Bin Laden News

Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud inaugurated the King Abdullah Port in Rabigh.The Saudi Arabia’s State News Agency (SPA) reported that Saudi Arabia moved one step closer to its goal of becoming a global logistics hub with launch of the King Abdullah Port.The port, part of King Abdullah Economic City, will make the Kingdom “a linking point of three continents, Asia, Europe and Africa,” the crown prince said at the launch.Minister of Transport Nabil Al Amoudi said the port, the first of its kind to be owned, operated and managed by the private sector, is expected to have of an export capacity worth SAR600 billion in 2020 and the added value for port exports would reach SAR500 billion in 2030.

The Abu Sayyaf group beheaded two Vietnamese nationals held hostage for almost eight months,  CNN reported quoting the military. Colonel Juvymax Uy, commander of Joint Task Force Basilan, said the bodies of Mr Hoang Trung Thong and Mr Hoang Va Hai were found at 5.40am on Wednesday in Tumahubong village, Sumisip town, in Basilan province. The two were among the six crew members of the MV Royal 16, a Vietnamese cargo vessel, seized by the Abu Sayyaf off Sibago Island in Basilan on Nov 11, 2016. The Abu Sayyaf is a group of ruthless bandits known to behead their hostages unless ransom payments are made. Abu Sayyaf, originally a loose network of Islamic militants formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network…

The crew of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) celebrated the ship's 35th commissioning ceremony March 13 while on a regularly-scheduled Western Pacific deployment. Capt. Eric Anduze, Carl Vinson's executive officer, announced the cake cutting ceremony via a message on the ship's general announcing system while summarizing 35 years of Carl Vinson's highlights, which included numerous deployments since 1983, one earthquake response and the burial-at-sea of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Congressman Carl Vinson, for whom the aircraft carrier is named, served more than 50 years in the House of Representatives. During his tenure, he also served as Chairman of the House Naval Affairs and Armed Services Committee.

Carl Vinson is scheduled to arrive at Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado, 3rd Fleet officials said in a news release. The carrier last week stopped in Hawaii and took on more than 1,000 family members and friends for the “Tiger Cruise” home. The air wing flew 6,600 hours and delivered 7,283 pounds of ordnance in supporting 1,085 missions in Afghanistan, according to 3rd Fleet. “The successful completion of this deployment is a testament to the high quality of men and women who volunteer to serve in our Navy,” Rear Adm. Thomas K.

AAPA Concerned Federal Budget Cuts May Impact Port Security Progress. Port and industry leaders from throughout the Western Hemisphere will pause on Sunday, Sept. 11, as part of the 100th Annual Convention of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) in Seattle (Sept. 11-15), to remember those tragically lost in the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil 10 years ago. Among those lost were 84 industry colleagues from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey who perished at the World Trade Center. In the decade since Sept. 11, 2001, America’s seaports and the federal government have joined forces to make major gains in fortifying and hardening port facilities against intruder attack.

The USS Cole, battered by an apparent suicide bombing in Yemen, will arrive in Mississippi next week for extensive repairs, a top U.S. Navy source said on Tuesday. A small boat filled with explosives blew up alongside the USS Cole on Oct. 12 in the port of Aden, gouging a gaping hole in its side and killing 17 U.S. sailors. Saudi-exile Osama bin Laden, who has been accused of masterminding the 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies in East Africa, is considered a prime suspect behind the planning of the Cole attack, according to U.S. officials. But a definitive link has not yet been established, they say. "I expect them into Pascagoula next week," the official reportedly said, adding that he did not know the exact day it would arrive.

The following is the transcript of the Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, January 12, 2005. Secretary Ridge: John, thank you very much, David. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is true as of February 1st I’ll be able to walk through the front door. That’s a good thing. It’s a much abused reference for those who enter public service and then leave it, but I am reminded from time to time, particularly by my children, that there will be a point in time when I get into the back seat and the car doesn’t move. That means I’ve got to get out and get in the front seat and move it myself.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sturgeon Bay keeps a vigilant watch over New York Harbor Jan. 20, 2006. The Coast Guard's continued security presence is visible a day after an audio tape surfaced of Osama bin Laden threatening further attacks against the United States. USCG photo by PO Mike Lutz.

Police in Yemen have arrested three new suspects in the bombing of the American warship USS Cole in which 17 U.S. sailors were killed last year, a Yemeni government weekly said. The paper said the three had recently been detained in the capital and sent for interrogation to the southern port city of Aden, site of the apparent suicide bombing which crippled the U.S. destroyer in October. Yemen has already arrested a dozen suspects over the attack, some of whom are reportedly Muslim militants. But officials have said the main suspect appears to have fled to Afghanistan. The government weekly, called 26 September and published by Yemen's armed forces, said U.S.