One-legged terror leader ‘proves’ Iraq links to Al-Qaeda (SADDAM IS A DEAD MAN ALERT)

The Sunday Times ^ | October 13, 2002 | Tony Allen-Mills

[MadIvan]

A JORDANIAN terrorist who lost a leg in the US bombing of Afghanistan has emerged as a key figure in American attempts to link Saddam Hussein to a conspiracy with Al-Qaeda, writes Tony Allen-Mills.

US officials have named Abu Musab Zarqawi, described as an Al-Qaeda operational commander, as the more senior of two supporters of Osama Bin Laden who have so far been publicly identified as seeking sanctuary in Baghdad.

President George W Bush and his officials have been hinting for weeks that Saddam and Al-Qaeda have been plotting together, without offering concrete evidence. “Alliance with terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack America without leaving any fingerprints,” Bush said last week.

Both Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, and Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, have cited evidence of ties between Iraq and Al-Qaeda in support of the American case for removing Saddam by force.

Despite widespread scepticism in intelligence circles that Saddam would give America so convenient a pretext to attack, administration officials are focusing on a visit by Zarqawi to Baghdad two months ago. The only other Al-Qaeda operative known to have been in Baghdad this year is Ahmad Hikmat Shakir, an Iraqi who may simply have been returning home.

Zarqawi has been described as one of Al-Qaeda’s “top 20” operational planners. He is believed to have been one of the chief organisers of a foiled plot to blow up the Radisson SAS hotel in Amman, Jordan, which is popular with American and Israeli tourists.

He was also a close associate of Abu Zubaydah, a senior Bin Laden aide who was captured in Pakistan in March and who has since been under interrogation by CIA agents.

It may have been Zubaydah who confirmed to his captors that Zarqawi was seriously wounded during the American bombing campaign last October. He lost a leg and is believed to have fled first to Iran, where US officials suspect his presence was known to the Tehran government.

He arrived earlier this year in Baghdad, where he is said to have received further medical treatment. It is a measure of the US administration’s difficulty in building a credible case against Saddam that officials have been unable to say whether Zarqawi met any Iraqi officials, or what the purpose of any contacts might have been.

In spite of what the Times may say, it is going to be impossible to find a signed note that says, "I, Saddam Hussein, being of unsound mind and porky body, met with Osama bin Laden and approved the attack on the World Trade Centre." But what is more likely - that Saddam knew and blessed this fellow's presence in his country or not? And why would he bless it? - Ivan

Zarqawi has been linked to Hezbollah and other Palestinian militants and could have discussed terrorist attacks against Israel. Rumsfeld indicated earlier this month that there had been “credible contacts” in Iraq that might help Al-Qaeda “acquire weapons-of-mass-destruction capabilities”.

Zarqawi has now left Iraq and was last spotted in Syria. American officials have previously complained of Baghdad’s “tacit complicity” in allowing its territory to be used as an escape route for fleeing Al-Qaeda fighters.

One US official acknowledged last week that the Zarqawi connection was not conclusive, but referred to Bush’s speech in Cincinnati on Monday, when he said that “the final proof — the smoking gun — could come in the form of a mushroom cloud”.

Rice has also hinted that further evidence may be presented. “This is a story that is unfolding, and it is getting clear,” she said.

[MadIvan]

I dare say the evidence tips towards Saddam having some complicity in this. As such, he should be a dead man.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Bump!

[Humidston]

And here's another bump for you, Ivan. Good read, good catch!

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Great find, Ivan! Thanks for keeping an eye on the UK newspapers for the rest of us FReepers.

[Happygal]

Not being facetious but as soon as I read about this limb-deficient terrorist, I thought of the one-armed man in the Fugitive :-)

[MadIvan]

Darling:

It's also difficult not to think of this terrorist wearing an eyepatch and saying "har har, Jim lad!"

This impression is further heightened by the fact that one of the leaders of the Taliban did indeed wear an eyepatch and a mullah here in the UK has a hook arm. ;)

Love, Ivan

[Happygal]

Really? They are obviously not too lucky around explosives ;-)

[MadIvan]

Or goats, perhaps, darling. ;)

Love, Ivan

[Peach]

Thanks for the post; we are not surprised. Love your sub-title.

[RaceBannon]

There have been too many times Saddam touched things in my opinion...

[johnny7]

Saddam will play his game to the end.

He won't attack militarily but will give money and refuge to terrorists.

The longer we wait gives him more time to load up the scuds with anthrax and smallpox.

When you see a rabid animal... you kill it.

[Ranger]

I think there have been two posts in the last two weeks, one from Interfax and another from a Pakistani paper which said he had been killed in a gun battle. The location and the assailants were not identified in the articles.

[Gunrunner2]

Indeed. Concur.

[Amelia]

The paper doesn't state the point that if the fellow has hidden in Iran, and is now in Syria, perhaps those governments are also complicit in terrorism?