb. It depends on how it's configured. But that was the same kind of configuration that was used in the Oklahoma City bombing. So it could have been a very significant event.
COSTELLO: That U.S. diplomats are being targeted, are any precautions being taken, extra -- I mean I know since Mr. Foley was killed, there have been extra precautions taken. But are they enough?
MCCANN: They are. The regional security officers, who are the ones that basically guide the security efforts around diplomats overseas from the embassies, when a lot of the diplomats travel, they've already been trained in a lot of different types of protective measures, anti-terrorist driving techniques, different methods of surveillance detection, etc. But, you know, time is your enemy. And as you are in an area and you don't perceive that anything's happening, people have a tendency to become complacent, and it's human nature.
So I think that incidents like this, near misses always wake people up, always make people suddenly pay more attention to the individual protective measures that they've been trained to employ.
COSTELLO: OK, I have to ask you this before I go because Charles brings up a good point. So they're now targeting U.S. diplomats. But the word is out on that, so maybe they'll stop. How in danger are American tourists overseas and will they become targets?
MCCANN: There is no predicting what these people will do other than to say they will be unpredictable. In other words, and I've said this many times, Carol, even on the network, is the way that you get in front of this problem is not trying to predict necessarily the exact point they're going to interact with you. Sure, you'll do that.
The way that you get in front of it is by generally, across-the- board, embracing the fact that if you are an American, diplomat or businessman or connected to an American company, you are at risk, and that is a significant understanding. Until people realize their value to these terrorist groups as a target, then they will continue to let themselves be vulnerable. So I think that better what we need to do is just get everybody on board with this program and move ahead.
COSTELLO: All right, Kelly McCann, thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Diplomats>
