CNN statement about false claim it used old video
6 minutes after the second crash
9:14am - Plane crashes may have been on purpose
"It is said a few planes would be clearing the World Trade Center by a few miles but ordinarily there would be no planes close to the twin towers.9:52am - Terrorist threats made against the White House
"There is no way of physically closing down the airspace around the twin towers."
Later a DFLP official denied responsibility for the attack.
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
10:05am - Conflicting reports over those responsible for crashes
Abu Dhabi television reported it had received a call from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine claiming responsibility for crashing two planes into the WTC buildings.
But a DFLP spokesman denied it carried out the acts.
10:42am - Car bomb explodes in Washington
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have phoned news headquarters in Jerusalem, strenuously denying responsibility for the attack.
10:45am - Speculation Osama Bin-Laden responsible for attack
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine has claimed responsibility for the attacks on the World Trade Center, according to the BBC and Abu Dhabi television.
However, DFLP sources have denied any involvement.
It is unclear who is responsible for today's apparent terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York, but it is unlikely that Palestinian groups are involved, said an expert on international terrorism.
"They have a lot to lose because America would react very harshly against the Palestinians, however it is not impossible that a radical group was involved," said Eli Carmon, of the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center's counter-terrorism department.
Carmon noted that the World Trade Center has been targeted once before in
1993, when a bombing killed six people and injured more than 1,000.
Carmon said that there have been threats by unidentified Islamic groups to target
the World Trade Center again if Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, the militant
Egyptian cleric, who is serving a life sentence in the US after his conviction in a plot to bomb the United Nations and New York landmarks, was not released.
He added that it is possible that terrorist mastermind Osama Bin-Laden is
also involved.
Carmon said that the alleged terrorist attack amounts to a "declaration of
war" on the US, and that the US will have to "react in an extremely harsh
manner."
10:56am - UK and Israel evacuate prominent buildings
Israel has also evacuated its entire diplomatic staff from Israeli premises all across the United States.
11:10am - Palestinian Leader condemns US terrorist attacks
Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestinian Fatah movement, today condemned the attack on the US, saying the Palestinian people were outraged by what had happened.
“I send my condolences to American President Bush and his government and to the American people for this terrible act” he told reporters in Gaza.
Earlier, Palestinian terrorists were accused of carrying out the carnage, which they have since vigorously denied.
11:11am - Thousands feared dead in US terror strikes
Abu Dhabi television reported it had received a call from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine claiming responsibility for crashing two planes into the twin WTC towers, which were the target of Islamic extremist bombers in February 1993. The claim was later denied.
11:35am - Pennsylvania plane was headed for Camp David
It has been reported that the plane which crashed in Pennsylvania was headed to Camp David.
The Anniversary of Camp David Accord, the Middle East settlement brokered by the US, is Sept 5-17, 1978
11:43am - Islamic Jihad may be responsible
There are unconfirmed reports that a spokesman of the radical Islamic Jihad movement said that the "attacks were a consequence of US policy in the Middle East."
It has been reported that the plane which crashed in Pennsylvania was headed to Camp David.
The Anniversary of Camp David Accord, the Middle East settlement brokered by the US, is Sept 5-17, 1978.
11:45am - World watches in horror as terror unfolds United States
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his top aides followed the events at his seaside office in Gaza City, gathered around a TV set.
"I send my condolences to the president, the government and the people for this terrible incident," Arafat said. "We are completely shocked. It's unbelievable."
11:55 am - Palestinians celebrate in the streets
It has been reported that Palestinians are celebrating in the streets.
Thousands of Palestinians celebrated the terror attacks in the United States, chanting "God is Great" and distributing candy to passers-by, even as their leader, Yasser Arafat, said he was horrified.
The U.S. government has become increasingly unpopular in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the past year of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, with many Palestinians accusing Washington of siding with Israel.
In the West Bank town of Nablus, about 3,000 people poured into the street shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and government targets in Washington.
Demonstrators distributed candy in a traditional gesture of celebration.
Several Palestinian gunmen shot in the air, while other marchers carried
Palestinian flags.
Nawal Abdel Fatah, 48, wearing a long, black dress, threw sweets in the air, saying she was happy because "America is the head of the snake, America always stands by Israel in its war against us."
Her daughter Maysoon, 22, said she hoped the next attack would be launched
against Tel Aviv.
In traditionally Arab east Jerusalem, there was a smaller gathering of about two dozen people, many of them young children led in chants by adults. Some drivers passing the scene honked their horns and flashed victory signs from their windows.
Arafat and his top advisers huddled at his seaside office in Gaza City, watching the events unfold on television. Arafat later emerged to speak to reporters.
"We are completely shocked. It's unbelievable," he said. "We completely condemn this very dangerous attack, and I convey my condolences to the American people, to the American president and to the American administration, not only in my name but on behalf of the Palestinian people."
In the West Bank, meanwhile, the leader the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine denied his group was involved in the attacks.
Qais Abdel Rahim was reacting to reports that two Arab satellite stations in the Gulf had received anonymous claims of responsibility on behalf of the DFLP, a radical PLO faction. Abdel Rahim said his group condemned the attacks.
This is the first attack in history on the Pentagon.
12:35pm - Taliban ambassador sympathises
Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, said in reaction to the news of the terror attacks that "we want to tell the American children that Afghanistan feels your pain and we hope that the courts find justice."
12:49pm - Bin Laden warned three weeks ago of attacks
Followers of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden warned three weeks ago that they would carry out a ‘‘huge and unprecedented attack’’ on US interests, a London-based Arab journalist said today.
Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the Al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, said he received a warning from Islamic fundamentalists close to bin Laden, but did not take the threat seriously.
‘‘They said it would be a huge and unprecedented attack but they did not specify,’’ Atwan said.
‘‘We usually receive this kind of thing. At the time we did not take the warnings seriously as they had happened several times in the past and nothing happened.
‘‘This time it seems his people were accurate and meant every word they said.’’
Atwan, who interviewed renegade Saudi millionaire bin Laden in 1996 and has since maintained contacts with his followers, said he believed the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York was the work of ‘‘an Islamic fundamentalist group’’ very close to bin Laden.
The United States accuses the Saudi dissident of operating a terrorist network from his bases in Afghanistan and of blowing up two US embassies in East Africa in 1998. The Taliban, who have refused to hand him over, deny the charge.
Atwan said he was surprised by the scale of the attack, but said it was merely a continuation of bin Laden’s Fatwa religious edict against America. He said anti-American sentiment was running high in the Middle East because of perceived US support for Israel.
Tensions had increased further after the United States and Israel pulled out of the racism conference in Durban, South Africa due to anti-Israel language in the final declaration, he said.
‘‘People really are frustrated that here is a super power siding with the Israelis,’’ he said. ‘‘They made the hatred more by pulling out of the Durban conference.’’
1:46pm - Taliban rulers condemn attacks on US
Afghanistan's hardline Taliban rulers condemned the devastating terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on Tuesday and rejected suggestions that Osama bin Laden could be behind them.
"We never support terrorism. We too are targets of terrorism," Abdul Hai
Muttmain, the Taliban's spokesman in the southern city of Kandahar, told The
Associated Press in a telephone interview.
After the attacks, a London-based Arab journalist said followers of bin Laden warned three weeks ago that they would carry out a "huge and unprecedented attack" on U.S. interests.
Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the Al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, said he received
a warning from Islamic fundamentalists close to bin Laden, but did not take the threat seriously.
"They said it would be a huge and unprecedented attack but they did not specify," Atwan said in a telephone interview in London.
"We usually receive this kind of thing. At the time we did not take the warnings seriously as they had happened several times in the past and nothing happened. "This time it seems his people were accurate and meant every word they said."
Atwan, who interviewed bin Laden in 1996 and has since maintained contacts
with his followers, said he believed the attack on the World Trade Center in New York was the work of "an Islamic fundamentalist group" close to bin Laden.
But Muttmain, who is the spokesman for the Taliban's reclusive leader Mullah
Mohammed Omar and one of the most senior Taliban officials, dismissed
allegations that bin Laden could be behind the attacks in the United States.
"Such a big conspiracy, to have infiltrated in such a major way is impossible for Osama," said Muttmain. He said bin Laden does not have the facilities to orchestrate such a major assault within the United States.
Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, who espouse a harsh brand of Islamic law, have
resisted U.S. demands to hand over bin Laden, indicted in the United States
on charges of masterminding the bombings of two U.S. Embassies in East
Africa in 1998 that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.
After the attacks in East Africa, Washington retaliated with a blistering missile attack in August 1998, sending more than 70 Tomahawk cruise missiles into eastern Afghanistan apparently targeting training camps operated by bin Laden.
The attacks killed about 20 followers of bin Laden's but the exiled Saudi millionaire escaped unhurt. Since then he has been forced by the Taliban rulers to stop giving interviews and making statements.
1:49pm - New Yorkers speak of horror and loss
"This is perhaps the most audacious terrorist attack that's ever taken place
in the world. It takes a logistics operation from the terror group involved
that is second to none. Only a very small handful of terror groups is on
that list." -- Chris Yates, an aviation expert at Jane's Transport magazine.
"The fact is that there is a level of sophistication and coordination that
no counter-terrorism expert had ever previously anticipated, and we don't
have a group that we can immediately identify that has this kind of
capability." -- Anthony Cordesman, a terrorism expert from the
Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
3:15pm - Taliban protests bin Laden’s innocence
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have rejected claims that bin Laden was behind today’s attacks on New York and Washington.
They say bin Laden did not have the means to carry out such well-orchestrated attacks.
Bin Laden has been given asylum in Afghanistan. Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, said he received a warning from Islamic fundamentalists close to Bin Laden, but did not take the threat seriously.
“They said it would be a huge and unprecedented attack but they did not specify,” he said today in London.
3:23pm - Cowen cuts short Middle East trip
The Minister for Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen is cutting short his trip to the Middle East because of the atrocities in the US.
Brian Cowen will attend an emergency meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels tomorrow before returning to Dublin.
He was meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat when the news of the terrorist attacks broke.
Speaking from Jerusalem, Minister Cowen expressed his shock at today’s events.
5:41pm - Explosions rock Kabul
Explosions have gone off in the Afghanistan city of Kabul.
Eyewitnesses said there had been about six explosions.
"The detonations sound very similar to those caused by large mortars. There are also sounds of anti-aircraft fire," he said.
It is not known whether this is a retaliatory attack by the United States.
6:26pm - Explosions in Kabul not US strike
It has been reported that the explosions in Kabul, Afghanistan, were not part of an United States retaliation.
The explosions have rocked Kabul for the last hour.
Reports say the attacks in Kabul are a part of on-going civil war in Afghanistan.
6:58pm - Northern Alliance responsible for Kabul attack
The Northern Alliance have claimed responsibility for the attacks on Kabul, Afghanistan.
They also said they will continue to attack the ruling Afghan Taliban.
No comments:
Post a Comment