Convicted Terrorist Tells of Training
V A N C O U V E R, British Columbia, Nov. 30 -- Convicted millennium bomb plotter Ahmed Ressam has detailed for the FBI his transformation from a petty thief who stole a briefcase at Vancouver International Airport in 1998 to a raging holy warrior who set out to blow up Los Angeles International Airport the next year.
Ressam told of his schooling in the arts of terror at an Afghan terror camp run by Osama bin Laden. He learned to fire weapons, make chemical weapons with cyanide, create booby traps and work with explosives.
Lessons included working with anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, causing large explosions by placing bombs near weaker parts of aircraft and gasoline-loaded tankers, Ressam has told agents.
Arrested in December 1999 after being caught entering the United States from Canada in a car loaded with explosives, Ressam was convicted in April of conspiring to bomb Seattle and other cities during millennium celebrations. He is currently awaiting sentencing.
Ressam has since been cooperating with authorities, telling of his terror training — in particular his experiences at the Durunta and Khalden camps in Afghanistan, suspected terrorist compounds that have since been destroyed by U.S. forces.
Look Like a Westerner
Much like the orders in a frightening terror "manual" allegedly distributed by bin Laden, Ressam said his teachers told him it was important to look non-Arabic, and to avoid looking conspicuous. Students were told to avoid attending mosques and joining Islamic groups to evade police surveillance.
Assassination of political leaders also was taught. Ressam said he and others were taught to carry out surveillance of a high-profile target and identify security personnel at airports, embassies and military bases.
Students were encouraged to discuss failed terrorist attacks and analyze successful ones, such as the bombing of a U.S. military barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. One analysis focused on failures to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
In addition to VIPs, oil depots, airports, embassies, economic structures and military installations in the United States all were described as "viable" targets.
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