Francis Report 01-13

Dave Francis

On January 10th, George W. Bush sent a message to Iran. By political standards, it was blunt, and to the point of being rude. He warned Iran against giving refuge to al Qaeda terrorists, and it appears that now there may have been a good reason for him doing so.

There lives in Teheran one of the worlds most dangerous men. Imad Mughniyeh, a former chief of terrorist organization Hezbollah, and currently terrorist in chief for the Iranian government of Ali Khameini has reared his murderous head once again.

As reported in The Francis Report in October of last year, Imad Mughniyeh, or ‘The Lebanese Carlos,’ as he is often referred to in the intelligence community, has long had close ties to al Qaeda and Osama bin Ladin. Immediately after the September 11th attacks on America, a member of the Israeli intelligence community pointed the blame directly at Mughniyeh. Based on information uncovered in the beginning of August, more than a month before the attack on America, Israeli intelligence tried to warn the US government that something was up. Speaking anonymously, the Israeli intel man said, “We only got scraps of information… but it was good enough for us to send a warning six weeks ago to our allies that an unprecedented terror attack was expected. Mughniyeh met with some dormant agents on secret trips to Germany, and we believe that the brains behind the WTC attack are Mughniyeh and Zawahiri. They probably got financial and logistical support from Iraqi Intelligence.”

Classified by Aman, (Israeli army intelligence) as a clinical psychopath, Mughniyeh has a long expressed hatred for America, a hatred which has been exacerbated by the death of two brothers who have been killed by Americans in anti-terror operations. It is believed that it was Mughniyeh who was responsible for the kidnapping and death of CIA station chief William Buckley from the Lebanon in the 80’s. Sources report that Mughniyeh tortured and murdered Buckley with his own hands.

It now is known that Mughniyeh has been doing his part to help his fellow murderers to escape Afghanistan.

Reports are circulating that al Qaeda operatives, including Osama bin Ladin were helped to leave Afghanistan through a circuitous route through Iran. According to sources, bin Ladin, his chief aide and strategist Mohamed al Zawahiri, and as many as thousands of other al Qaeda operatives have left Afghanistan, escaping to Iran where they were loaded upon vessels in the gulf and taken to an undisclosed location, probably East Africa. This escape was only possible with the help of Imad Mughniyeh, and the government of Iran.

It is now known that in early December, bin Ladin was sighted in southwest Afghanistan, near a city called Herat. It was here that bin Ladin and his party met up with members of Mughniyeh’s organization and were brought to the border, near a town called Ghurian. From there, they traveled under the dual protection of Mughniyeh and the Iranian secret service in a long, winding route that eventually led them to the Iranian navy base in Bandar Abbas, on the Persian Gulf. Here, bin Ladin and his crew were put aboard a ferry and taken to an Iranian island in the Straits of Hormuz where they boarded a vessel for parts unknown. (The same ferry, incidentally, carried the arms shipment that was put aboard the Karine-A, the ship caught smuggling arms to the Palestinian authority recently by Israeli intelligence. The Karine-A is believed to be one of 8 ships owned by Mughniyeh used for arms smuggling.)

Rumors have them going to Yemen, Saudi Arabia, or as many as a dozen possible destinations in east Africa. One thing is apparent though. Bin Ladin has lived to fight another day, and he has done so with the active participation of the Iranian government, and one of its top hands, Imad Mughniyeh.

(The map that is included is in Russian. It shows the area around Herat)

What a change! For years the US government has been telling the Russians that it should play nice in Chechnya. “These guys need to be reasoned with,” we scolded, “not fought with. Bring them to the bargaining table. Agreements can be reached through reasonable means.” We had been laying the Chechen problem at the door of the Russians for years, much to the consternation of Moscow officials, who have been trying to solve their Chechen problems for so long that it was the subject of a short story by Leo Tolstoy. (Incidentally, The Cossack is the name, and it reads like current news, though it was written in 1863.)

It appears that now, after September 11th, we may be understanding, finally, that some people can’t be negotiated with. Among the captured al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan are, according to Bill Gertz of the Washington Times, ‘a significant number of Chechens.’

It looks like we will be turning them over to Moscow. Maybe the Kremlin will play nice and reason with them….. I hope not.

US Special Forces are in the Philippines. The island nation has long been a site for terrorism, and with the new attention being focused since 9-11, it looks as though the days may be numbered for the radical Abu Sayyaf group, which has been wreaking havoc for years. Abu Sayyaf currently holds Martin and Gracia Burnham, two US missionaries hostage, in spite of attempts by the Filipino government to free them.

The US troops are there to help train the Phillipine Armed Forces in how to deal with terrorist groups. In addition to manpower, the US has also provided them with equipment, including a C-130 transport plane, eight UH-1 Huey helicopters and 30,000 rifles.

Dave Francis
St.Perersburg Russia
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