Al-Qaeda planned attack in Poland?

The memorandum marked “secret” by the Department of Defence at the Headquarters of the Joint Task Force at Guantanamo Bay US Naval Station, claims that in December 2004, al-Qaeda’s Abu al-Libi “met with Shawqi Marzuq Abd al-Alam Dabbas […] in Bajaur [Pakistan]. They discussed possible future operations against US interests in Poland.”

The memo addressed in September 2008 to the commander at the United States Southern Command stationed in Miami, US, is an assessment of Guantanamo Bay detainee Abu al-Libi, who the document states “was the operational chief of al-Qaida and had long-term associations with Usama Bin Laden (UBL) and [al-Qaeda’s second in command] Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri.”

Following the killing of Osama bin Laden this month, Abu al-Libi, who was detained in 2005, reportedly said under interrogation at Guantanamo Bay that a nuclear device was "located in Europe" and would be used in retaliation.

‘Al-Qaeda’s third in command’

The 2008 memo claims that Gitmo prisoner US9LY-010017DP, 41 years old and born in Tripoli, Libya, had managed for some time, among other activities, “al-Qaeda‘s operations in Iraq”.

The document also says that Abu al-Libi was behind the “alleged 2003 assassination attempt against President Musharraf of Pakistan.”

Security expert Prof. Krzysztof Kubiak from the Lower Silesian University in Wroclaw has told Polish Radio that the memo, if the information in it is true, comes as no surprise, given Poland’s involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He notes, however, that it is difficult to determine at what stage any plan to attack US interests in Poland reached. “We do not know if this was left at the stage of idle talk, or whether this was an initial phase of implementation and logistical preparation.”

Poland currently has over 2,000 troops in Afghanistan. There have also been long-standing accusations that al-Qaeda suspects were held in a ‘black site’ CIA prison in Poland. (pg)