Aug 03 2008
al-Qaeda Confirms Death Of Weapons Expert, Nothing On Zawahiri
al-Qaeda is strangely silent again today on the status of Ayman Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s second in command only behind Bin Laden. So far the only denial on Zawahiri being hit in a recent attack is from the Taliban who lie with such regularity their denial is almost a confirmation. Today al-Qaeda confirmed the death of the chemical weapons expert in the July 28th strike, but strangely no word on Zawahiri at all?  I did run across this news article which apparently has viewed the evidence CBS has seen regarding the letter calling for aid for Zawahiri from Baitulllah Mehsud, the Taliban leader in South Waziristan Agency  inside Pakistan’s Tribal Areas:
The letter bears a logo in Pashto which identifies it to be the letterhead of the “Taliban Islamic Movement of South and North Waziristan, Makeen, Emaratâ€.
It appears to be a computer printout and uses a font used for both Urdu and Arabic languages, instead of the Urdu font commonly used in Pakistan.
It also has a seal that US experts identified as that of Baitullah Mehsud. In the centre, Baitullah Mehsud Naqshbandi is printed in the same font. Then there is a sentence in Urdu, saying: “Our mission, Sharia or Martyrdom.â€
On the right hand, the letter bears another seal, showing crossed swords along with a book and a candle and a few words in Pashto identifying it as Afghanistan’s official seal under the Taliban rule.
Dawn discussed this letter and the seal with terrorism experts in Washington who said they too had doubts about the letter’s authenticity.
They noted that the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan no longer used the letterhead. According to them, they now used an Urdu letterhead while the one shown by CBS was in Pashto.
Mehsud’s signature also seemed different from the one he usually uses.
The letter is dated July 29, a day after a US missile strike killed six people, including an Al Qaeda chemical and biological weapons expert near Azam Warsak village.
I go back to my points from yesterday, why fake the news? Â It only draws attention to would be sympathizers inside ISI and won’t fool enough of us (outside the Liberal SurrenderMedia) to begin a movement in the US to pull back our forces. But interesting nonetheless.
If the strike were on the 28th, I doubt infection would have a chance to set in by the 29th and be so bad as to require an urgent appeal for help unless there are abdominal wounds involved.
From DEBKA FILE AJ, I think this is interesting.
The assassinated Syrian general was in charge of securing the al Kibar reactor
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
August 3, 2008, 6:08 PM (GMT+02:00)
Syrian plutonium reactor demolished last September
DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources report that Gen. Muhammad Suleiman, whom a sniper shot dead in the Syrian port town of Tartus early Saturday, Aug. 2, was a shadowy figure who acted for Bashar Assad in the regime’s four most sensitive and confidential spheres:
1. He was the president’s liaison man with the North Korean government. On his frequent trips to Pyongyang, Gen. Suleiman organized the consignment of components for the plutonium reactor in northern Syria, which Israeli demolished last September.