Al Qaeda Preparing To Attack Asian City

France`s top terrorist investigator has warned that Al Qaeda might be preparing an attack on a big finacial centre in Asia. They claim to have information which indicates that countries in Asian, especially Japan, could have been targeted and that an attack might be imminent.


The question is if an attack by Al Qaeda is imminent in Asia, or if this is just an excuse to pass laws to allow law enforcements and intelligent services to do stuff they would otherwise not have been able to do.

I think al qaeda is making a fatal mistake when attacking asians, asians are more fanatical than the arabs even are, and they are a warrior culture.
Not a good choice for terrorists to try to victimize. It would be a good laugh though to see al qaeda get it's butt kicked in asia too hehe.

I wasn't aware that al'Qaida was getting its butt kicked now. I don't know what you mean by 'too'.

i agree. the Al qaeda have heen on a winning streek so far.

and i'm going to tokyo in early september

I'm sure things will be OK. It is probably just one of those things to keep everyone on their toes. The warnings for London came off and on for 3 years after 9/11. The attacks in Egypt and in Bali on the other hand came without any real warning.

Think of it this way - if they pre-warn then the countries will put things in place in order to be safe. So go and have a good time. I haven't been yet but I hear Tokyo is great.

It's an amazing city. Fell totally in love with it!

Travelling around the subways, it's clear the Japanese authorities are taking this threat seriously. Or are at least appearing to.

There are a lot more police than you'd expect and big bold red signs in japanese and english at every station asking for people to be extra vigilent due to an "increased security threat".

I even noticed at the massive building in Yokohama (cant remember it's name) there was a similar notice too. Indeed, it said that this building especially was observing increased security due to specific threats! And on the Bullet train there was scrolling text along the lines of "report suspicious objects or behaviour immediatly".

In saying that, security getting on and off Bullet trains as non-existant.

Even noticed a few Japanese locals looking very visibly nervous (as was i) anytime young men of Arab decent with backpacks boarded trains. Understandbibly so, considering most foreingers in Japan are white or black and Middle eastern people are very rare in Tokyo (only saw about 2-3 the whole time i was there)

Actually, in Osaka a young middle eastern man got on a subway train at one point with a big suitcase type bag and was looking all around him in a very tense manner, hah - so needless to say i didn't hesitate to change carraige. Better safe than sorry, eh?

Things seemed to calm down once the election took place (Sept 11). It did appear like they were expecting something and Japan was previously threatened. I dearly hope nothing does happen in Singapore or Tokyo though, because i love both cities like a second home and the people of each are delightful!

Anyway thought i'd give a first hand report of the situation there!

[edit on 2-10-2005 by tiaw1]

Originally posted by tiaw1
Actually, in Osaka a young middle eastern man got on a subway train at one point with a big suitcase type bag and was looking all around him in a very tense manner, hah - so needless to say i didn't hesitate to change carraige. Better safe than sorry, eh?

Do you run away when you see a white guy driving a a Ryder truck?

Since i'm not american i dont get that, but i presume its having a go.

No, i dont run away everytime i see something threatening. But with intelligence of an imminent attack on Japan's transport system, an upcoming election (when i was there) and this being one of only about 3 middle easterners i saw the entire time when i was in Japan... acting in a very suspicious manner, carrying a large black bag....

...i did what most normal people would do and decided not to take the risk of getting blown up. Like... oh, i dunno.... the unfortunate people in Bali, London, Casablanca, Istanbul, Jakarta, Egypt, Mombassa and Madrid


[edit on 2-10-2005 by tiaw1]

Originally posted by tiaw1
Since i'm not american i dont get that, but i presume its having a go.

White, Irish-American Catholic, Timothy McVeigh detonated a Ryder rental truck filled with improvised explosives outside the P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma in 1995. There is virtually irrefutable evidence that the feds were complicit in the attacks and set bombs within the buildings to cause the extensive damage and death, including that of children in the daycare center, which resulted.

My comment was less having a go at you personally and more taking a jab at us all for allowing terror to terrorize us and to make us live in fear of each other, when you have a much, much greater chance of dying in a car accident, and when the true forces behind most of these attacks is not you, me, nor Joe Habib Muslim.

[edit on 2005-10-3 by wecomeinpeace]

Originally posted by Hellmutt
France`s top terrorist investigator has warned that Al Qaeda might be preparing an attack on a big finacial centre in Asia. They claim to have information which indicates that countries in Asian, especially Japan, could have been targeted and that an attack might be imminent.

The question is if an attack by Al Qaeda is imminent in Asia, or if this is just an excuse to pass laws to allow law enforcements and intelligent services to do stuff they would otherwise not have been able to do.

As long as they keep spreading fear they can continue to bring in laws to control. As for the comment somewhere in this thread that Al Qaeda are winning - like where? They aren't winning and our governments know that but just to keep us on our toes, keep the 'terrorist beat up' top of mind they let off a few bombs yet again in beautiful Bali. Who cares about a few Aussie and other foreign tourists and of course the local Hindu's.

Disgraceful - and even more disgraceful to think that those who are really behind this 'war of terror' think that we are so stupid.

bravo wecomeinpeace! ... U got my WATS vote

The predicted location of the terror strikes we're Japan, Singapore and erm.. I don't remember what the other was. Well, I'm in Singapore and the last JI terror attack that was to be carried out was foiled by the Internal Security Department of Singapore. And you know what, it took them 4+ years to plan all those stuff and in the end they got caught. What a shame.

In my opinion, any Asian country is ready for anything. Any Asian country can go head on with any terrorist cell. The intelligence we have in the region is quite tight eventhough you don't really see it happening. Well, except for Indonesia, of course. They have a different reason because the terrorist cell in based there so it make it harder for them to prevent any strikes. Furthermore, they have too many stuffs on their hand.

High security watch and regional intelligence sharing in progress, I'm confident countries aimed to be attack will be safe.