Archive - Thursday, 10 October 2002


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Spy base 'helped to snare' Sept 11 terrorist

MENWITH Hill played a key role in the capture of the al Qaida terrorist who is believed to have helped mastermind the September 11 attacks, it has emerged.

Intelligence chiefs at the North Yorkshire spy base helped snare Ramzi Bin al-Shibh - a member of the same al Qaida cell as plane hijacker Mohamad Atta.

Bin al-Shibh, 30, was captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in a vicious gunfight on the first anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Centre, in New York, and the Pentagon, in Washington.

Mark Birdsall, a top intelligence analyst and editor of intelligence magazine Eye Spy, said there was no doubt that Menwith Hill had played a crucial role in Bin al-Shibh's capture.

Sources believe that the base, run by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), was used to pick up "chatter" from al Qaida suspects, leading the FBI and CIA to Bin al-Shibh's whereabouts. Bin al-Shibh, mooted as a possible successor to Osama bin Laden, was then arrested following a three-hour battle with Pakistani security forces.

Mr Birdsall said Menwith Hill has been vitally important in the hunt for al Qaida operatives since the September 11 attacks.

The base may also have been responsible for picking up recent satellite conversations from al Qaida sources, indicating that bin Laden is still alive.

Intelligence officers had been criticised in the wake of September 11, after they failed to give detailed warning of the attacks on New York and Washington - despite world-wide use of the controversial Echelon listening system.

Mr Birdsall said: "Our intelligence indicates that, from the information in Karachi, Menwith Hill was involved.

"There can be no question that it was Menwith Hill that picked up interceptions and this is what led to the capture."

Bin al-Shibh is known to have had a prominent role in organising the attacks on America.

It is claimed he, on at least two occasions, forwarded cash to hijackers Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi.

Mr Birdsall said: "The National Security Agency at Menwith Hill has been on high alert for a good year looking for any sort of 'chatter' and, of course, it is going to be a primary base for the new Star Wars system.

"If you look at Menwith Hill, it is possibly one of the key bases, if not the key base in Western Europe, in the fight against terror."

No one at Menwith Hill was available for comment as the Evening Press was published.

Updated: 14:07 Thursday, October 10, 2002