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CNN to broadcast Al Qaeda video from tapes recovered in Afghanistan
These tapes reveal the expertise, resources and resolve of the Al Qaeda terrorist movement
agencyfaqs! News Bureau
NEW DELHI
CNN International yesterday (August 19, 2002) launched an exclusive weeklong five-part series of ‘never-seen-before' footage taken from multiple videotapes recovered from Afghanistan by CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson.
These tapes graphically reveal the expertise, resources and resolve of the Al Qaeda terrorist movement. The five instalments of ‘Terror on Tape' will air throughout the week and conclude with a CNN special report summarising the series. Nic Robertson worked several weeks to track the story, relying on sources cultivated during his years of reporting from Afghanistan. According to experts, these tapes show Al Qaeda operatives training in the field as they practice assassinations, kidnappings and urban combat.
In many cases, the footage is the video version of discarded documents discovered by CNN's Mike Boettcher last year in Afghanistan. In that discovery, CNN reported on papers, notes, documents and instruction manuals left behind when Al Qaeda fighters fled Kabul. Many of these documents included instructions on how to hijack and blow up airplanes, how to build bombs and how to explode trains, ships and other modes of transportation.
CNN International will broadcast reports on these tapes every day together with further information on www.CNN.com/terrortapes. The first episode of ‘Terror on Tape: Chemical Tests', aired on August 19, 2002, reviewed the Al Qaeda tape library together with a report that showed chemical weapons being tested on dogs.
Today's (August 20, 2002) broadcast will show a video of Osama Bin Laden's May 1998 news conference where Al Qaeda declared war on the west. The tape provides a fascinating glimpse into the workings of the terror group. On Wednesday (August 21, 2002), ‘Terror on Tape: Explosive Force' will have a detailed primer on how to manufacture TNT from scratch, using easily available materials. On Thursday (August 22, 2002), ‘Terror on Tape: In Training' will contain footage of training in Al Qaeda camps including urban hostage taking and assassinations. The training video matches the techniques described in the written material earlier obtained by CNN in Afghanistan and from Al Qaeda's terror manual.
The last part, to be aired on Friday (August 23, 2002), is about Osama Bin Laden, the man, and what the Al Qaeda tapes tell us about their future plans. © 2002 agencyfaqs!