April 5, 2001
By ALAN FEUER and BENJAMIN WEISER, NY Times
When testimony in the embassy bombings trial showed that three men had based their surveillance of the American Embassy in Kenya from an improvised darkroom in a cramped Nairobi apartment, it sounded like something taken from a manual called Terrorism 101.
As it turns out, that might be exactly what happened.
The manual has 18 chapters and runs about 180 pages. It is a thick and excruciatingly detailed document — part philosophical treatise, part training guide, part "Spy vs. Spy" from a back issue of Mad magazine.
It was recently introduced at the trial of four men accused of joining Osama bin Laden in a terrorist conspiracy that led to the bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Written in Arabic, it covers topics that include advice for Islamic warriors on how to lie low in Western cultures (shave beard, don't be chatty) and explicit guidelines on committing assassinations, using everything from car bombs to clubs to a lethal stew of spoiled meat, green beans and corn.
The document, "Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants," was seized in Manchester, England, by the authorities last May at the home of a suspect still being sought in the terrorism case. It was placed into evidence, along with an English translation, without any explanation to the jury.
But as the government rested its case yesterday in Federal District Court in Manhattan, it seemed likely that prosecutors would argue that testimony in the last two months had shown that the bombings conspiracy, and the role of the four men in it, followed a detailed script, drawn in specifics or spirit from the manual exhibited in Courtroom 318.
In one chapter, it notes that explosives are "believed to be the safest weapon" because they allow warriors to "get away from enemy personnel and to avoid being arrested."
"In addition," the manual advises, "explosives strike the enemy with sheer terror and fright."
It opens with a warning: "Belongs to the guest house. Please do not remove it from the house except with permission." (Prosecutors have asserted that in the late 1980's Mr. bin Laden ran guest houses in Afghanistan where he trained young militants who wanted to join his organization.)
The bulk of the text is a series of "lessons" on the specifics of a successful terrorist strike: forged documents, safe houses, arms and ammunition, transportation, codes and ciphers, surviving interrogation. And booby traps.
In Lesson 16, "Assassinations Using Poisons and Cold Steel," the authors explain how to kill with knives, ropes, blunt objects and even by spraying a lethal chemical brew on a potential victim's prayer beads.
Less graphic is the advice offered in Lesson 10 on what information to gather about a target for assassination: his name, age and residence; his job and routes to work; how he spends his free time; the physician who treats him; the stores where he shops. And finally, "ways of sneaking into his house."
While the manual has a somewhat clinical tone — one section bears the heading "Guidelines for Beating and Killing Hostages" — some passages seek to justify coldblooded deeds. It says, for example, that "religious scholars" have permitted the torture of a hostage, especially one who insists on withholding "news, information and secrets of his people."
Two traditional transgressions are not allowed, even during the stress of espionage: drinking wine and fornication. "There is nothing that permits those," the manual warns. But the manual says that undercover agents may forgo traditional Muslim appearance or consolidate prayers to better blend into a foreign country.
It advises suspicion should someone suddenly excuse himself to use the restroom. (An enemy agent once came back with a pistol, it explains.)
"Important note," the manual declares elsewhere. "Married brothers should observe the following. Not talking with their wives about their jihad work."
The manual lists 11 ideal characteristics for those participating in "special operations," like assassinations. One should be fit, canny and clever, with a tranquil and calm personality that "allows coping" with the psychological traumas of bloodshed and mass murder.
The authorship of the manual has never been fully explained, but there are clues. The home in which it was found belongs to the fugitive Anas al- Liby, who has been accused of working closely with Ali A. Mohamed, a former sergeant in the United States Army assigned to Special Forces at Fort Bragg, N.C., from 1986 to 1989.
Prosecutors have said that Mr. Mohamed trained Mr. bin Laden's group in Afghanistan, where he also translated military manuals from English into Arabic. Agents have seized from Mr. Mohamed's home in California a computer file that resembles a digest of terrorist training methods, including the use of explosives, assassination and surveillance techniques.
There have been previous accounts of a multivolume "Encyclopedia of Afghan Jihad," which was said to have been seized by Jordanian authorities. Other terrorist manuals have been uncovered over the years, and even introduced at previous trials. But the manuscript introduced in the bombings case appears to be different.
A government official in Washington who closely monitors terrorism and was read portions of the document said it did not appear to be from the encyclopedia and might be a more localized training document.
"Such manuals," the official said, "show that these guys aren't stupid in how they set up their organization."
Throughout the trial, the government has offered evidence that in some cases tracks the manual precisely — "blasting and destroying the embassies" — and in other cases seems inspired by its guidance.
For example, the government showed that three suspects studied targets in Nairobi before the blast and developed photographs in a tiny apartment after cloaking the windows with blankets. ("It is risky to use an outside film processing service," the manual counsels.)
Prosecutors also showed that Mr. bin Laden's group used blasting caps and detonation cords (from Lesson 15: "Care and caution must be used while handling), and that members fled with fake travel papers (from Lesson 3: "All documents of the undercover brother, such as identity cards and passport, should be falsified").
There was also testimony about the use of code words: "tools" for weapons, "potatoes" for hand grenades, and "soap" for TNT.
And, "If an indictment is issued and the trial begins," the manual suggests that the warrior "complain of mistreatment while in prison" and "take advantage of visits to communicate with brothers outside."
"The importance of mastering the art of hiding messages," it goes on, "is self-evident here."
Testimony has suggested that in some instances, these rules were broken.
When on the telephone, the manual says, an adherent "should not talk about any information that might be of use to the enemy."
But in a recorded phone conversation, one of the defendants told his wife to send "10 green papers." She asked if he meant money.
"Thank you very much," the man on the telephone said, sarcastically.
"That's only for you," his wife said, laughing. "Nobody else is listening."