Read the complaint in the litigation between the Estate of John Patrick O'Neill, "The Man Who Knew," and Iraq, bin Laden, al Jazeera, their many intermediaries (more here), et al. It contains a useful compilation of information on terrorism since 1989 and asserts many links between Saddam Hussein, al Qaeda and weapons of mass destruction. Excerpts:
99. Between April 25 and May 1, 1998, two of Bin Laden’s senior military commanders, Muhammad Abu-Islam and Abdullah Qassim visited Baghdad for discussions with Saddam Hussein’s son – Qasay Hussein – the “czar” of Iraqi Intelligence.100. The late Qusay Hussein’s participation in those meetings highlights the importance of the talks in both symbolic and practical terms. Upon information and belief, as a direct result of those meetings, Iraq again made commitments to provide training, intelligence, clandestine Saudi border crossings, financial support and weapons and explosives to Al Qaeda.
101. Iraqi Intelligence officials met with Bin Laden in Afghanistan several more times. A second group of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda operatives from Saudi Arabia were then trained by Iraqi Intelligence in Iraq to smuggle weapons and explosives into Saudi Arabia and other countries, which they later accomplished in an effort to carry out future terrorist acts of violence. A third group of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda operatives received a month of sophisticated guerilla operations training from Iraqi Intelligence officials later in the Summer of 1998.
102. Despite philosophical and religious differences with Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden continually sought to strengthen and reinforce the support he and Al Qaeda received from Iraq.
103. Upon information and belief, documents recently found in the bombed headquarters of the Mukhabarat, Iraq’s intelligence service, reveal that an Al Qaeda envoy was invited clandestinely to Baghdad in March 1998. The documents reveal that the purpose of the meeting was to establish a relationship between Baghdad and Al Qaeda based on their mutual hatred of America and Saudi Arabia. The meeting apparently went so well that it ended with arrangements being discussed for Bin Laden to visit Baghdad.
104. In March 1998, Bin Laden had reportedly visited Baghdad for consultations. According to Giovanni DeStafant, an international lawyer visiting Baghdad on business, he encountered Bin Laden in the lobby of the five-star Al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad. They engaged in light conversation.
105. In mid-July, 1998, Bin Laden sent Dr. Ayaman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian co-founder of Al Qaeda, to Iraq to meet with senior Iraqi officials, including the Iraqi vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan. Upon information and belief, the purpose of this meeting was to discuss and plan a joint strategy for a terrorist campaign in the United States. Five months later, the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed.
106. Upon information and belief, Iraqi Intelligence officials pledged Iraq’s full support and cooperation in exchange for a promise that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda not to incite the Iraqi Muslim Brotherhood inside Iraq to oppose, undermine or attack the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
107. During the July 1998 visit, Zawahiri toured a potential site for a new headquarters for Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, and went to an Iraqi military base and nuclear and chemical weapons facility near al-Fallujah in Iraq. Upon information and belief, Dr. Zawahiri observed training by Iraqi Intelligence officials of Al Qaeda operatives at the al-Nasiyirah military and chemical weapons facility in Iraq. In recognition of Bin Laden’s and Al Qaeda’s leadership role in the terrorist war against the United States, Iraqi officials allowed Zawahiri to assume formal command over the al-Nasiyirah training camp in the name of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.
117. By mid-November, 1998, Saddam Hussein reportedly came to the conclusion (with the advice and prompting of his son and intelligence chief , the late Qusay Hussein), that a campaign of terrorist attacks against the United States, under the banner of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, was the most effective means of deflecting U.S. attempts to topple his regime.118. Shortly thereafter, Iraqi intelligence officials reportedly met with Bin Laden in Afghanistan. Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, and Iraq reportedly agreed to join efforts in a detailed, coordinated plan for a protracted terrorist war against the United States. Iraq also reportedly agreed to provide Bin Laden and Al Qaeda with the assistance of an expert in chemical weapons, and Bin Laden reportedly agreed to hunt down Iraqi opposition leaders who cooperated with the United states against Hussein. In furtherance of this agreement, Bin Laden reportedly dispatched four hundred of Al Qaeda’s “Afghan” Arabs to Iraq to fight Kurdish dissidents.
119. In December 1998, after a standoff between the U.N. and Iraq and a discovery of weapons violations in Iraq, the United States with U.N. approval, led coalition of allies in a four-day air strike on Iraq. Iraqi Trade Minister Muhammed
Madhi Salah then stated that he expected terrorist activities against the United States to increase as a result of the bombing of Iraq. The Arabic language daily newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabic cited the cooperation between Iraq, Bin Laden and Al Qaeda in a late December 1998 editorial which predicted that President Saddam Hussein, whose country was subjected to a four day air strike, will look for support in taking revenge on the United States and Britain by cooperating with Saudi oppositionist Osama Bin Laden, whom the United States considers to be the most wanted person in the world.120. The editorial noted that this type of cooperation was already taking place, considering that “Bin Laden was planning on moving to Iraq before the recent strike.”
142. Iraq knew in advance that Al Qaeda was planning to attack U.S. landmarks and civilians in September 2001 in Washington and New York and supported the planned attacks.143. Upon information and belief, Iraqi news columnist Naeem Abd Mulhalhal has been connected with Iraqi intelligence since the early 1980s. As such, he has commented on matters of Iraqi political interest for the Al Nasiriyah newspaper, a weekly paper published in the provincial capital city of Al Nasiriyah. On September 1, 2001, he was honored for his “documentation of important events and heroic deeds that proud Iraqis have accomplished” and praised by Saddam Hussein. In addition, Al Nasiriyah contains a military base that is believed to house a chemical weapons storage facility. Iraq had previously denied access to this base to U.N. weapons inspectors. It was visited by Zawahiri as early as 1998 and Al Qaeda terrorists trained there for several years.
144. On July 21, approximately six weeks before the September 11th attacks, Iraqi columnist Mulhalhal reported that Bin Laden was making plans to “demolish the Pentagon after he destroys the White House.”
145. Mulhalhal’s July 21 article further informed that Bin Laden would strike America “on the arm that is already hurting.” Upon information and belief, this references a second Iraqi sponsored attack on the World Trade Center. This interpretation is further bolstered by another reference to New York as “[Bin Laden] will curse the memory of Frank Sinatra every time he hears his songs.” (e.g. “New York, New York”) identifying New York, New York as a target.
146. Mulhalhal further indicated “The wings of a dove and the bullet are all but one in the same in the heart of a believer.” (Emphasis supplied). This appears to be a reference to the use of commercial aircraft as a weapon. The information was reported in an Iraqi newspaper whose editor-in-chief served as secretary to the late Uday Hussein’s Iraqi Syndicate of Journalists. The article expressed Iraqi admiration and support for Bin Laden’s plans and its appearance in the newspaper would clearly have to be endorsed by Saddam Hussein himself.
Fascinating stuff, and well worth reading in full.
(I last posted on this topic here.)
Posted by oscarjr at April 19, 2004 11:22 PM | TrackBack