Italian police tapes hint at September 11 attacks

Italian police recorded al-Qaida suspects in Milan discussing aerial attacks and infiltration of the US in the 13 months before September 11, with the mastermind of the plot being referred to as an insane genius who would chill the world.

Transcripts published this week in Italian and American newspapers suggest that a cell of Islamist militants in northern Italy may have known of the attacks as early as August 2000, more than a year before four hijacked passenger planes crashed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

In one conversation a suspected Yemeni terrorist, Abdulsalam Ali Ali Abdulrahman, told an Egyptian imam, Abdelkader Mahmoud Es Sayed, who had just picked him up at Bologna airport, about a massive strike against the enemies of Islam. The planned attack would "be written about in all the newspapers of the world", he told Es Sayed as they drove from the airport in a Citroen car on August 12 2000.

"This is a terrifying thing. This is a thing that will spread from south to north, from east to west. The person who came up with this programme is a madman from a madhouse, a madman but a genius. He is fixated on this programme; it will leave everyone turned to ice," Mr Abdulrahman said.

"In the future, listen to the news and remember these words: Above the head - remember well, remember well - the danger in the airports. There are clouds in the sky there in international territory, in that country. The fire has been lit and is awaiting only the wind."

The Los Angeles Times quoted US officials as saying that they would study the transcripts to decide if they referred to September 11 or to other plots, such as an alleged plan to attack last July's G8 summit in Genoa with an aircraft.

The authenticity of the transcripts, which form part of a Milan prosecutor's report, was confirmed by the Italian authorities after the newspaper Corriere della Sera published extracts.

At the time, Es Sayed was an imam at a mosque in Milan. Convicted in absentia in Egypt of the 1997 massacre of 58 tourists at Luxor and believed to be al-Qaida's chief in Italy, he was also recorded in January 2001 apparently discussing fake documents with a Tunisian, Ben Soltane Adel, who asked: "Will these work for the brothers who are going to the United States?"

Adel was later convicted of belonging to an Islamist cell and Es Sayed - who fled Italy to Afghanistan in July last year - is thought to have been killed there during last year's US bombing campaign.

Investigators believe the leaders of the September 11 plot were based in Hamburg, Germany. The transcripts bolster evidence that northern Italy was an important logistics base for Islamist terrorists.