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| Southeast Asia |
| Euro al-Qaeda operatives met up in Malaysia |
| 2004-10-22 |
| Convicted French terrorist Lionel Dumont, who visited Malaysia no less than six times, had secretly met up with another al-Qaeda suspect Andrew Rowe, a British national, in Penang on at least two occasions. The two men have been accused by security authorities of wanting to blow up London's Heathrow Airport but it was aborted when intelligence agencies caught on to their plan. "The two met at a rented house in Penang for their meetings. We can confirm that but we cannot reveal more information as security forces are still continuing their investigations," a source said. The plan to blow up Heathrow Airport was foiled when security agencies received intelligence about it and put the airport on full alert in February last year. Unknown to the two, security agencies had already put the tail on them. Dumont, who is of Algerian descent, and Rowe, of Jamaican descent, are now in the custody of German and British authorities respectively following their arrest last year. Rowe is also a Mujahideen fighter like Dumont having fought in Bosnia and Afghanistan. The Star had reported yesterday that Dumont had entered Malaysia six times between 2002 and 2003, using a forged passport bearing the name Tinet Gerald Camille. The 34-year-old militant was arrested in Germany in December last year. Rowe was nabbed in Dover in October 2003 as he crossed over from France through the English Channel tunnel. The 32-year-old unemployed from northwest London, has been charged for three offences of possessing articles for use in terrorism. He was also charged with two counts of making a record of information for terrorist purposes. The charges against Rowe refer to a pair of socks attached with a cord, instructions on how to use mortar and a "substitution code." He has denied all charges and is being remanded until January 2005 under the Terrorism Act when he is due to face trial. Security sources said the German, British and Malaysian agencies are investigating more about the two, said to be linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. "The agencies suspect the two had wanted to use mortars to fire shells at the control tower, runways and passenger planes at the airport in March 2003," said one source. The source said Dumont last entered Malaysia in Sept 2003 and had stayed for only a few hours, probably on transit to another destination. He had used Japan as a base for a year travelling around the region and Europe. The Malaysian police also believed that Dumont had met several Arabs while in Malaysia. He has been blamed for several incidents including an attempted bombing of a police headquarters prior to the start of the Group of Seven economic summit in Lyons, France, in June 1996. Dumont is suspected of planning to set up an al-Qaeda cell in Japan, where he set up a second hand car business, as well as to raise funds for the network via money laundering. He had fought as a mujahideen in Bosnia to fight the ethnic war in early 1990s and had linked up with an Egyptian radical group, Takfir Wal Hijra (Renunciation and Exile). A former French soldier in Somalia, he was also active in a French radical group who called themselves Groupe Roubaix. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 So these are "militants", eh? Exactly what military do they belong to? |
| Posted by: lex 2004-10-22 10:44:21 AM |