Eerie Video

With the Moussaoui trial puttering along into news oblivion - Moussaoui pleaded guilty to charges, so there is no further trial on the fact and instead the courts are proceeding to the sentencing phase - the real action on the WTC attack prosecution front is taking place in Spain.

In the wake of the 3/11 attack on railways in Madrid, the Spanish government rounded up a bunch of terrorists, some of whom had connections to the 9/11 attackers in the US. Prosecutors played a video tape taken by suspect Ghasoub al Abrash Ghalyoun in 1997 that shows Lower Manhattan and other sites.

Eerie videotape of the World Trade Center, recorded by a suspected al Qaeda advance man scouting targets for the Sept. 11 attackers, was played yesterday in a Spanish courtroom.

"Ah, Manhattan!" a voice exclaims as Ghasoub al Abrash Ghalyoun's video zooms in on sites like the Twin Towers, the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty.

But Ghalyoun — who faces more than 62,000 years in jail if convicted in Spain — testified yesterday that he was just a tourist dazzled by American landmarks when he videotaped them in 1997.

He also denied his previous claim that a fellow defendant, Imad Yarkas, had been recruiting Muslim men for "holy war" training in Afghanistan and "was a radical person."

Ghalyoun and Yarkas, the alleged head of a Spanish-based al Qaeda cell, and 22 suspected confederates are on trial in a specially built courtroom on the outskirts of Madrid, secured inside a bulletproof glass cubicle.

Prosecutors say Ghalyoun's videotape, shown in court for the first time yesterday, is damning evidence that was later turned over to other al Qaeda members to provide a blue print for the Sept. 11 plotters.

It is real easy for a terrorist to claim that these tapes are those of a tourist in awe of the sights and sounds of the big city. Tourists the world over take photos of famous sites (Golden Gate Bridge, Empire State Building, etc.). Problem is, they can also be used as scouting intel for a terrorist attack. The tapes can be used to get the terrorists accustomed to the sights and views.

It would appear that these individuals sought to scout out locations for potential attacks under the guise of being tourists. Other terrorist groups operate in a similar fashion, scouting locations before an attack in order to maximize the efficency of their attacks.