Timeline of 9/11

January 2002: Two dead microbiologists: Ivan Glebov and Alexi Brushlinski. Pravda reports that Glebov died as the result of a bandit attack and reports without explanation that Brushlinski was killed in Moscow. Both were “well known around the world” and members of the Russian Academy of Science. [ Pravda, 2/9/02 , Globe and Mail, 5/4/02 ]

January 2002 (B): The FBI finally begins subpoenaing laboratories that worked with the Ames strain of anthrax used in the attacks. But when the labs start to send their samples, they are told to wait another month because a new storage room for the sample needs to be built. “The FBI's delay in requesting the samples—and the government's lack of readiness to receive them—is part of a pattern.” Other examples include taking six months to begin testing mailboxes surrounding Trenton, New Jersey, where the anthrax letters were postmarked, and nearly a year to go back into the American Media building in Boca Raton, Florida, to hunt for the source of anthrax that killed the first victim there. [ Hartford Courant, 9/7/02 ]

January 2002 (C): Steven Hatfill, later to emerge as a suspect of the anthrax attacks (see June 25, 2002), is interviewed by FBI investigators for the first time. He is then given a lie-detector test as part of a wide-ranging FBI review of the scientific community. Hatfill was told he gave satisfactory answers on the test. The FBI returned for a two-hour interview in March. [ Washington Post, 8/11/02 ]

A Mirage 2000-D fighter in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. [Reuters]

January 2002 (D): It is reported that now the US is improving bases in “13 locations in nine countries in the Central Asian region” (see also September 22, 2001-December 2001 and Early October 2001). [] 60,000 US military personnel now work in these new bases surrounding Afghanistan. [ Los Angeles Times, 1/6/02 ] “Of the five ex-Soviet states of Central Asia, Turkmenistan alone is resisting pressure to allow the deployment of US or other Western forces on its soil….” [ Guardian, 1/10/02 ] “The task of the encircling US bases now shooting up on Afghanistan's periphery is only partly to contain the threat of political regression or Taliban resurgence in Kabul. Their bigger, longer-term role is to project US power and US interests into countries previously beyond its reach. … The potential benefits for the US are enormous: growing military hegemony in one of the few parts of the world not already under Washington's sway, expanded strategic influence at Russia and China's expense, pivotal political clout and—grail of holy grails—access to the fabulous, non-OPEC oil and gas wealth of central Asia .” [ Guardian, 1/16/02 ] On January 9, the speaker of the Russian parliament states, “Russia would not approve of the appearance of permanent US bases in Central Asia,” but Russia seems helpless to stop what a Russian newspaper calls “the inexorable growth” of the US military presence in central Asia. [ Guardian, 1/10/02 ]

A Patriot Act warning posted in the Santa Cruz Library. [San Francisco Chronicle]

January 2002 (E): The Patriot Act permits federal agents to secretly obtain information from booksellers and librarians about customers' and patrons' reading, internet and book-buying habits, merely by alleging that the records are relevant to an anti-terrorism investigation. The act prohibits librarians and booksellers from revealing these requests, so they cannot be challenged in court. [ Newsday, 9/16/02 ] A University of Illinois study concludes that federal agents have sought records from about 220 libraries nationwide since September and about this time. [ Miami Herald, 9/1/02 ] The Justice Department refuses to say how many times it has invoked this Patriot Act provision (see also June 13, 2002). [ Observer, 3/16/03 (B) ] But Assistant Attorney General Daniel Bryant says that people who borrow or buy books surrender their right of privacy. [ San Francisco Chronicle, 3/10/03 ] Some libraries and bookstores unhappy with the law begin to fight back in a number of ways. Some libraries have posted signs warning that the government may be monitoring their users' reading habits. [ Reuters, 3/11/03 (B) ] Thousands of libraries are destroying records so agents have nothing to seize. [ New York Times, 4/7/03 ] Many librarians polled say they would break the law and deny orders to disclose reading records. [ San Francisco Chronicle, 3/10/03 ]

January 1, 2002: Zalamy Khalilzad, already a Special Assistant to the President (see May 23, 2001), is appointed by Bush as a special envoy to Afghanistan. [ BBC, 1/1/02 ] Khalilzad, a former employee of Unocal, took part in negotiations with the Taliban to build a pipeline through Afghanistan. He also wrote op-eds in the Washington Post in 1997 supporting the Taliban regime, back when Unocal was hoping to work with the Taliban. [ Independent, 1/10/02 ] FTW

January 4, 2002: A firefighter trade magazine with ties to the New York Fire Department calls the investigation into the collapse of the WTC a “half-baked farce.” The article points out that the probe has not looked at all aspects of the disaster and has had limited access to documents and other evidence. “The destruction and removal of evidence must stop immediately.” It concludes that a growing number of fire protection engineers have theorized that “the structural damage from the planes and the explosive ignition of jet fuel in themselves were not enough to bring down the towers.” [ New York Daily News, 1/4/02 , Fire Engineering, 1/02 ]

A very badly done attempt to portray bin Laden in Western clothing. Note the blurry area on his neck.

January 4, 2002 (B): The US government is shown to have doctored information about terrorists. For instance, the State Department said Atta “wanted to learn to fly, but didn't need to take off and land” when this information clearly referred to Zacarias Moussaoui (although that story isn't exactly true for him either—see August 13-15, 2001). The Defense Department even released a photo purporting to be bin Laden in Western clothing, with his hair cut short and beard shaved off. An expert says “Frankly, this is sloppy,” and the article calls these efforts “worthy of the tabloids.” [ Associated Press, 1/4/02 ]

January 5, 2002: It is reported that the FBI has asked Pakistan for permission to question Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammad. Pakistan arrested him on December 25, 2001 after US pressure to do so (see December 13, 2001 (C)). One Pakistani official says, “The Americans are aware Azhar met bin Laden often, and are convinced he can give important information about bin Laden's present whereabouts and even the September 11 attacks.” But the “primary reason” for US interest is the link between Azhar and Saeed Sheikh (see December 24-31, 1999). They hope to learn about Saeed's involvement in financing the 9/11 attacks. It is not certain that Pakistan gives permission to question Azhar. Four days later, the US officially asks Pakistan for help in finding and extraditing Saeed (see August-October 2001). [ Gulf News, 1/5/02 ]

January 6, 2002: The US locates former Taliban head Mullah Omar and 1,500 of his soldiers in the remote village of Baghran, Afghanistan. After a six-day siege and surrounded by US helicopters and troops, Omar and four bodyguards supposedly escape the dragnet in a daring chase on motorcycles over dirt roads. His soldiers are also set free in return for giving up their weapons, in a deal brokered by local leaders. Yet it remains unclear if Omar was ever in the village in the first place. [ Observer, 1/6/02 ]

January 6, 2002 (B): The Boston Globe reports that shoe bomber Richard Reid (see December 22, 2001 (B)) may have had ties with an obscure Pakistani group called Al-Fuqra. Reid apparently visited the Lahore, Pakistan home of Ali Gilani, the leader of Al-Fuqra. [ Boston Globe, 1/6/02 ] Reporter Daniel Pearl reads the article, and decides to investigate (see also December 24, 2001-January 23, 2002). [ Vanity Fair, 8/02 ] Pearl believes he is on his way to interview Gilani when he is kidnapped (see January 23, 2002). [ Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 3/3/02 ] A 1995 State Department report said Al-Fuqra's main goal is “purifying Islam through violence.” [ Vanity Fair, 8/02 ] Intelligence experts say it is a splinter group of Jaish-e-Mohammad, and has ties to al-Qaeda. [ UPI, 1/29/02 ] Al-Fuqra claims close ties with the Muslims of the Americas, a US tax-exempt group claiming about 3,000 members living in rural compounds in 19 states, the Caribbean and Europe. Members of Al-Fuqra are suspected of at least 13 fire bombings and 17 murders, as well as theft and credit-card fraud. Gilani had links to people involved in the 1993 WTC bombing, and he fled the US after the bombing. Gilani admits he works with the ISI and lives freely in Pakistan. [ Boston Globe, 1/6/02 , The News, 2/15/02 , Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 3/3/02 , Vanity Fair, 8/02 ] Saeed Sheikh “has long had close contacts” with the group, and praises Gilani for his “unexplained services to Pakistan and Islam.” [ The News [Pakistani newspaper], 2/18/02 , Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 3/3/02 ]

One of the controversial leaked photos of prisoners being flown to Cuba.

January 11, 2002: The first of about 600 hundred suspected al-Qaeda and/or Taliban prisoners from the war in Afghanistan are transferred to Camp X-Ray, a detention facility in US-controlled Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It is reported that the prisoners are hooded, shackled, and possibly drugged during their flight to Cuba. [ Guardian, 1/11/02 ] Pictures of prisoners being transferred in conditions clearly in violation of international law are later leaked, prompting an outcry. But rather than investigating the inhumane transfer, the Pentagon begins investigating how the pictures were leaked. [ Associated Press, 11/9/02 ] The prisoners are sent to this base because of a historical quirk: The base is owned by Cuba but controlled by the US, so the prisoners are in a legal limbo outside of any US law. [ Globe and Mail, 9/5/02 ] Furthermore, the US argues the prisoners are “enemy combatants” rather than prisoners of war, implying that they do not have all the rights assigned to POWs under the Geneva Convention. [ Guardian, 9/9/02 ] Senior British officials privately call the treatment of prisoners “scandalous,” and one calls the refusal to follow the Geneva Convention “not benchmarks of a civilized society.” [ Guardian, 6/13/02 ] The commander of the base later suggests that some prisoners could end up staying there for decades (see also April 30, 2002 (B) and October 28, 2002). [ AFP, 9/13/02 ]

January 12, 2002: Pakistan President Musharraf makes “a forceful speech… condemning Islamic extremism.” [ Washington Post, 3/28/02 ] Around this time, he also arrests about 2000 people he calls extremists. He is hailed in the Western media as redirecting the ISI to support the US agenda. Yet, by the end of the month at least 800 of the arrested are set free [ Washington Post, 3/28/02 ] including “most of their firebrand leaders.” [ ] Within one year, “almost all” of those arrested have been quietly released. Even the most prominent leaders, such as Maulana Masood Azhar (see December 14, 2002), have been released. Their terrorist organizations are running again, often under new names. [ Washington Post, 2/8/03 ]

Andreas von Bülow. [AKG Pressbild]

January 13, 2002: Andreas von Bülow, former German Minister for Research and Technology and a long-time member of German parliament, suggests in an interview that the CIA could have been behind the 9/11 attacks. He states: “Whoever wants to understand the CIA's methods, has to deal with its main task of covert operations: below the level of war, and outside international law, foreign states are to be influenced by inciting insurrections or terrorist attacks, usually combined with drugs and weapons trade, and money laundering…. Since, however, it must not under any circumstances come out that there is an intelligence agency behind it, all traces are erased, with tremendous deployment of resources. I have the impression that this kind of intelligence agency spends 90 of its time this way: creating false leads. So that if anyone suspects the collaboration of the agencies, he is accused of paranoia. The truth often comes out only years later.” [ Der Tagesspiegel, 1/13/02 ] In an example of covering tracks, Ephraim Halevy, head of Israel's Mossad from 1998 till 2002, claims, “Not one big success of the Mossad has ever been made public.” [ CBS, 2/5/03 ]

John Poindexter.

Mid-January 2002: Vice Admiral John Poindexter begins running a shadowy new government agency called the Information Awareness Office. [ New York Times, 2/13/02 , Federal Computer Week, 10/17/02 ] Poindexter, President Reagan's National Security Adviser, is known for his five felony convictions of lying to Congress, destroying documents, and obstructing Congress in its investigation of his role in the mid-1980s Iran-Contra affair. Later his convictions were overturned on a technicality. [ Los Angeles Times, 11/17/02 (B) ] Far from apologizing, Poindexter said it was his duty to lie to Congress. [ Newsday, 12/1/02 ] The New York Times notes that his new agency “is developing technologies to give federal officials instant access to vast new surveillance and information-analysis systems.” The new office is part of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Poindexter was also known for his controversial role in shifting control of computer security to the military in the 1980s. Says Marc Rotenberg, former counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, “It took three administrations and both political parties over a decade to correct those mistakes.” [ New York Times, 2/13/02 ] Surprisingly, Poindexter's appointment is little noticed until later in 2002 when the Total Information Awareness program is revealed (see March 2002 (B) and November 9, 2002). Incidentally, several others involved in the Iran-Contra affair also find jobs in the Bush Administration, including Elliott Abrams, John Negroponte, and Otto Reich. [ Observer, 12/8/02 ]

January 20, 2002: Evidence comes to light that a scientist named Lt. Col. Philip Zack had a history of suspicious behavior in the nation's most classified anthrax research center, USAMRIID. Zack was fired for unprofessional behavior centering on numerous hateful attacks on his colleague Dr. Assaad (Zack is Jewish and Assaad is Muslim, which may explain the enmity). Security cameras show Zack came into the lab at night on occasion without permission, after being fired. [ Hartford Courant, 1/20/02 ] There is also a history of missing viruses, including anthrax and Ebola, that seem connected to these incidents. [ New York Times, 7/19/02 , note that the Times story mentions Hatfill (as “Dr. Z”) in the article and not Zack, even though Hatfill didn't join USAMRIID until years after these incidents] A former lab technician who worked with some of the anthrax that was later reported missing said all he ever handled was the Ames strain. [ Hartford Courant, 1/20/02 ] Dr. Assaad received a letter just prior to the anthrax attacks in October that appear to frame him (see October 2, 2001). [ Hartford Courant, 12/9/01 ]

January 22, 2002: A crowd of mostly unarmed Indian police near the US Information Service building in Calcutta, India, is attacked by gunmen; four policemen are killed and 21 people injured. The gunmen escape. India claims that Aftab Ansari immediately calls to take credit, and India charges that the gunmen belong to Ansari's kidnapping ring also connected to funding the 9/11 attacks (see Early August 2001 (D)). [ Telegraph, 1/24/02 , Associated Press, 2/10/02 ] Saeed Sheikh and the ISI assist Ansari in the attack. [ Vanity Fair, 8/02 , Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 3/3/02 ] This is the fourth terrorist attack they have cooperated on, including the 9/11 attacks (see Early August 2001 (D), October 1, 2001 (D), and December 13, 2001 (C)).

January 22-25, 2002: FBI Director Mueller visits India, and is told by Indian investigators that Saeed Sheikh sent ransom money to hijacker Mohamed Atta in the US (see Early August 2001 (D)). In the next few days, Saeed is publicly blamed for his role with gangster Aftab Ansari in financing Atta and organizing the Calcutta terrorist attack (see January 22, 2002). [ Press Trust of India, 1/22/02 , http://ktla.trb.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-012302india,0,883098.story Los Angeles Times, 1/23/02 , Independent, 2/24/02 , AFP, 1/27/02 , Telegraph, 1/27/02 ] Meanwhile, on January 23, Saeed helps kidnap reporter Daniel Pearl (see January 23, 2002) and is later arrested (see February 5, 2002). Also on January 23, Ansari is placed under surveillance after flying to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. On January 24, Mueller and US Ambassador to Pakistan Wendy Chamberlin discuss Saeed at a previously scheduled meeting with Pakistani President Musharraf. Apparently Saeed's role in Pearl's kidnapping is not yet known. [ Associated Press, 2/24/02 ] Mueller then flies to Dubai on his way back to the US to pressure the government there to arrest Ansari and deport him to India. Ansari is arrested on February 5 and deported 4 days later (see February 9, 2002 (C)). [ Associated Press, 2/10/02 , Frontline, 2/16/02 , India Today, 2/25/02 ]

Daniel Pearl.

January 23, 2002: Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Pakistan while researching stories threatening to the ISI (see December 24, 2001-January 23, 2002). [ Guardian, 1/25/02 , BBC, 7/5/02 ] He is later murdered (see January 31, 2002). FTW Saeed Sheikh is later convicted as the mastermind of the kidnap (see July 15, 2002), and though it appears he lured Pearl into being kidnapped beginning January 11, the actual kidnapping and murder of Pearl is done by others who remain at large. [ Vanity Fair, 8/02 , Wall Street Journal, 1/23/03 ] Both al-Qaeda and the ISI appear to be behind the kidnapping (see January 28, 2002 and February 5, 2002). The overall mastermind behind the kidnapping seems to be Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, also mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. [ Time, 1/26/03 , CNN, 1/30/03 ] If Saeed assisted Mohammed in the kidnapping, that would appear to repeat their cooperation in the 9/11 attacks, and strengthen the argument that Mohammed is connected to both al-Qaeda and the ISI (see June 4, 2002).

January 24, 2002: Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D) later claims that on this day, Vice President Cheney calls him and urges that no 9/11 inquiry be made. Bush repeats the request on January 28, and Daschle is repeatedly pressured thereafter. Newsweek summarizes one of these conversations: “Bush administration officials might say they're too busy running the war on terrorism to show up. Press the issue… and you risk being accused of interfering with the mission.” [ Newsweek, 2/4/02 ] Cheney later disagrees: “Tom's wrong. He has, in this case, let's say a misinterpretation.” [ Reuters, 5/27/02 ]

January 26, 2002: Salon exposes details about the FBI's anthrax investigation. The FBI appears to be casting a very wide net, for instance approaching all 40,000 members of the American Society of Microbiologists and putting flyers asking for information all over New Jersey. Yet all the evidence suggests that the anthrax strain could only be made in one of two places: USAMRIID in Maryland or US Army's Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. Meanwhile, the FBI has not yet subpoenaed employee records of the few labs that used the strain of anthrax used in the attacks. Numerous anthrax experts express puzzlement. Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, a biological arms control expert, believes the FBI is dragging its heels for political reasons. She is convinced the FBI knows who mailed the anthrax letters, but isn't arresting him, because he has been involved in secret biological weapons research that the US does not want revealed. “This guy knows too much, and knows things the US isn't very anxious to publicize. Therefore, they don't want to get too close.” [ Salon, 1/26/02 ]

January 28, 2002: The kidnappers of reporter Daniel Pearl (see January 23, 2002) e-mail the media a picture of Pearl and a list of very strange demands. [ BBC, 7/5/02 ] The kidnappers call themselves “The National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty,” a previously unheard of name. [ Vanity Fair, 8/02 ] Their demands include the return of US-held Pakistani prisoners and the departure of US journalists from Pakistan. [ ABC News, 2/7/02 ] Most unusually, they demand that the US sell F-16 fighters to Pakistan. No terrorist group had ever shown interest in the F-16's, but this demand and the others reflect the desires of Pakistan's military and the ISI. [ London Times, 4/21/02 , Guardian, 7/16/02 ] On January 29, “a senior Pakistani official” presumably from the ISI leaks the fact that Pearl is Jewish to the Pakistani press. This may have been an attempt to ensure the kidnappers would want to murder him, which they do shortly thereafter (see January 31, 2002). [ Vanity Fair, 8/02 ] On the same day, it is reported that US intelligence believes the kidnappers are connected to the ISI. [ UPI, 1/29/02 ] Secretary of State Powell will later say there is no connection between the kidnappers and the ISI. [March 3, 2002]

January 29, 2002: President Bush's State of the Union speech describes an “axis of evil” between Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Advisor Richard Perle cautioned against these same three countries a month before 9/11 (see August 6, 2001). Bin Laden is not mentioned in the speech. [ CNN, 1/29/02 ] The speech is followed by a new public focus on Iraq and a downplaying of bin Laden (see September 15, 2001-April 6, 2002).

Reporter Daniel Pearl moments before he is killed.

January 31, 2002: Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is murdered by his kidnappers in Pakistan (see also January 23, 2002). Pearl is reported dead on February 21; his body is found months later. Police investigators say “there were at least eight to ten people present on the scene” and at least 15 who participated in his kidnapping and murder. “Despite issuing a series of political demands shortly after Pearl's abduction four weeks ago, it now seems clear that the kidnappers planned to kill Pearl all along.” [ Washington Post, 2/23/02 ] Some captured participants later claim 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is the one who cuts Pearl's throat (see January 22, 2003).

February 5, 2002: Pakistani police, with the help of the FBI, determine Saeed Sheikh is behind the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl (see January 23, 2002), but are unable to find him. They round up about ten of his relatives and threaten to harm them unless he turns himself in. Saeed Sheikh does turn himself in, but to Ijaz Shah, his former ISI boss (see June 1993-October 1994). [ Boston Globe, 2/7/02 , Vanity Fair, 8/02 ] The ISI holds Saeed for a week, but fails to tell Pakistani police or anyone else that they have him (see February 12, 2002). This “missing week” is the cause of much speculation. The ISI never tells Pakistani police any details about this week. [ Newsweek, 3/11/02 ] Saeed also later refuses to discuss the week or his connection to the ISI, only saying, “I will not discuss this subject. I do not want my family to be killed.” He adds, “I know people in the government and they know me and my work.” [ Newsweek, 3/13/02 , Vanity Fair, 8/02 ] It is suggested Saeed is held for this week to make sure that Pearl was killed. Saeed later says that during this week he got a coded message from the kidnappers that Pearl had been murdered. Also, the time might have been spent working out a deal with the ISI over what Saeed would tell police and the public. [ Newsweek, 3/11/02 ] Several others with both extensive ISI and al-Qaeda ties wanted for the kidnapping are arrested around this time. [ Washington Post, 2/23/02 , London Times, 2/25/02 ] One of these men, Khalid Khawaja, “has never hidden his links with Osama bin Laden. At one time he used to fly Osama's personal plane.” [ PakNews, 2/11/02 ]

February 6, 2002: Pakistani police publicly name Saeed Sheikh and a terrorist group he belongs to, Jaish-e-Mohammad, responsible for reporter Daniel Pearl's murder (see January 31, 2002 and February 5, 2002). [ Observer, 2/24/02 ] In the next several months, at least 12 Western articles mention Saeed's links to al-Qaeda [ ABC News, 2/7/02 , Boston Globe, 2/7/02 , Associated Press, 2/24/02 , Los Angeles Times, 3/15/02 ], including his financing of 9/11 [ New York Daily News, 2/7/02 , CNN, 2/8/02 , Associated Press, 2/9/02 , Guardian, 2/9/02 , Independent, 2/10/02 , Time, 2/10/02 , New York Post, 2/10/02 , Evening Standard, 2/12/02 , Los Angeles Times, 2/13/02 , New York Post, 2/22/02 , Sunday Herald, 2/24/02 , USA Today, 3/8/02 ], and at least 16 articles mention his links to the ISI. [ Cox News, 2/21/02 , Observer, 2/24/02 , Telegraph, 2/24/02 , Newsweek, 2/25/02 , New York Times, 2/25/02 , USA Today, 2/25/02 , National Post, 2/26/02 , Boston Globe, 2/28/02 , Newsweek, 3/11/02 , Newsweek, 3/13/02 , Guardian, 4/5/02 , MSNBC, 4/5/02 ]. However, many other articles fail to mention either link. But only three articles consider that Saeed could have been connected to both groups at the same time. [ London Times, 2/25/02 , London Times, 4/21/02 , Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 3/3/02 ], and only one of these mentions he could be involved in the ISI, al-Qaeda and financing 9/11. [ London Times, 4/21/02 ] By the time Saeed is convicted of Pearl's murder in July 2002, not a single US newspaper is connecting Saeed to either al-Qaeda or the ISI, while many British newspapers are still making one or the other connection (see July 15, 2002).

Tenet testifying on February 6, 2002. [AP]

February 6, 2002 (B): CIA Director Tenet tells a Senate hearing that there was no 9/11 intelligence failure. When asked about the CIA record on 9/11, he says, “We are proud of that record.” He also states that the 9/11 plot was “in the heads of three or four people” and thus nearly impossible to prevent. [ USA Today, 2/7/02 ]

February 9, 2002: Pakistani President Musharraf and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai announce their agreement to “cooperate in all spheres of activity” including the proposed Central Asian pipeline, which they call “in the interest of both countries.” [ Irish Times, 2/9/02 ] FTW

February 9, 2002 (B): Dead microbiologist: Victor Korshunov, 56, is bashed over the head and killed at the entrance of his home in Moscow, Russia. He was the head of the microbiology sub-faculty at the Russian State Medical University and an expert in intestinal bacteria. [ Pravda, 2/9/02 , Globe and Mail, 5/4/02 ]

Aftab Ansari arrested.

February 9, 2002 (C): Gangster Aftab Ansari is deported to India. He was arrested in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on February 5 (see January 22, 2002 and January 22-25, 2002). [ Independent, 2/10/02 ] He admits funding terrorist attacks through kidnapping ransoms (see Early August 2001 (D)), and building a network of arms and drug smuggling. [ Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 2/11/02 ] He later also admits to close ties with the ISI and Saeed Sheikh, whom he befriended in prison (see November 1994-December 1999). [ Press Trust of India, 5/13/02 ]

February 10, 2002: Katherine Smith is killed one day before he scheduled appearance in court on charges she helped five Muslim terrorists get illegal drivers licenses. Her car supposedly hit a tree and then caught on fire. The FBI later determined that gasoline was poured on her clothing before she died in the fire. A suicide note was found, but prosecutors say they are looking for murder suspects. One of the five Muslims, Sakhera Hammad, was found with a pass for the WTC, dated September 5, 2001, in his wallet. Hammad claims he was a plumber and worked on the WTC's sprinkler system that day (see September 5, 2001). Smith was being investigated by the FBI; the five later plead guilty to charges of fraud. [ Associated Press, 2/13/02 , Reuters, 2/15/02 , Go Memphis, 2/12/02 , Memphis Commercial Appeal, 2/21/02 ]

February 11, 2002: Dead microbiologist: Dr. Ian Langford, 40, is found dead, partially naked and wedged under a chair in his home in Norwich, England. When found, his house was described as “blood-spattered and apparently ransacked.” He was an expert in environmental risks and disease and a senior Fellow at the University of East Anglia's Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment. One of his colleagues states: “Ian was without doubt one of Europe's leading experts on environmental risk, specializing in links between human health and environmental risk… He was one of the most brilliant colleagues I have ever had.” [ London Times, 2/13/02 , Globe and Mail, 5/4/02 ]

Saeed Sheikh, head covered, being escorted by police shortly after his arrest.

February 12, 2002: Saeed Sheikh, already in ISI custody for a week (see February 5, 2002), is handed over to Pakistani police. Shortly afterwards, he publicly confesses to his involvement in reporter Daniel Pearl's murder (see January 31, 2002). Later he will recant this confession. It appears that initially he thought he would get a light sentence. Newsweek describes him initially “confident, even cocky,” saying he would only serve three to four years if convicted, and would never be extradited. [ Newsweek, 3/11/02 ] He is in fact sentenced to hang instead (see July 15, 2002). Pakistani militants respond to his arrest with three suicide attacks that kill more than 30 people. [ Guardian, 7/16/02 ]

February 14, 2002: The Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv astutely notes: “If one looks at the map of the big American bases created [in the Afghan war], one is struck by the fact that they are completely identical to the route of the projected oil pipeline to the Indian Ocean.” Ma'ariv also states, “Osama bin Laden did not comprehend that his actions serve American interests… If I were a believer in conspiracy theory, I would think that bin Laden is an American agent. Not being one I can only wonder at the coincidence.” [ Chicago Tribune, 3/18/02 ] FTW

February 18, 2002: The Financial Times reports that the estimated opium harvest in Afghanistan in June 2002 will reach a record 4500 metric tons. Afghanistan is supplying 95 of the heroin in Europe, but the US shows “little interest” in stopping the production. [ Financial Times, 2/18/02 ] FTW

February 18, 2002 (B): The Pakistani government unsuccessfully tries to stop the Pakistani newspaper The News from publishing a story revealing Saeed Sheikh's connections to the ISI, based on leaks from Pakistani police interrogations. [ Washington Post, 3/10/02 , London Times, 4/21/02 , Guardian, 7/16/02 ] According to the article, Saeed admits his involvement in recent attacks on the Indian parliament in Delhi and in Kashmir (see October 1, 2001 (D) and December 13, 2001 (C)), and says the ISI helped him finance, plan and execute them. [ The News [Pakistani newspaper], 2/18/02 ] On March 1, the ISI pressures The News to fire the four journalists who worked on the story. The ISI also demands an apology from the newspaper's editor, who flees the country instead. [ Washington Post, 3/10/02 , London Times, 4/21/02 , Guardian, 7/16/02 ]

February 20, 2002: The Pentagon announces the existence of the new Office of Strategic Influence, which “was quietly set up after September 11.” The role of this office is to plant false stories in the foreign press, phony e-mails from disguised addresses, and other covert activities to manipulate public opinion. The new office proves so controversial that it is declared closed six days later. [ CNN, 2/20/02 , CNN, 2/26/02 ] It is later reported that the “temporary” Office of Global Communications will be made permanent (it is unknown when this office began its work). This office seems to serve the same function as the earlier Office of Strategic Influence, minus the covert manipulation. [ Washington Post, 7/20/02 ] Defense Secretary Rumsfeld later states that after the office was closed, “I went down that next day and said fine, if you want to savage this thing fine I'll give you the corpse. There's the name. You can have the name, but I'm gonna keep doing every single thing that needs to be done and I have” (see also October 2002 and November 24, 2002). [ Department of Defense, 11/18/02 ]

February 21, 2002: Police and intelligence agencies in Britain predict “a potentially huge increase in heroin trafficking because of massive and unchecked replanting of the opium crop in Afghanistan.” This dovetails with a UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention report, which has detected massive opium planting that had mostly stopped under the Taliban. An intelligence source describes the idea of cracking down on opium growing as “a political nightmare” that could destroy support for the Afghan government. One solution would be to buy the opium and destroy it, but that has been rejected as too costly and controversial. Afghanistan is the source of 75 of the world's heroin. [ Guardian, 2/21/02 ]

February 25, 2002: Time reports that the second highest Taliban official in US custody, Mullah Haji Abdul Samat Khaksar, has been waiting for months for the CIA to talk to him. Even two weeks after Time informed US officials that Khaksar wanted to talk, no one has properly interviewed him. He says he has useful information, and may be able to help locate former Taliban leader Mullah Omar. Time notes that “he claims to have information about al-Qaeda links to the ISI.” [ Time, 2/25/02 ] “The little that Khaksar has divulged to an American general and his intelligence aide—is tantalizing.” “He says that the ISI agents are still mixed up with the Taliban and al-Qaeda,” and that all three have formed a new group to get the US out of Afghanistan. He also says that “the ISI recently assassinated an Afghan in Paktika province who knew the full extent of ISI's collaboration with al-Qaeda.” [