REPORT: “AL QAEDA CONTROLS 15 SHIPS”

REPORT: “AL QAEDA CONTROLS 15 SHIPS”

REPORT: “AL QAEDA CONTROLS 15 SHIPS”

   The Al Qaeda terrorist network is believed to control about 15 cargo ships, U.S. intelligence sources told the Washington Post.

   The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that U.S. intelligence officials have identified approximately 15 freighters potentially linked to Al Qaeda. The ships “could be used to ferry operatives, bombs, money or commodities over the high seas,” the report said.

   U.S. officials are concerned that terrorists could use ships to attack ports of ships of the U.S. or its allies. The report cited scenarios such as Al Qaeda sending speedboats containing explosives into a Caribbean cruise ship, or terrorists slamming a hazardous-cargo vessel into a port.

   In June, a Federal Bureau of Intelligence agent, James F. Jarboe, told the U.S. House of Representatives that terrorists have “an increasingly sophisticated array of weapons and capabilities” available to them. “Weapons of mass destruction — explosive, chemical, biological, or radiological in nature — represent a real-world threat to ports,” the FBI agent said.

   Concerns about the control of cargo ships by Al Qaeda is also linked to the opacity about the actual owners of vessels, and the controversial issue of flags of convenience.

   In June, the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives expressed concerns that certain ship registries, or so-called “flags of convenience,” serve as easy conduits for terrorist activities. The committee said that there is sufficient evidence to link the second-largest flag of convenience, the Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry, to funding Liberian President Charles Taylor’s war machine and reported links to the Al Qaeda terrorist group.