First, the use of Zodiac-type rubberized speedboats loaded with explosives to attack U.S. warships and other targets. According to this source, Nashiri (a.k.a. Mullah Bilal) has admitted playing a key role organizing the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole and an attack off the coast of Yemen on a French oil tanker. Both used suicide Zodiacs. Early last year Nashiri sent a team of Afghan-trained Saudis to Morocco to prepare for Zodiac attacks on U.S. warships transiting the Strait of Gibraltar. The Moroccan intelligence service busted the operation but a key operative got away. Known by the pseudonyms “Riyad” and “Nawaf,” he “is more dangerous than Nashiri,” says one Arab intelligence official who is on his trail.
The second strategy, say sources familiar with Nashiri’s debriefings, is the acquisition of trawlers and other medium-size ships that can be blown up near other vessels. If warships become too difficult to approach, tourist ships could be targeted.
The third strategy is the use of private planes bought or stolen from flying clubs and small airports and loaded with high explosives. The fourth strategy involves training underwater demolition teams. Arab intelligence officials say a Tunisian naturalized as a Dutch citizen was sent to Morocco before 9-11 to set up a Qaeda diving school, but Tunisian intelligence identified him as suspect and Morocco expelled him. He is now believed to be hiding in Britain.
