Letters of the 1993 World Trade Center Bombers

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

In a Monday post, I discussed a Washington Times article on the current dearth of Arabic translators in the federal prison system.  I'm quoted in the article as saying, "There are several known instances in U.S. prisons of known or suspected terrorists communicating with terrorists overseas, or with their followers or other networks that share their ideologies and goals.  Probably the best example is the 14 letters that were exchanged between the convicted World Trade Center bombers and a Spanish terror cell."

A conversation that I had yesterday with a friend who works as a terrorism analyst for a television network made me realize how much the 1993 World Trade Center bombers' letter writing has flown under most people's radar, and thus is worth highlighting.  This information first came out in a March report from Lisa Myers and the NBC investigative unit:

Letters and articles obtained by NBC News show that while behind bars, the 1993 bombers continued their terrorist activities.  They wrote letters to other suspected terrorists and brazenly praised Osama bin Laden in Arabic newspapers. According to confidential Spanish court documents obtained by NBC, at least 14 letters went back and forth between the World Trade Center bombers and a Spanish terror cell.  In February 2003, bomber Mohammed Salameh writes:  "Oh God! Make us live with happiness, make us die as martyrs, may we be united on the Day of Judgment."  The recipient, Mohamed Achraf, later allegedly led a plot to blow up the National Justice Building in Madrid and is awaiting trial.

Another letter that Salameh sent from prison was published in the Al-Quds newspaper, stating:  "Osama Bin Laden is my hero of this generation."

The NBC report makes clear that law enforcement officials regard the fact that the convicted bombers were able to communicate with other terrorists and advocate jihad from their jail cells as "a horrible lapse."

The imprisoned bombers also received letters that mirrored their hatred of the West and dedication to violent jihad.  Some of the people writing them even allegedly used these letter exchanges as a recruiting tool:

The letters to the bombers spoke of the need to "terminate the infidels" and said, "The Muslims don't have any option other than jihad."  Among those corresponding is a man charged with recruiting suicide operatives in Spain.  Spanish officials accuse him of using letters to and from the U.S. bombers as a recruiting tool. All this while the Bureau of Prisons reassured the public that terrorists were under control.

There is a clear cautionary tale here, and this story deserves to be more widely known.

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