An elusive former Lebanese diplomat turned Hezbollah protagonist, under the façade of many businesses-fronts, one of which was an international arms trade, was suspected to be the mastermind behind the sleeper Islamic-Jihadist cells operating in a number of countries.
He was allegedly responsible for arming the extremists to carry out terror acts in Indonesia, Philippines and Africa against American and Western people, and their interests there.
Jon had vague suspicions about who, this particular rogue arms trader overseeing the New York Jihadist cell, might be. He was beginning to believe that they might have crossed paths during his CIA tenure in Beirut.
FBI’s investigations so far had revealed that the terror-cell clandestinely operating from Yonkers in the New City suburbs had plans to carry out two simultaneous, spectacular suicide missions.
They would first seize the two Jewish synagogues in the Manhattan and Bronx districts on the same day and at the same time, then create a hostage-like situation, blockading the two premises.
Their modus operandi was to draw public attention by initially killing a couple of hostages, provoking an encounter with the law-enforcement authorities, finally murdering the hostages and suffering martyrdom.
Despite efforts by the Jihadist’s cell to maintain extreme secrecy, it was not to be so.
It was not long before Bradley’s Counterterrorism operatives with the help of the informants and the NYPD soon discovered the existence of the Hezbollah's Jihadist cell in Yonkers.
Steven Turner, who had been working with Jonathan for a couple of years now in the N.Y.'s Counterterrorism unit, had suggested to the Director of FBI, through his superiors, that Jonathan Bradley be given the charge of this investigation.
Bradley had the necessary expertise, having worked as a CIA Cover Agent in Beirut and the middle-east region, thus being knowledgeable about the Hezbollah, Hamas and other militant and Jihadist groups operating from Lebanon.
His first step was to place those known and suspected sympathizers of Islamic causes, and the Muslim clerics advocating fundamentalism, under electronic and visual surveillance.
The NYPD and the FBI informant agents were put under increased pressure even threatened with imprisonment for whatever offenses they had committed or were accused of. They were to intensify their interaction with the underground groups expounding radical political views, particularly among the middle-eastern Arab communities.
Soon reports of strong rumors began to filter in that a terror plot by Al Qaeda or an Islamic extremist group was being planned for execution in the New York City. Reports from other intelligence agencies had also picked up similar strands, although no specific details of the plot or plots were available.
After weeks of investigation and patient wait, there finally appeared a break.
FBI Special Agent, William King, who handled a deep-cover informant living among the N.Y. City Lebanese community reported on Youssef Hariri, a 21 year old, born in America, and a college undergraduate.
Youssef was the son of the landlord owning a block of suburban duplex houses in Yonkers, the inner suburbs of the New York City.
He grew up loving the freedom of the American lifestyle, developing a weakness for young blonde women and patronizing the vibrant nightlife. His father, Ismael Hariri, was a devout Muslim. His son, Youssef, was the diametrical opposite of him, and never a candidate for radicalization.
Very soon, Youssef’s inability to maintain his acquired colorful lifestyle which, besides indulging in wanton sex and gambling, led him to become a victim of the FBI's coerced recruitment program.
By then, Youssef had become estranged from his father and lived away from him.
In short, the FBI's deep cover man turned over Youssef to his Control, the Special Agent, William King, and thus Youssef became the legal informant of the FBI.
Over the time, Youssef began to spy on the activities of his Lebanese community in Yonkers, and other areas of the N.Y. City, either directly or through sources developed, while he continued to enjoy his self-indulgent lifestyle.
One Saturday afternoon. Youssef was having his lunch at the Arabic restaurant frequented by his mid-eastern fraternity.
He was joined at the table by one his Lebanese friends, Ahmed, who was a neighbor of his father in Yonkers.
During the course of their conversation, Ahmed mentioned that his father had rented out a detached house to a group of Arab men, who appeared to be visiting the New York City.
This meant nothing unusual to Youssef for people rented houses and left after a while. But, when Youssef’s friend said, “For people on a visit to keep pretty much to themselves and stay indoors most of the time… that appears odd to me.”
“How long have they been staying there?” Youssef was wondering if there was something of interest for him here.
“I’ve seen them reside in the house for over a month now,” pausing to add, “Come to think of it, I am meeting you here after quite a while too.”
His friend was looking at him sheepishly, “What have you been up to, ya Youssef? You still live with that American blonde woman, Rita or something, after the last one…? “
“Nothing like that, ya Ahmed. I get around. You know how it is?” Youssef interrupted him.
His interest had been spiked by his friend’s comment about his father’s new tenants, and he wanted to know more. “How’s my father doing?”
“You ought to visit him sometimes, ya Youssef. Patch up whatever your differences with him. He is your father after all, and he is getting older.”
“Guess, you are right, ya Ahmed. I must make amends.”
Then Youssef Hariri tried to veer the subject towards the new arrivals. “Have you spoken to these new tenants? What news do they bring from Lebanon?”
“Only to wave at and say hello. As you’d know, we are not exactly your next-door neighbors. And, I don’t yet know whether they have come directly from Lebanon.
“But, I see that they do have visitors turning up at the house now and then, who may be taking them out sight-seeing the city or even visiting some relatives.
“Perhaps, when you call on your father, you can make their acquaintance, that is, if they are still there,” Ahmed ended with a smug. Then looking at his watch, “Oh, I ought to be going. Don’t want to be late for my afternoon shift.”
“Ma'a Salama, ya Ahmed.
Goodbye. See you around.”
“Ma'a Salama, ya Youssef.
“Fi Amanillah, ya Ahmed.” May Allah protect you.”
Youssef understood well that his father condemned his son’s superfluous lifestyle and would never make amends unless and until Youssef made a complete reversal to a life of a devout Muslim. An almost impossible thing for him, considering the extent of his involvement in the extracurricular activities that he happened to be involved at this point of time.
There was something about his father’s new tenants that nagged him. At the same time, Youssef did not want to be the source of any more trouble for his father, should the tenants turn out to be some undesirable elements.
On the other hand, not every Arab visitor or immigrant to the USA is deemed a potential threat.
Informants were duty-bound to report if they came across or heard about any new arrivals in the suspected communities.
Finally, Youssef saw no harm in making his report to his boss, William King. The latter met with Jon Bradley and it was decided to place Hariri’s new tenants under active surveillance.
***
"An hour ago, two teams of the Mossad’s Kidon (ultra-secret assassination unit) operatives, including a female, raided the Islamic-Jihadist cell. There was a firefight. They left behind two bodies of the alleged terrorists and another of the landlord." Steve narrated to them as a matter of fact.
The others present were surprised though not shocked. They had all along suspected that the Israel’s Mossad agents were aware of the Hezbollah Jihadist cell's presence in Yonkers.
However, s
ince it was known among the intelligence agencies that the FBI was actively involved in the case, they had not expected the Mossad operatives to act prematurely on their own.
On an afterthought, Jon said, "I don't think they were able to lay their hands on the mastermind. According to our surveillance, the Lebanese businessman was never seen visiting the place nor anywhere around."
"The landline was wiretapped and the house was bugged," Allan Banks came in. "William personally supervised the operation when on a Friday the occupants were all away at the Anjuman Mosque for the obligatory prayer service.
“It's possible that they suspected the house being bugged because except for normal conversations no incriminatory talk, whatsoever, was heard concerning their terror plot, both over the phone and inside the premises.
“Obviously, they will have used the
cellphones or public phones to communicate with their counterparts elsewhere.”
"As I understand, informant Abdullah was the only outside source to get close to them. The old man did odd jobs for the tenants living in the block,” Agent King stated.
“Was he able to pick up any specific information about them?" asked Steve Turner.
"His last report was vague, something about seeing some drawings and pictures lying about in the living room, which he could not describe. Abdullah is not English literate.
“At another time, Abdullah and another man were helping to unload the delivery of some wooden boxes into the tenant’s house. He happened to overhear a gist of a conversation in lowered tones, between two of the alleged terrorists, speaking in Arabic outside the house, before they noticed his presence and stopped talking. They appeared to be speaking about guns,” explained William.
Steven shrugged, getting ready to leave the conference room. "Well, we will have time to check on that later.
“Anyway, the Mossad operatives would have left the search for the Jihadist's weapons and other evidence, if any, to us. They would not have had the time for a thorough search of the premises.
“Incidentally, Judge Rothenberg, signed the Search Warrants of possible cause for both the locations.”
He rose to his feet, "The NYPD officers and our agents are already at the crime scene and have cordoned off the area.
“Let’s get there before the media are all over the place,” Turner concluded, as he strode towards the door.
Bradley and his colleagues followed him a couple of feet behind.
CHAPTER TWO
Yonkers - New York City
Saturday - 1.30 AM
“Allahu Akbar!”… “Allahu Akbar!”…
These were the loud shouts emitting from the highly, emotionally charged guttural voices, interrupted by the wild chatter of the formidable AK-47 firing, in the neighborhood of Yonkers.
Through their own sources and interaction with the friendly spy agencies, the Israeli’s Mossad Katsa intelligence operatives had become aware of the Hezbollah-Jihadist cell’s plot to seize and demolish the two New York City’s Synagogues, along with hostages.
However, the Mossad being an extremely secretive organization, this covert Israeli intelligence agency never confides or fully discloses its investigation or course of action to even friendly agencies, unless it suits their ultimate purpose.
Youssef Hariri was a double agent, and the Mossad operatives were able to obtain more information from him than what he passed on to the FBI agents.
Through personal threats and rewards, the local Mossad Katsa forced Youssef to compromise with his father and during this process he also interacted with the new tenants, although they were always on their guard.
But, Youssef did learn that one of the Jihadists’ had family relatives living in Manhattan. That Lebanese Muslim-family
had recommended them his father’s house as available for rent in the N.Y. City suburbs.
One of the men from the Lebanese family in Manhattan had been coerced by the underground militants to act as the conduit for the cell’s armory, though he was himself not a Jihadist.
The Mossad realized that they had to act before the destructive weapons were delivered. So far, the terrorists were able to receive only one clandestine supply of small arms, since the conduit living in Manhattan was under the active surveillance of the Mossad Katsas.
However, they could not discount the possibility that the Islamic-Jihadist cell had other sources of supply interacting in their suicide-mission. After all, the extremists held the would-be sacrificial martyrs in high esteem.
Acting independently of the FBI, NYPD and the other law enforcement agencies, Mossad Katsa had traced the cell of the suicide mission planners to their lair in Yonkers and put them under their own surveillance.
Abdullah, Youssef and the conduit in Manhattan had already compromised the existence of Jihadists’ terror-cell to the Mossad.
Information had come to light that the Jihadists were awaiting the final consignment of the weapons and the signal to initiate the attacks on the two Synagogues from the Lebanese mastermind, the unidentified Hezbollah illegal arms trafficker.
The Israelis were at first hoping to trace and trap the man, but realizing the volatility of the situation and the unpredictability of the Jihadist’s mind, they could not risk delaying the capture or destroying the Jihadists’ cell.
A four-man Kidon (trained assassins) team was dispatched from Tel Aviv, Israel, travelling separately via Germany and Spain, under false names and passports, to be joined by the local Mossad Katsa field operatives. The Mossad Kidon was the most feared of among the intelligence operatives.
They took shelter in a safe house arranged by one of the New York Sayanim, the local non-Israeli Jews who volunteer to provide logistic support, including weapons, for any Israeli overseas operation.
At about 1.15 AM, two black Peugeot sedans with false number plates and forged registration papers, containing seven men and one woman, headed towards the inner suburbs of the N.Y. City - the Yonkers locality where the Hezbollah-Jihadist operatives resided.
Eli Reznik, their commander was a short, muscular, non-descript middle-age man with thinning black hair, who sat beside the seemingly plain-looking (otherwise attractive), slim, pony-tailed woman driver, bat leveyha, a female agent, of the first car. The weather was cold and dark outside.
The Mossad team, including the woman, was casually dressed – in a black T-shirt, black leather jacket and gray trousers. All the men carried between themselves an arsenal of weapons; Uzi short-barrel machine pistols equipped with silencers, two AK-47s, Beretta handguns, M26 combat grenades and M48 stun-grenades. All were stolen from various illegal weapons traffickers.
Each wore a Kevlar bulletproof vest under their normal clothing.
The 22-years old, something female Kidon was equipped with the only M24 sniper rifle. It was her first mission abroad upon graduating as a Kidon.
Tensed, as the team members were with the thoughts of the oncoming mission, they understood it as a necessary task to do or die since they were dealing with hardened terrorists seeking the glory of martyrdom, being brainwashed with the after-death rewards of a heavenly paradise in the company of virgins.
According to the Mossad surveillance communication, the four aspiring suicide-bombers were expected to be inside the house for the night.
Their orders from Tel Aviv were to capture or kill the Jihadists, thus destroying the terrorist cell, before they could activate their murderous plan to bomb the Jewish Synagogues and the worshippers.
About a hundred meters before the turn in the road, which led to the one-story Jihadists’ house adjoining the block of the other detached houses, Eli signaled the cars to slow down and crawl to the side of the road, some distance away from the nearest streetlight.
Then each of them pulled on a black balaclava over the face.
Reznik and the female Kidon got out of the car and they walked away, keeping to the shadows until they came in the view of the house.
The woman ran swiftly up towards the e
levated driveway and dropped to the ground, screening through the night-vision scope, mounted on her sniper rifle, for any signs of activity around or inside the house.
She saw nothing suspicious and waved to Reznik to advance, who in turn signaled the waiting team. Silently, the men spread out and started to cover the front and the back of the house.
Just then, a dog started barking fiercely. The sound came from the direction of one of the neighborhood homes. It stopped just as suddenly as if its owner had quieted the animal.
But the next instant, Eli and his team were startled to see the lights come on, brightening up the front yard of that house, and the dog started barking again.
Reznik feared they would stand out as shadows in front of the terrorists’ house to anyone surveying the area.
Reacting swiftly, he and his men dropped to the ground.
The female Mossad agent put down her sniper rifle and walked hastily towards the house in the neighborhood. As per their briefing, she knew that the residents were a widow and her visiting son from L.A.
Both were standing at their front door and turned to look towards the woman who was walking up their driveway, same time trying to quiet down the dog. The animal stopped barking, but continued to growl by the time the Kidon reached them.
Waving at them and acting friendly, the operative put on her best appearance.
“Hi,” she called out. “Can I use your landline? My car has run out of gas and it appears that I forgot my cell phone at my friend’s place who I’d just visited.” She pretended to look helpless and a bit naive.
The older woman was hesitant, but the young man appeared only too willing to help the maiden in distress.
“Yes, of course, you certainly can,” he replied with a bright smile, motioning her inside, “Come. I am Tony and this is my mother, Isabel. She doesn’t keep very well these days, and I am visiting her for a few days. This way, please….”
Reznik took a quick decision before the terrorists could awaken to the noise outside.
CROSSFIRE: Ex-CIA JON BRADLEY Thriller Series (TERROR BLOODLINE Book 1) Page 2
