The Maneater (U. Missouri)
09/14/2001
(U-WIRE) COLUMBIA, M)-Reports that a cell of Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization, Al-Qaeda, exists in Columbia, MO., are greatly exaggerated according to Columbia Police Department Chief Randy Boehm.
“There is no evidence to support the presence of Al-Qaeda in Columbia,” Boehm said.
The Columbia Police Department was flooded with calls from concerned citizens who had read The Boston Globe and The Wall Street Journal articles citing Columbia as having an Al-Qaeda cell operating.
The articles said Columbia was one of six cities in the United States with an Al-Qaeda cell. The newspapers based this on evidence gathered during the trial of members of Al-Qaeda involved in the bombings of the US. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Boehm has been in contact with the FBI and said there is no connection between Columbia and the attacks in New York.
“They (the FBI) are not at this time conducting investigations in the Columbia area,” Boehm said. “The Columbia Police Department doesn’t have information of any type of credible threat to Columbia.”
Paul Wallace, a professor of political science, said he had not heard of any terrorist groups operating out of Columbia.
“I have no knowledge of any organized group in Columbia, Missouri, that advocates violence against the United States,” Wallace said. “If there were operatives in Columbia, they would be part of a deep plan. The university is an entrance point for international groups who spend a few years here before moving on to other cities.”
Al-Qaeda is a multinational group that funds the activities of terrorists around the world. It was founded in 1988 by bin Laden. Based in Afghanistan, the group’s primary goal is to overthrow what it sees as the corrupt and heretical governments of Muslim states and replace them with the rule of Sharia (Islamic Law).
The group is divided into a system of “cells.” The cells operate completely independent of one another, Wallace said, and are controlled from above.
“Cells were developed in Russia during the Czarist period,” Wallace said. “Even if a cell member is caught and tortured, they cannot reveal information about other cells.”
Wallace said if the attacks in New York were carried out by Al-Qaeda, each hijacking group might very well not have known about the other hijackings.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Colin Powell named bin Laden as the prime suspect in orchestrating the attacks.
– Gieson Cacho contributed to this article.