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Title: 'He's no mastermind': Friends describe 'lazy Jack' the Iranian car dealer at centre of Washington ambassador bomb plot
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URL Source: http://news.africanseer.com/general ... gton-ambassador-bomb-plot.html
Published: Oct 16, 2011
Author: Daily Mail Reporter
Post Date: 2011-10-16 19:22:57 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 1176
Comments: 1
Captured: Manssor Arbabsiar was arrested in September for an alleged plot to blow up the Saudi Ambassador in Washington A friend of a former Texas used car dealer accused of plotting to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador in the United States says he never thought of his one-time business partner as politically motivated, much less a key player in a potential terrorist act. Manssor Arbabsiar was known as 'Jack' to his friends because his name was too hard to pronounce, said David Tomscha, who briefly owned a used car lot with him in the Texas Gulf Coast city of Corpus Christi. Tomscha said his friend was likable, albeit a bit lazy. The news came in the wake of shocking details of the planned restaurant bomb plot. In yesterday's dramatic press conference, Eric Holder spoke of how elements of the Iranian government financed and aided the plot to murder ambassador Adel al-Jubeir - offering a bounty of $1.5 million to the plotters. Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old U.S. citizen who also holds an Iranian passport, was charged along with Gholam Shakuri, whom authorities said was a member of the Iranian regime's hard core 'Quds Force'. 'He's no mastermind,' Tomscha told The Associated Press on today. 'I can't imagine him thinking up a plan like that. 'I mean, he didn't seem all that political. He was more of a businessman.' Arbabsiar's wife, Martha Guerrero, last night said that he was wrongly accused. 'I may not be living with him being separated, but I cannot for the life of me think that he would be capable of doing that,' she told local station KVUE. 'He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm sure of that.' Tomscha, 60, said their partnership in the 1990s ended after about six months when Arbabsiar stopped making his share of the payments for their lot, but they remained friends. Arbabsiar never talked about traveling to Mexico, Tomscha said. Arbabsiar came to the U.S. to attend what was then known as Texas A & I University in Kingsville, Tomscha said. Then Arbabsiar opened a used car lot with a couple of college friends and eventually owned several in the Corpus Christi area, and he seemed to get first choice on the repossessed cars at the auto auction in town, Tomscha said. TIME LINE TO MURDER: HOW THE PLOT ESCALATED May 24: Arbabsiar first meets someone posing as an associate of a drug trafficking cartel in Mexico, who was actually a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration informant codenamed CS-1. Arbabsiar asked about the informant's knowledge of explosives and explained he was interested in attacking a Saudi embassy. June 2: Arbabsiar returned to Mexico and held more meetings with the informant in late June and early July. He allegedly said his associates in Iran had discussed a number of 'violent missions' including the murder of the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel Al-Jubeir. July 14: Arbabsiar meets CS-1 again, they discuss plot details - 4 men needed and payment of $1.5 million July 17: The pair meet again in Mexico, CS-1 says one member of his gang has already carried out surveillance of the ambassador and they allegedly discussed bombing a restaurant in the United States where the ambassador frequently dined. August 1 and 9: Arbabsiar makes two overseas wire transfers 'totalling approximately $100,000' September 28: Arbabsiar flys to Mexico, refused entry and sent back to JFK September 29: Arrested at JFK by federal agents October 4-5: Arbabsiar, who has been in U.S. custody since his arrest, made phone calls that were monitored by U.S. law enforcement agents to Shakuri, described as a member of the Quds Force, a branch of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He is believed to be based in Iran. Shakuri allegedly confirmed to Arbabsiar the plot should move forward as quickly as possible, stating 'just do it quickly, it's late'. 'He was sort of a hustler,' Tomscha said. 'I think he made some money.' Tomscha said he last saw Arbabsiar last fall, and in early 2011 heard that his friend had moved back to Iran. Tomscha was shocked to hear Tuesday about the arrest. After living for years in Corpus Christi, Arbabsiar followed his wife to the Austin area, Tomscha said. Nobody answered the door Tuesday at the two-story stucco and brick home in a well-manicured neighborhood in Round Rock, the Austin suburb that federal officials list as Arbabsiar's residence. One man was seen going inside in the afternoon, and later there was a delivery from Pizza Hut. A neighbour said he frequently saw Arbabsiar walking in the neighbourhood after dark, while smoking cigarettes and talking on a cellphone in a foreign language. 'My wife and I always thought there was something weird about the guy,' said Eric Cano, a 38-year-old buyer for a grocery company who lives next door. 'But you don't think it will get to this level.' Yesterday, shocking details of the plot emerged as authorities revealed the scale of the operation to foil the attack. According to prosecutors, when asked by undercover agents about the potential loss of innocent life in the bombings, Arbabsiar replied, 'They want that guy [al-Jubeir] done. 'If the hundred go with him, f**k 'em.' Attorney General Eric Holder said: 'The criminal complaint unsealed today exposes a deadly plot directed by factions of the Iranian government to assassinate a foreign Ambassador on U.S. soil with explosives. 'Through the diligent and coordinated efforts of our law enforcement and intelligence agencies, we were able to disrupt this plot before anyone was harmed. 'We will continue to investigate this matter vigorously and bring those who have violated any laws to justice,' he added. The Justice Department said that from the spring of 2011 to October 2011, Arbabsiar and his Iran-based co-conspirators, including Shakuri of the Qods Force, had been plotting the murder of the Saudi Ambassador. Court: This courtroom drawing shows Manssor Arbabsiar (2R), who holds both a US and Iranian passport, charged over an alleged Iranian government-directed plot Appearance: These court sketches show Magistrate Judge Michael Dolinger (left) presiding over the arraignment of Manssor Arbabsiar (right) at Manhattan federal court Arbabsiar was said to have unknowingly hired informant from the Drug Enforcement Administration to carry out the plot. WHO ARE THE SECRETIVE QUDS FORCE ? Iran’s secretive Quds Force is an elite brigade within Iran's revolutionary Guard. The Guards, with their own navy, air force and command structure separate from the regular armed forces, are seen as fiercely loyal to the supreme leader. Within the Guards, Quds are tasked with 'exporting' the Iranian revolution abroad. Said to contain 15,000 troops, the force is accused of operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, North Africa and now North America. In the past, the U.S. has accused Quds of arming Iraqi militants with deadly bomb-making material, building up an extensive network in the war-torn country, recruiting Iraqis and supporting not only Shiite militias but also Shiites allied with Washington. Posing as a member of a Mexican drug cartel, the informant [CS-1] met with Arbabsiar several times in Mexico, authorities said. Arbabsiar was said to have first met with CS-1 in Mexico on May 24, 2011, inquiring CS-1’s knowledge of explosives before explaining that he was interested in, among other things, attacking an embassy of Saudi Arabia. According to the charges, CS-1 allegedly indicated he had knowledge of using C-4 explosives. Arbabsiar was then said to have returned to Mexico in June and July 2011 where he held additional meetings with CS-1. In a July 14, 2011, meeting in Mexico, CS-1 allegedly told Arbabsiar that he would need to use four men to carry out the Ambassador’s murder and that his price for carrying out the murder was $1.5 million. Arbabsiar then offered a $100,000 down payment and during the same meeting, he boasted to CS-1 his cousin in Iran - a 'big general' in the Iranian military according to Arbabsiar - had knowledge of the attack. In July 17, CS-1 and Arbabsiar met again, with CS-1 saying one of his men had already carried out surveillance of the ambassador. Target: Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir was the intended target for the plot, according to prosecutors When CS-1 raised the possibility of mass casualties, Arbabsiar was said to say: 'They want that guy [the Ambassador] done [killed], if the hundred go with him f**k ‘em.' On August 1, and August 9, 2011, with Shakuri’s approval, Arbabsiar allegedly made two overseas wire transfers 'totalling approximately $100,000' that prosecutors say were sent to an FBI undercover account. After CS-1 then demanded a further down payment, Arbabsiar flew to Mexico to act as a guarantee the fee would be paid. After being refused entry to Mexico on September 28, he was returned to New York's JFK airport, where he was arrested by federal agents on September 29. He then, according to prosecutors: 'Told agents that he then met with the CS-1 in Mexico and discussed assassinating the Ambassador. 'According to the complaint, Arbabsiar said that, afterwards, he met several times in Iran with Shakuri and another senior Qods Force official, where he explained that the plan was to blow up a restaurant in the United States frequented by the Ambassador and that numerous bystanders could be killed, according to the complaint. ' 'The plan was allegedly approved by these officials.' Charged: Holder announced that two individuals have been charged in New York for their alleged participation in a plot directed by elements of the Iranian government
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#1. To: A K A Stone (#0)
I always watch for the Official 'Yes, this is true because I say it is' DC Folks doing background. The Day that the First 7 Minutes of Evening Nat'l News is devoted to exposing this World Shaking News. Sen Feinstein, in this case. Like the Oct 08 Bailout, you should consider her to be the useful idiot of Mossad.
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