Fliers, more concern

[Gonzo]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsweek: Al Qaeda -- Terror Network Remains As Dangerous As Ever, Bent on More Attacks Against U.S. Interests, Officials Say bin Laden Lieutenant in Custody Tells of Plan for Explosive Jacket Detonated By A Suicide Bomber to Bring Down Plane; Used Own Metal Detectors to Learn Which Materials Would Elude Airport Security

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Story Filed: Sunday, October 13, 2002 10:36 AM EST

NEW YORK, Oct 13, 2002 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Al Qaeda terrorist network, even in its more decentralized form, remains as dangerous as ever and bent on perpetrating a spectacular attack against U.S. interests, officials tell Newsweek in the current issue. "Al Qaeda has a demonstrated ability to learn from previous attacks, apply patience and ingenuity, and take advantage of security gaps," says a recent intelligence report obtained by Newsweek.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20021013/NYSU005 )

Those fears were intensified by what investigators have learned during recent interrogations of Qaeda operatives, report Washington Bureau Chief Daniel Klaidman and Correspondent-at-Large Rod Nordland in the October 21 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, October 14). Abu Zubaydah, the senior bin Laden lieutenant captured by U.S. forces last spring, has laid out in detail how Al Qaeda's tactics continuously evolve.

One example of Qaeda entrepreneurialism: plans for an explosive jacket detonated by a suicide bomber to bring down a civilian airliner. Abu Zubaydah has told U.S. interrogators about conversations he had with members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad in which they discussed how explosives would be placed in an "ordinary but thick winter or rain jacket" after the insulation had been removed. "At the base of the jacket would be two wires, one red and one black, which the bomber would cross at an opportune time to detonate the device," according to Abu Zubaydah's account, obtained by Newsweek. The terrorist planners, Abu Zubaydah went on to say, had used their own metal and explosive detectors to determine which materials would elude airport safety.


(Read Newsweek's news releases at

http://www.Newsweek.MSNBC.com. Click "Pressroom.")

Make Your Opinion Count - Click Here
http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X61144423


SOURCE Newsweek



CONTACT: Jan Angilella of Newsweek, +1-212-445-5638
/Photo: NewsCom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20021013/NYSU005
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN1
PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 212-782-2840

URL:
http://www.newsweek.msnbc.com
http://www.prnewswire.com

Copyright (C) 2002 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.


KEYWORD: New York
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PUB MAG



Copyright © 2002, PR Newswire, all rights reserved.

 

[Gonzo]

like anyone cares on top of that, Uniteds going down fast

A year ago this week Jim Goodwin, the former chief executive of United Airlines, wrote a letter to employees warning that "we are in nothing less than a fight for our life".

"Clearly this bleeding has to be stopped - and soon - or United will perish sometime next year," he said. The thanks he got for this letter was to be marched swiftly out of the company.

The message outraged union leaders, who dubbed it the "Chicken Little letter" for its alarmist tone, and caused UAL's stock price to drop 10 per cent to about $17 at the time.

Looking back, Mr Goodwin could be forgiven for feeling an element of Schadenfreude. While wrong about the timing of United's meltdown, the rest of his critique has proved spot on. United's shares have since plunged to $1.72, valuing the 76-year-old company at $98m, one-fourteenth the size of Jet Blue, an airline start-up founded three years ago.

 

[HomeLAN]

Hell, that simply proves that organized labor doesn't ever want to hear the truth unless it means better pay and benefits. I coulda told you that.

 

[Q]

At least he got the boot while his stock options were worth more than $1.72. Hopefully he heeded his own predictions and dumped that crap.

 

[Huge]

Tell that 'Al Kada' fella to pay me a visit...

 

[Gonzo]

Holy loss of cash flow Batman!

The parent company of ailing United Airlines reported an $889 million third-quarter loss Friday, its second-biggest setback ever, reflecting the continued bleak environment for U.S. carriers.

It was the ninth consecutive quarterly loss for UAL Corp., which is negotiating with its unions to shed billions of dollars in costs in a bid to avoid filing for bankruptcy.

Its only worse quarterly result was the $1.16 billion loss in last year's third quarter, when the terrorist attacks threw the airline industry into a tailspin from which it has yet to recover.