Wednesday, May 29, 2002

Recorded Conversations Reveal Predictions of Attacks
Recorded conversations between a Muslim cleric from Yemen and the leader of a Milan mosque reveal what police said are predictions of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, including a boast of a ``terrifying'' operation by ``a madman,'' according to a newspaper report.

Excerpts of the conversations, which took place in 2000 and early 2001, ran in Tuesday's editions of Milan daily Corriere della Sera.

The conversations were between Abdulsalam Abdulrahman, the sheik, who had traveled to Italy, and Abdelkader Mahmoud Es Sayed, who fled Italy two months before the attacks.

.S. officials consider Es Sayed, an Egyptian national, to be the organizer of a Milan cell of al-Qaida, the terrorist network of Osama bin Laden.

Police believe Es Sayed might have died fighting for bin Laden in Afghanistan, although an Italian warrant for him on terrorism charges still remains.

In one conversation, in the summer of 2000, the sheik tells the mosque leader, or imam: ``In the future, listen to the news and remember these words: `above the head.'''

The sheik says the action will be ``one of those strikes that you never forget.'' He added that it will be a ``terrifying thing, it will move from south to north, from east to west. He who made this plan is a madman, but a genius. It will turn you to ice.''

The sheik also says: ``Ah, yes, there are big clouds in the sky, there in that country, the fire is already lit and it's just waiting for the wing ... All the newspapers in the world will write about it.''
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Italy-Attacks.html

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