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Terrorist Behind September 11 Strike was Trained by Saddam
The Telegraph ^ | December 14, 2003 | Con Coughlin

Posted on 12/13/2003 4:24:43 PM PST by quidnunc

Iraq's coalition government claims that it has uncovered documentary proof that Mohammed Atta, the al-Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks against the US, was trained in Baghdad by Abu Nidal, the notorious Palestinian terrorist.

Details of Atta's visit to the Iraqi capital in the summer of 2001, just weeks before he launched the most devastating terrorist attack in US history, are contained in a top secret memo written to Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi president, by Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service.

The handwritten memo, a copy of which has been obtained exclusively by the Telegraph, is dated July 1, 2001 and provides a short resume of a three-day "work programme" Atta had undertaken at Abu Nidal's base in Baghdad.

In the memo, Habbush reports that Atta "displayed extraordinary effort" and demonstrated his ability to lead the team that would be "responsible for attacking the targets that we have agreed to destroy".

The second part of the memo, which is headed "Niger Shipment", contains a report about an unspecified shipment — believed to be uranium — that it says has been transported to Iraq via Libya and Syria.

Although Iraqi officials refused to disclose how and where they had obtained the document, Dr Ayad Allawi, a member of Iraq's ruling seven-man Presidential Committee, said the document was genuine.

"We are uncovering evidence all the time of Saddam's involvement with al-Qaeda," he said. "But this is the most compelling piece of evidence that we have found so far. It shows that not only did Saddam have contacts with al-Qaeda, he had contact with those responsible for the September 11 attacks."

-snip-

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; United Kingdom; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 911; 911hijackers; abunidal; alani; allawi; alqaeda; alqaedaandiraq; atta; baghdad; habbush; habbushaltikriti; hussein; husseincapture; iraq; iraqalqaedalink; iraqandalqaeda; libya; mohammedatta; nidal; niger; prague; saddam; saddamhussein; sept11; stoptheexcerpts; syria; terrorism; terrorist; timeline
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To: highlander_UW
No kidding.

I've checked out DU and I swear I can't tell the men from the women...
181 posted on 12/13/2003 6:39:15 PM PST by nuffsenuff
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To: Angelus Errare
The disputed trip to Prague was in April if it occurred, was it not?
182 posted on 12/13/2003 6:39:20 PM PST by aristeides
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To: Angelus Errare
Plus, getting approval to go on to Iraq would be an excellent reason to meet Al-Ani in Prague.
183 posted on 12/13/2003 6:40:12 PM PST by aristeides
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To: lstanle; quidnunc; Shermy; swarthyguy; aristeides
The Telegraph reported on May 18, 2003 that the same Tahir Jalil al-Habbush al-Tikriti may have escaped to Europe following the American invasion; a Syrian employee of a French embassy reported that Habbush was given a French-originated European passport in Mid-April 2003. If Habbush were in U.S. hands it would seem logical that this most recent report would have surfaced long ago.
184 posted on 12/13/2003 6:42:27 PM PST by gaspar
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To: Angelus Errare
Glad you saw this; was going to ping you.
185 posted on 12/13/2003 6:43:21 PM PST by Peach (The Clintons have pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed.)
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To: quidnunc
This does nothing but show more of Iraq's terrorist links. But this should serve for only those leftists who say that going into Iraq was wrong.

I could care less if Iraq had anything to do with 9/11, because the US is fighting a war on ALL TERRORISM not a single war against Al Queda and those who did 9/11. And Iraq was a terrorist state even before 9/11.

But nevertheless, this proves, if true, Iraq had a hand in a big terrorist attack on Americans.

186 posted on 12/13/2003 6:44:08 PM PST by yonif ("If I Forget Thee, O Jerusalem, Let My Right Hand Wither" - Psalms 137:5)
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To: quidnunc
Hmmmm....
It will be VERY interesting to see more information come out on this letter.
187 posted on 12/13/2003 6:44:32 PM PST by PogySailor
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To: Angelus Errare
See post #184.
188 posted on 12/13/2003 6:45:00 PM PST by gaspar
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To: Dan(9698)
Connecting dots.
189 posted on 12/13/2003 6:45:43 PM PST by StriperSniper (The "mainstream" media is a left bank oxbow lake.)
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To: yonif
You hit the nail squarely on the head...

It amazes me to this day that the looney left can't see this simple fact...
190 posted on 12/13/2003 6:45:47 PM PST by nuffsenuff
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To: aristeides
Does what we know of Atta's chronology allow him to spend three weeks in Iraq in the summer of 2001?

I checked my timeline of the hijackers, and there is a period from July 18 (when Atta returned to the USA from Madrid, Spain) to August 6 (when he rented a car in Florida) when Atta's movements are not specifically accounted for. If there was a summer trip to Baghdad, it would have happened at this time.

This story is the bombshell of bombshells if true.

191 posted on 12/13/2003 6:47:15 PM PST by denydenydeny
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To: aristeides
A good resource for Attas timeline
192 posted on 12/13/2003 6:47:25 PM PST by jwalsh07
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To: gaspar
Here's a FR search on Salman Pak.

Two titles out of that search:

9/11 Bombshell: Judge Rules Saddam Trained Hijackers [Salman Pak]
Yellowcake, Forged Documents, and Salman Pak

This better work. Don't think I've ever linked a FR search before.

193 posted on 12/13/2003 6:47:38 PM PST by txhurl
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To: aristeides
I had an e-correspondence going with a Czech reporter in Prague for awhile. From talking to him, it is more than conceivable that Atta was in Prague and did meet with Al Ani. He wasn't 100% but he was leaning toward the meeting occuring.
194 posted on 12/13/2003 6:50:21 PM PST by jwalsh07
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To: denydenydeny; Angelus Errare
Read on in the thread. Angelus errare pointed out to me that Atta's stay in Iraq would have had to be before July 1, 2001 (because of the date of the document). And three weeks was the result of my hasty misreading -- Atta's stay was three days, which, taking travel time into account, I estimate would require five consecutive days unaccounted for.
195 posted on 12/13/2003 6:50:24 PM PST by aristeides
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To: txflake
Limbaugh to WH: What about Salman Pak?

Last Wednesday, Iraq made its own response to the news of the meetings between al-Ani and Atta. Tariq Aziz, Saddam's Deputy Prime Minister, denied Iraq had anything to do with the hijackings, saying: 'Even if that [the meetings] happened, that would mean nothing, for a diplomat could meet many people during his duty, whether he was at a restaurant or elsewhere, and even if he met Mohamed Atta, that would not mean the Iraqi diplomat was involved.'

Yet the striking thing about the meetings is the lengths to which Atta went in order to attend them. In June last year, he flew to Prague from Hamburg, only to be refused entry because he had failed to obtain a visa. Three days later, now equipped with the paperwork, Atta was back for a visit of barely 24 hours. He flew from the Czech Republic to the US, where he began to train as pilot. In early April 2001, when the conspiracy's planning must have been nearing its final stages, Atta was back in Prague for a further brief visit - a journey of considerable inconvenience.

On 17 April, the Czechs expelled al-Ani, who had diplomatic cover, as a hostile spy. Last night, a senior US diplomatic source told The Observer that Atta was not the only suspected al-Qaeda member who met al-Ani and other Iraqi agents in Prague. He said the Czechs monitored at least two further such meetings in the months before 11 September.

196 posted on 12/13/2003 6:53:33 PM PST by txhurl
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To: denydenydeny; Angelus Errare
Your timeline appears to leave Atta unaccounted for between May 13, 2001 and some unspecified date in June. During that period, he missed a court appearance, and a warrant was issued for him because of that failure to appear.
197 posted on 12/13/2003 6:54:14 PM PST by aristeides
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To: jwalsh07
Ping.
198 posted on 12/13/2003 6:55:15 PM PST by aristeides
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To: FreeManWhoCan
So nice, it was posted 4 times!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/944761/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/944477/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/944407/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/944390/posts
199 posted on 12/13/2003 6:56:53 PM PST by GraniteStateConservative ("Howard Dean is incontrovertible proof that God is on Bush's side in the 2004 election"- Dick Morris)
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To: aristeides
Exactly.

That, combined with some kind of potential cash deal for the plot, would explain the Prague trip and the meeting with al-Ani.
200 posted on 12/13/2003 6:59:41 PM PST by Angelus Errare
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