<a href=www.mirror.co.uk>URL By Patrick Mulchrone Mar 27 2003

Tony and Linda were lured into buying a dream villa in Spain.. they were kidnapped, robbed, killed and buried under the floor of the house

THE missing British house-hunters found dead in Spain were murdered by property fraudsters, it was revealed yesterday.

Tony O'Malley, 42, and wife Linda, 55, were shown around a chalet as potential buyers by conmen who didn't own it.

Linda was held hostage as Tony was driven to a bank to empty their account of £18,000 savings.

The couple were kept prisoner for up to 15 days and then killed, probably shot.

They were buried beneath concrete in the cellar of the villa at Alcoy, north of Alicante on the Costa Blanca - the home they hoped would soon be theirs.

The O'Malleys, from Llangollen, Denbighshire, vanished last September on a trip to try to buy a retirement home.

They had dreamed of moving to Spain and relatives said the Costa Blanca was "their favourite place in the world".

Last night Tony's builder brother Bernard, talking after six months of agonising uncertainty over their fate, said: "We are all deeply upset. We had been hoping against hope that they might be alive."

Two men, originally from Venezuela, were being quizzed by police in Benidorm.

It is thought that car dealer Tony and store manager Linda, a mother-of-two, were lured to their deaths by an ad in an English language newspaper.

The suspects, who have lived in Spain since 1974, claimed to own the chalet, when in fact they had rented it for the summer.

It is in a residential part of Alcoy, described as "peaceful and very discreet".

Detectives think the O'Malleys were held hostage for between five and 15 days.

Alejandro Abellan - police chief in Valencia, 80 miles north of Alcoy - said: "The original motive for luring Mr and Mrs O'Malley into the trap was robbery.

"After that, for reasons we are still investigating, they moved on to kidnap and then murder.

"We don't know at the moment whether they are responsible for other equally horrific crimes. But it is entirely possible this is not the first fraud they have committed."

Local police, working with officers in Wales, struck lucky after discovering the couple's rented Fiat Stylo at El Saler, six miles south of Valencia.

The number plate had been changed, but they tailed the driver back to a nearby apartment before arresting him and his accomplice earlier this week.

They found a string of documents linking them to the O'Malleys, including passports, bank cards and two replica pistols.

At a news conference yesterday, police showed a video of one of the handcuffed suspects leading them to the cellar where the bodies were found.

The man and his brother-in-law had rented the chalet with their wives and three children.

Officers used pneumatic drills and spades to dig through concrete to a two by four metre hole where the bodies of the O'Malleys lay. Police chief Abellan said: "If we hadn't been led to the spot, we would never have found them."

Town hall spokesman Juan Cotino Ferrer described it as an horrific crime. "Not only do they kill them, but before they kill them they keep them hostage with extortion in mind," he said.

Police believe the suspects - named only as Jorge R.S, 53, and Jose Antonio U.G, 38 - also used the O'Malleys' cash cards to buy a digital camera, a tape recorder, an infra-red alarm and clothes.

The cards were cancelled on September 19.

The pair are behind bars pending a court appearance and their wives have been released on bail. The women are looking after their three children at a secret location.

Yesterday Det Sgt Steve Lloyd, of North Wales Police, said: "We are pleased the families have got some sort of closure, although it's obviously not the outcome we would have hoped for.

"We have no evidence to suggest the suspects have robbed or indeed murdered other Britons. But that is something the Spanish police will be looking into."

Forensic tests were being conducted on the bodies but it is believed the couple were shot.

Mr O'Malley's brother Bernard, 54, of Widnes, said: "It's been sheer hell waiting to hear what had happened to them. It is horrible to think about how they were killed." He added: "For a long time they had been talking about and planning a move to Spain.

"They were always looking in estate agents' windows when they went out there.

"They had their hearts set on a nice villa, away from the hustle and bustle of tourist resorts. They wanted to get in touch with the real Spain in a rural village where they could settle down and enjoy a long retirement."

Liz Stewardson, Linda's store spokeswoman in Ellesmere Port, said: "Our staff are shocked and amazed. Linda was an excellent and hard-working character."

www2.ocregister.com Thursday, March 20, 2003 By GARY A. WARNER The Orange County Register

War in Iraq. Terrorists in Afghanistan. Violent druglords in Colombia. Political upheaval in Venezuela. General lawlessness in Somalia.

The list of places Americans cannot or should not visit is long and getting longer by the month since the 9-11 attacks and conflict with Iraq. There are currently 35 countries for which the State Department has issued an official "travel warning," the equivalent of an official "no go" recommendation. The government bans travel to only two countries: Libya and Iraq. For the other countries, the State Department strongly warns against travel, saying it cannot guarantee the safety of citizens. The rest of the list:

Middle East/Near East: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel (including the West Bank and Gaza), Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Somalia

Central Asia: Tajikistan

Africa: Algeria, Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo-Kinshasa, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Libya, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Zimbabwe. Latin America: Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia

Far East: Indonesia

Europe: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia. Topping it all off is the sweeping "Worldwide Caution," a common issuance since the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Americans are warned to be on their guard everywhere in the world. A special case exists in Cuba, where Americans can travel under some circumstances, but are barred from spending money – a policy routinely circumvented in recent years by travelers who claim the "educational travel" loophole in the law.

The lists change almost daily. For the most current travel warnings and updates, go to the Bureau of Consular Affairs' Web site at travel.state.gov, or contact the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of Public Affairs, at (202) 647-5225.

For an interactive map showing State Department travel warnings worldwide, go to www.ocregister.com/travel/warning/.

CONTACT US: Warner is the Register's travel editor. He can be reached at (888) 436-0026 or e-mail gwarner@freedom.com

www.kansascity.com Posted on Thu, Mar. 20, 2003 BRUCE STANLEY Associated Press

LONDON - Saddam Hussein may have organized a meticulous plan for sabotaging Iraq's oil fields in a scorched-earth tactic designed to cripple Iraqi production.

The oil industry has buzzed with reports in recent weeks that Iraqis are rigging their wells with explosives, hoping to slow a U.S.-led attack and making the country's oil wealth worthless for any new government.

"We can confirm reports that (Saddam) has taken measures to booby trap oil wells by wiring the wells so that one person can blow them up," said U.S. Defense Department spokeswoman Megan Fox.

"If the worst happens and he does detonate something that causes the oil wells to catch fire, we'll do everything we can. Those assets belong to the Iraqi people, and as much as possible we'd like to keep them intact," she said.

Already, those fears may have become reality. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday that three or four Iraqi oil wells may already have been set afire in southern Iraq. Witnesses in Kuwait heard explosions and saw orange flames in the sky across the border.

In 1991, Iraqi troops needed just a few days and some plastic explosives to destroy more than 700 well heads and turn Kuwait's occupied oil fields into a desert inferno.

A loss of oil from Iraq - home to the world's second-largest oil reserves - could crimp supplies for importing countries, including the United States, which depends on Iraq for 2 percent of all the crude it consumes.

However, both Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have pledged to keep the oil flowing in wartime.

Oil exports are also a major source of the money that would be needed to pay for Iraq's reconstruction after a war. Because of their strategic importance, the Defense Department says it will try to secure Iraq's oil fields quickly to prevent Iraqi forces from damaging the country's 1,685 wells.

When Iraqi troops retreated from Kuwait in February 1991, they attached plastic explosives to well heads and piled sandbags against them to direct the force of the explosions for maximum effect.

The result was geysers of burning crude at 603 wells, serious damage at more than 100 others and widespread environmental degradation. Teams of firefighters from the United States, Canada and eight other countries worked from April until November to put out the fires.

Most of the teams used sea water pumped through Kuwait's empty oil pipelines to battle the fires. The heat was so intense, at more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, that water sometimes continued boiling on the ground for two days afterward, said Mark Badick of Safety Boss, Inc.

"We've had fire helmets melt on our heads," said Badick, whose Calgary-based firm put out 180 of the Kuwaiti well fires.

Firefighters from Hungary had a different technique, using two jet engines mounted horizontally on a tank chassis - a homemade vehicle they called "Big Wind" - to blast flame-retardant foam at the fires.

It took Kuwait more than two years and $50 billion to restore its oil output to prewar levels. If Iraq sabotaged its oil fields, any cleanup could take far longer and cost much more.

Iraq's fields and pipelines are badly run-down after 12 years of U.N. economic sanctions. Its fields are also much farther from the sea than those in Kuwait, meaning a ready source of water might not be so easily available.

Destruction could be especially bad if Iraqis set off explosives underground, deep within the well shafts themselves. If that happened, firefighters would have to drill a new "relief well" and pump a mixture of sand, gel and mud into each damaged shaft to try to plug it up and stop the blowout.

"It's a long, arduous process," Badick said. Whereas he and his crews put out as many as five fires a day in Kuwait, cleaning up after a single underground explosion can take two months.

Even if the Iraqis did booby-trap their oil fields, Manouchehr Takin, an analyst at the Center for Global Energy Studies, said Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and other OPEC member countries could increase production to offset Iraq's 2 million barrels a day in exports.

Saudi Arabia, which has the world's largest crude reserves, repeatedly has suggested it would boost its output to keep supplies flowing. Also, the United States and other oil importing nations could tap their 4 billion barrels in strategic petroleum reserves, if necessary, to cover a shortfall.

Brown & Root Services of Houston has drawn up a plan for the Defense Department for containing and assessing any damage to Iraqi oil installations, but the Pentagon so far has awarded no contracts.

The challenge for such companies would multiply if Iraq used chemical, biological or radioactive material to sabotage its oil fields.

Special suits designed to protect a wearer against biological or chemical agents would disintegrate in the heat of a burning well. Firefighters might have no choice but to wait until the fires burn themselves out.

"That's a whole new ball game," said Peter Gignoux, head of the oil desk at Salomon Smith Barney.

www.theworldlink.com By Bruce Stanley, AP Business Writer

LONDON - Saddam Hussein may have organized a meticulous plan for sabotaging Iraq's oil fields in a scorched-earth tactic designed to cripple Iraqi production.

The oil industry has buzzed with reports in recent weeks that Iraqis are rigging their wells with explosives, hoping to slow a U.S.-led attack and making the country's oil wealth worthless for any new government.

"We can confirm reports that (Saddam) has taken measures to booby trap oil wells by wiring the wells so that one person can blow them up," said Defense Department spokeswoman Megan Fox.

"If the worst happens and he does detonate something that causes the oil wells to catch fire, we'll do everything we can. Those assets belong to the Iraqi people, and as much as possible we'd like to keep them intact," she said.

In 1991, Iraqi troops needed just a few days and some plastic explosives to destroy more than 700 well heads and turn Kuwait's occupied oil fields into a desert inferno.

A loss of oil from Iraq - home to the world's second-largest oil reserves - could crimp supplies for importing countries, including the United States, which depends on Iraq for 2 percent of all the crude it consumes.

However, both Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have pledged to keep the oil flowing in wartime.

Oil exports are also a major source of the money that would be needed to pay for Iraq's reconstruction after a war. Because of their strategic importance, the Defense Department says it will try to secure Iraq's oil fields quickly to prevent Iraqi forces from damaging the country's 1,685 wells.

When Iraqi troops retreated from Kuwait in February 1991, they attached plastic explosives to well heads and piled sandbags against them to direct the force of the explosions for maximum effect.

The result was geysers of burning crude at 603 wells, serious damage at more than 100 others and widespread environmental degradation. Teams of firefighters from the United States, Canada and eight other countries worked from April until November to put out the fires.

Most of the teams used sea water pumped through Kuwait's empty oil pipelines to battle the fires. The heat was so intense, at more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, that water sometimes continued boiling on the ground for two days afterward, said Mark Badick of Safety Boss, Inc.

"We've had fire helmets melt on our heads," said Badick, whose Calgary-based firm put out 180 of the Kuwaiti well fires.

Firefighters from Hungary had a different technique, using two jet engines mounted horizontally on a tank chassis - a homemade vehicle they called "Big Wind" - to blast flame-retardant foam at the fires.

It took Kuwait more than two years and $50 billion to restore its oil output to prewar levels. If Iraq sabotaged its oil fields, any cleanup could take far longer and cost much more.

Iraq's fields and pipelines are badly run-down after 12 years of U.N. economic sanctions. Its fields are also much farther from the sea than those in Kuwait, meaning a ready source of water might not be so easily available.

Destruction could be especially bad if Iraqis set off explosives underground, deep within the well shafts themselves. If that happened, firefighters would have to drill a new "relief well" and pump a mixture of sand, gel and mud into each damaged shaft to try to plug it up and stop the blowout.

"It's a long, arduous process," Badick said. Whereas he and his crews put out as many as five fires a day in Kuwait, cleaning up after a single underground explosion can take two months.

Even if the Iraqis did booby-trap their oil fields, Manouchehr Takin, an analyst at the Center for Global Energy Studies, said Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and other OPEC member countries could increase production to offset Iraq's 2 million barrels a day in exports.

Saudi Arabia, which has the world's largest crude reserves, repeatedly has suggested it would boost its output to keep supplies flowing. Also, the United States and other oil importing nations could tap their 4 billion barrels in strategic petroleum reserves, if necessary, to cover a shortfall.

Brown & Root Services of Houston has drawn up a plan for the Defense Department for containing and assessing any damage to Iraqi oil installations, but the Pentagon so far has awarded no contracts.

The challenge for such companies would multiply if Iraq used chemical, biological or radioactive material to sabotage its oil fields.

Special suits designed to protect a wearer against biological or chemical agents would disintegrate in the heat of a burning well. Firefighters might have no choice but to wait until the fires burn themselves out.

"That's a whole new ball game," said Peter Gignoux, head of the oil desk at Salomon Smith Barney.

www.femail.co.uk by JUSTIN DAVENPORT, Evening Standard 19th March 2003

Police have smashed a suspected terrorist plot after seizing home-made bombs at a suburban flat near Gatwick.

Three Portuguese men were arrested after the raid in Langley Green, Crawley, which is under the airport's flight path.

They are being questioned at a police station in Sussex today under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Inspector Geoff Sharnock, of Sussex police, said: "During a routine inquiry two viable, improvised explosive devices were found. They are effectively home-made bombs."

Sussex police are liaising closely with Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist Branch in connection with the find last night.

However, officers said it was too early to speculate on a motive. Mr Sharnock said the discovery of the bombs was not being linked to any possible target and the men had not yet been linked to any specific terrorist organisation.

The arrests come a month after tanks and soldiers were deployed at Heathrow after intelligence services uncovered a plot to shoot down a civilian airliner.

They also follow the discovery of a grenade in the luggage of a passenger arriving at Gatwick.

Security is now at its highest level since September 11 amid fears of a terrorist strike in retaliation for the impending invasion of Iraq.

Scotland Yard is preparing to divert hundreds of beat constables on to the streets of central London to patrol high-profile targets.

Sussex police said searches of the men's flat were continuing today. Inspector Sharnock said one man was arrested elsewhere and two were held at the flat.

"Bomb disposal experts have gone into the premises to make sure the devices were safe," he said. Detective Chief Inspector Tony O'Donnell said: "At this stage the search of the address is continuing and it is too early to speculate on the motive behind this incident.

"It has not, at this stage, been linked to any target or specific organisation."

A police cordon was put up near the flat and more than a dozen police officers were guarding the property, above the Jem engraving shop in Langley Parade.

A light could be seen inside the flat behind a green curtain.

Nearby residents were evacuated-from their homes when the search began. The entire parade of shops, which included a bookmakers and a mini-supermarket, was within the police cordon.

Last month Gatwick was shut for several hours when a man was arrested with a live hand grenade after arriving on a flight from Venezuela.

Hasil Mohammed Alan, who had been studying to be a Muslim priest, has been remanded in custody on charges including possessing an article for the purposes of terrorism.