NYC Businessman Plotted Post-9/11 Attacks

Former travel agent colluded with 9/11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 26, 2011 3:20 PM CDT
WikiLeaks Reveal: New York City Businessman Saifullah Paracha Worked with Al-Qaeda Toward Post-9/11 Attacks
Uzair Paracha, son of Saifullah, also had terror links, according to WikiLeaks documents.   (Getty Images)

Al-Qaeda operatives pushed for a series of attacks following 9/11, but the plans were foiled following the capture of leading figures, WikiLeaks documents say. Among the plots discussed were attacking West Coast aircraft, blowing up a gas-filled apartment and gas stations, and cutting cables on the Brooklyn Bridge, the New York Times reports. One key planner: a 63-year-old longtime New York travel agent.

According to the documents, Saifullah Paracha—possibly the oldest prisoner at Guantanamo—“desired to help Al Qaeda ‘do something big against the US,’” said a co-conspirator. To that end, he collaborated with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, looking into smuggling explosives into the country or using biological weapons. But an ACLU rep says the documents’ material is “rife with uncorroborated evidence, information obtained through torture, speculation, errors and allegations that have been proven false.” Click through for more on Paracha’s reported family links to terrorism. Or read more about Gitmo revelations. (More Saifullah Paracha stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X