Operation Hell Gate - Marc Cerasini [47]
"What led to their flight from Ireland then?"
"Seems there was some kind of botched attempt on Queen Elizabeth ll's life during her trip to the Shet-land Islands in 1981 to mark the official opening of an oil terminal. The Duggan brothers were involved in handling and planting the explosives, but their information on the royal route was a setup. The explosion only destroyed property some miles away from the Queen's location, and the British swept up almost all of their associates in a dragnet.
"The Duggans very narrowly escaped, fled by ship with the help of IRA arms suppliers and PLO sympathizers. They surfaced in Somalia, where they began their gunrunning business by working for a local warlord. During that time Patrick's older brother was critically injured — there were even unconfirmed reports he'd been killed. Interpol was so sure Finbar Duggan was incapacitated, they moved his dossier to the inactive list."
"Apparently he's recovered," said Jack.
"Watch out, Jack. The Duggan brothers are tech savvy and well-versed in explosives and terror tactics. Finbar was trained by Dmitri Rabinoff..."
Former KGB, one of the best, Jack recalled. "Rabinoff trained Victor Drazen's Black Dogs..."
"Listen, Jack. Jamey also ran the name Taj through CTU's database of known terrorists and their associates. We tagged the search geographically, targeting the region around New York City and came up with a possible link. Are you familiar with the name Taj Ali Kahlil?"
"No."
"During the Soviet occupation, Taj Ali Kahlil became a national hero for downing Soviet HIND helicopters with Stinger ground-to-air missiles smuggled into Afghanistan by the CIA.
"After the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Taj and an associate named Omar Bayat became Afghanistan's leading proponents of terrorism. Taj and Omar are suspected in the downing of a Belgian airliner over North Africa two years ago."
"I recall the incident but I don't see a connection yet," said Jack.
"Taj and Omar used a North Korean missile launcher in that attack — the forerunner of the Long Tooth missile system, to be precise. More importantly, Taj has a brother who fled the Soviet occupation in the 1980s. His name is Khan Ali Kahlil. He's now a United States citizen and currently runs a delicatessen on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Clinton Street, Brooklyn."
"That's where the attache case is headed," Jack replied. "I'm sure of it."
"I agree," said Nina. "I'm sending Khan Ali Kahlil's New York driver's license photo to your PDA, along with the most recent photos of Omar Bayat and Taj Ali Kahlil that we have in our database. Also some intelligence on the neighborhood."
Jack ended the conversation, checked his PDA. The photo of Taj Ali Kahlil was not much more than a blur. The driver's license photo of his brother Ali was almost a decade old and out of focus. The image of Omar Bayat, however, was crystal clear. It was taken by German intelligence agents in Libya in 1996. Bayat had blond hair, probably dyed, and could pass as an American.
Road construction slowed his progress so Jack reviewed the data Nina had sent him. After a few minutes waiting for traffic to proceed, Caitlin broke the silence. "What was that conversation about?" she asked.
"We may have found where your brother is taking the attache case," Jack informed her. "A delicatessen on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Clinton Street."
He could tell