MAJEED
Majeed stepped out of his hotel into the historic centre of Istanbul; the only city in the world that is built on two continents, where the waters of the Black Sea meet the Sea of Marmara. Istanbul was once the home of the Sultans of the Great Ottoman Empire. During the years of Ottoman rule the Islamic Empire was the mightiest force on the planet. Majeed looked at the beautiful Blue Mosque in the distance. It was illuminated by a hundred spotlights after dark making its six tall minarets and giant arched domes a breathtaking sight. The 17th century Ottoman mosque was spectacular against the skyline of this vibrant city. Majeed headed toward the Bosphorus Bridge where he would meet his contact.
Majeed had driven the truck that had contained the IRA`s surplus Semtex explosives from Ireland to Warrington. It wasn’t long after that the British security services descended on the town looking for the conspirators. He was told that his friend Tariq had betrayed the Caliph, and that he had been murdered for his actions. After the Warrington raids police attention on the mosque and its community had been too severe for Majeed to remain in the country safely. Majeed was given false papers by Yasser Ahmed`s affiliates and he was flown to Islamabad in Pakistan. He had been here many times since the end of the war in Afghanistan in 2001. Majeed was one of the thousands of disaffected young Arab extremists who flocked to Pakistan. These Mujahideen veterans now turned their attention to different enemies. Pakistani President Bhutto was under massive international pressure at the time of the Afghan Arabian influx. Western and Middle Eastern governments were demanding a crack down on the foreign militants in Peshawar. In the aftermath of the World Trade Centre attack, Egypt, the USA and Saudi Arabia had all given Islamabad lists of the radicals and suspected terrorists that were hiding in Pakistan. The Egyptians were especially incensed because the men they suspected of reducing their Islamabad embassy to smoking rubble in 1995 were still at large in the city. Al-Qaeda and other extremist organisations used the country as a safe haven for their members. It was here on his last visit that Majeed decided to break away from the mainstream activists to join `Ishmael`s Axe`. He spent only a few days in Islamabad before travelling to Istanbul. His journey of Jihad was nearly over and he was proud that he had contributed so much to his cause. From the mountains of Kabul where he fought and killed the invading Soviet soldiers with much enthusiasm, to the streets of Britain, he had been a loyal servant of Islam. His reward would be in heaven.
Majeed continued toward the River Bosphorus to meet his contact there unaware of the two British agents that had followed him. When Majeed left the house that he shared in Warrington, following the raids there, he was immediately tracked. The bugs that Chen and his agents had planted in the house transmitted their signals to the surveillance centre in the old school. The listening post tracked Majeed as he travelled to Pakistan and then to Istanbul. He had checked in his luggage at Manchester Airport`s terminal three, which was immediately searched without his knowledge. TTF affiliates made sure that extra electronic tagging was attached to his belongings. There was no sign of anything illegal in his luggage so the TTF allowed his journey to proceed in the hope that he would lead them to Axe`s leaders abroad. So far the operation had highlighted two new safe houses in Islamabad, and several previously unknown activists were now under observation. The international war on terror needed as much information as it could possibly gain to be effective against the faceless enemy. Surveillance and espionage were key weapons in the struggle against terrorism of any description. The two TTF agents walked faster to close the gap between themselves and Majeed.
Majeed approached the Bosphorus Bridge and saw a silver taxicab parked at the side of the road. He knew that was his contact waiting for him. The taxi was a Skoda Octavia, whose driver was a fat man with a large head. The fat taxi driver was eating a greasy kebab when Majeed approached the vehicle. He had large dark patches beneath his arms where his deodorant had failed to stop him sweating. He chewed noisily on the spicy meat.
“My friend Morris had a taxi that was just like this one. How much would it be to take me to the Grand Bazaar?” Majeed said to the driver. Many of the Turkish nationals that worked in the busy tourist industry used English names to impress their customers, hoping for a bigger tip no doubt.
The fat taxi driver opened the door and wrestled his huge frame out of the vehicle. Without saying a word he walked toward the bridge still eating his kebab. Majeed looked around nervously. He sat in the driver`s seat and closed the door. He had to adjust the seat forward so that he could drive the vehicle. The fat man had pushed the seat back as far as it would go. The car smelled of sweat, cigarettes and chilli sauce.
Majeed was given five minutes to drive the car bomb to the American embassy, and detonate the huge device that was in the trunk. He took a deep breath and engaged first gear. The embassy was only a mile away over the bridge.
The TTF agents had to intercept their target. Majeed had been tailed since leaving Britain but presented no imminent threat until now. Once he made the switch with the taxi driver, the agent no longer knew what the threat level was. The possibility of the taxi containing explosive was high. To try and identify a potential target at this stage would be impossible. Istanbul contained many tourist, cultural and political centres, any of which could be attacked without too much trouble, `soft targets`. In recent years the TTF had agents stationed in Istanbul permanently. The city had been targeted frequently. British interests in the city had been attacked resulting in the British consulate being destroyed, and a British owned bank being reduced to smoking ruins. The same day two synagogues were destroyed. The attacks resulted in fifty seven dead and over seven hundred injured.
John Tankersley had visited the city in August 2006 when terrorist bombers launched a twenty-four hour campaign of destruction across the country. The bombing campaign was aimed at the tourist industry in an attempt to destabilise the government by damaging the economy. British tourists were attacked, not for any specific nationalist reasons but for Islamic ones. Extremists saw them as allies of the invaders from America. Tank helped to investigate twenty separate bomb attacks, eight of which occurred in August. The investigation discovered that the bombs were not the work of an international extremist group. It had been the work of Kurdish extremists who were trying to spotlight their struggle for an independent state. The worst of the attacks occurred in the resort of Antalya, which is on the Mediterranean coast. A busy tourist market place was attacked causing the deaths of three people. Tank identified that these attacks were the result of an internal political struggle and deployed TTF agents to monitor the situation. They would also be activated to respond to any future international threat. Majeed now constituted an international threat, and hence came under TTF jurisdiction; terminal force could be used if necessary.
Agent Anthony John removed his Smith and Wesson MP15 9mm pistol from its holster. The black tungsten weapon was the modern day pistol of choice carried by undercover agents the world over. It was extremely lightweight, and had a short three-inch barrel that made it difficult to detect visually. Despite its smaller design the MP15 would stop a rhino at 100-yards. Agent John fired twice as the vehicle started to move forward. The fat bullets destroyed the driver`s side front tyre, shredding the rubber before continuing into the engine block. The Skoda seemed to tilt to one side as the tyre burst and a jet of smoke and steam hissed from the engine block; the car spluttered one last time and stopped completely.
“If you move your hands from the steering wheel, Majid I will blow your head off. Remain very still and keep your hands on the wheel.” Agent John moved slowly. He kept himself parallel with the vehicle but maintained his distance from it. His partner stepped in front of the crippled silver taxi and levelled his weapon at Majeed`s head. The agents had no idea what type of detonator the car bomb was wired to, but the chances were that the suicide bomber would try to reach for it. Majeed was starting to sweat profusely and his hands were trembling on the wheel. He had been told that there was a five minute timer applied to the car bomb in the trunk that would be activated when the driver`s door was closed. He could not stop the device from exploding, nor could he drive the vehicle to its intended target. He had no weapon to attack the infidel with. Agent Anthony John looked to his colleague to confirm what he was thinking. He thought the bomber would have detonated the explosives by now if he could. His colleague nodded his head almost imperceptibly. The two agents started to move backward away from the taxi slowly, keeping their weapons pointed at Majeed. This device was attached to a timer or a remote detonator, which could be activated from a distance. Bombers sometimes used both systems so that their bombs could still be detonated even if the driver was killed or incapacitated.
The seconds ticked by, seeming like hours. Majeed began to think that the device had failed and that he would be spared the humiliation of dying in a failed car bomb attack. After all he had been through his final glorious act of Jihad failed. The sound of police sirens were approaching from across the Bosphorus Bridge, the blue flashing lights now visible. The Turkish police were notoriously uncooperative and corrupt. The presence of armed foreign agents would agitate the local police force and make this delicate situation very complicated. The TTF men didn’t need any complications. Agent Anthony John fired three bullets into the trunk of the taxi and the device exploded. The taxi disintegrated into shards of jagged metal as the vehicle was blown three feet into the air. Ball bearings and nails formed a lethal metal spray that radiated out from the blast area. Majeed`s blackened right hand was still attached to the charred steering wheel when the shattered vehicle returned to the tarmac; nothing else of him remained.