YARKAS

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1. Many believe that Mohammed Atta and his al Qaeda friends were working for the CIA.
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com/2005/06/atta-was-working-for-us-military.html
Mohamed Atta - Welcome to Terrorland.

2. Barakat Yarkas is alleged to be the top al Qaeda agent in Spain.

3. Mamoun Darkazanli is alleged to be a business partner of Yarkas.

In the Spring of 2000, German investigators agreed to the CIA's request to recruit Darkazanli as an informant.

4. Allegedly, Darkazanli traveled to Spain in 2001 and met with Yarkas during the time Atta was also in Spain.

In July 2001, Atta stayed in the same hotel in the town of Salou that had hosted FBI counterterrorist expert John O'Neill a few days earlier

In August 2001, the Spanish police taped phone calls from a caller in Britain, codename Shakur, to Yarkas. A Spanish judge claims that the call by Shakur shows foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks.

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http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/entity.jsp?id=1521846767-122

Spring 2000: CIA Continues Efforts to Recruit Man Close to Hamburg Cell.

German investigators agree to the CIA's request to recruit businessman Mamoun Darkazanli as an informant. An agent of the LfV, the Hamburg state intelligence agency, casually approaches Darkazanli and asks him whether he is interested in becoming a spy. Darkazanli replies that he is just a businessman who knows nothing about al-Qaeda or terrorism. The Germans inform the local CIA representative that the approach failed. The CIA agent persists, asking the German agent to continue to try. However, when German agents ask for more information to show Darkazanli they know of his terrorist ties, the CIA fails to give them any information.

As it happens, at the end of January 2000, Darkazanli had just met with Barakat Yarkas in Madrid, Spain. (Chicago Tribune, 11/17/02) Darkazanli is a longtime friend and business partner of Yarkas, the most prominent al-Qaeda agent in Spain. (Los Angeles Times, 1/14/03)

The meeting included other suspected al-Qaeda figures, and it was monitored by Spanish police. If the CIA is aware of the Madrid meeting, they do not tell the Germans. (Chicago Tribune, 11/17/02) A second LfV attempt to recruit Darkazanli also fails. The CIA then attempts to work with federal German intelligence officials in Berlin to “turn” Darkazanli. Results of that effort are not known. (Chicago Tribune, 11/17/02)

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July 8-19, 2001: Atta, Bin Al-Shibh, Alshehhi, and Others Meet in Spain to Finalize Attack Plans.

Mohamed Atta travels to Spain again (his first trip was in January). Three others cross the Atlantic with him but their names are not known, as they apparently use false identities. [El Mundo, 9/30/01] Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, a member of his Hamburg terrorist cell, arrives in Spain on July 9, and stays until July 16. [New York Times, 5/1/02] Hijacker Marwan Alshehhi also comes to Spain at about the same time and leaves on July 17. [Associated Press, 6/30/02] Alshehhi must have traveled under another name, because US immigration has no records of his departure or return. [Department of Justice, 5/20/02] Investigators believe Atta, Alshehhi, and bin al-Shibh meet with at least three Unknown others in a secret safe house near Tarragona. [Los Angeles Times, 9/1/02; Associated Press, 6/30/02] It is theorized that the final details of the 9/11 attacks are set at this meeting. [Los Angeles Times, 9/1/02] Atta probably meets with, and is hosted by, Barakat Yarkas and other Spanish al-Qaeda members. [International Herald Tribune, 11/21/01] One of the unknowns at the meeting could be Yarkas's friend Mamoun Darkazanli, a German with connections to the Hamburg al-Qaeda cell. Darkazanli travels to Spain and meets with Yarkas during the time Atta is there. He travels with an unnamed Syrian Spanish suspect, who lived in Afghanistan and had access there to al-Qaeda leaders. [Los Angeles Times, 1/14/03] The Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia later reports that Atta also meets with fellow hijackers Waleed Alshehri and Wail Alshehri on July 16. [Associated Press, 9/27/01] Strangely enough, on July 16, Atta stayed in the same hotel in the town of Salou that had hosted FBI counterterrorist expert John O'Neill a few days earlier, when he made a speech to other counterterrorism experts on the need for greater international cooperation by police agencies to combat terrorism. Bin al-Shibh arrived in Salou on July 9, which means he would have been there when the counter-terrorist meeting took place. [Miller, Stone, and Mitchell, 2002, pp 135]

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August 27, 2001: Spanish Police Tape Phone Calls Indicating Aviation-Based Plans to Attack US.

Barakat Yarkas.

Spanish police tape a series of cryptic, coded phone calls from a caller in Britain using the codename “Shakur” to Barakat Yarkas (also known as Abu Dahdah), the leader of a Spanish al-Qaeda cell presumably visited by Mohamed Atta in July. A Spanish judge claims that a call by Shakur on this day shows foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks. Shakur says that he is “giving classes” and that “in our classes, we have entered the field of aviation, and we have even cut the bird's throat.” Another possible translation is, “We are even going to cut the eagle's throat,” which would be a clearer metaphor for the US. [Observer, 11/25/01; Guardian, 2/14/02] Spanish authorities later claim that detective work and voice analysis shows Shakur is Farid Hilali, a young Moroccan who had lived mostly in Britain since 1987. The Spanish later charge him for involvement in the 9/11 plot, claiming that, in the 45 days preceding 9/11, he travels constantly in airplanes “to analyse them and to be prepared for action.” It is claimed that he is training on aircraft in the days leading up to 9/11. He is further said to be connected to the Madrid train bombing in 2003. [Scotsman, 7/15/04; London Times, 7/16/04; London Times, 6/3004] The Spanish Islamic militant cell led by Yarkas is allegedly a hub of financing, recruitment, and support services for al-Qaeda in Europe. Yarkas's phone number is later also found in the address book of Said Bahaji, and he had ties with Mohammed Haydar Zammar and Mamoun Darkanzali. All three are associates of Atta in Hamburg. [Los Angeles Times, 11/23/01] Yarkas also “reportedly met with bin Laden twice and was in close contact with” top deputy Muhammad Atef. [Washington Post, 11/19/01] On November 11, 2001, Yarkas and ten other Spaniards will be arrested and charged with al-Qaeda activity. [International Herald Tribune, 11/21/01]

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September 24, 2001: Bank Accounts of Suspected al-Qaeda Supporters Frozen by US.

Darkanzali attended Said Bahaji's wedding in October, 1999. A bearded Marwan al-Shehhi stands at the far left, while Bahaji sits at the far left. Others who attended included Ziad Jarrah, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Mohammed Haydar Zammar, Abdelghani Mzoudi, an
The US freezes the accounts of 27 individuals and organizations, alleging that they had channeled money to al-Qaeda. Included in the list is Mamoun Darkazanli. US officials say Darkazanli took part in a 1996 attack on government troops in Saudi Arabia. According to German investigators, Darkazanli attended Said Bahaji's wedding several years earlier. [New York Times, 9/29/01] The German government also freezes accounts connected to Darkazanli on October 2, 2001. Both governments suspect Darkazanli of providing financial and logistical support to the Hamburg al-Qaeda cell. [Agence France-Presse, 10/28/01] Shortly thereafter, Spanish police listening in to Barakat Yarkas' telephone hear Yarkas warn the leader of a Syrian extremist organization that Darkazanli has caught the “flu” going around. [Chicago Tribune, 11/17/02]



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