Purported Memo To Saddam States Atta Was Trained In Baghdad By Abu Nidal

The [London, UK] Telegraph (12/14, Coughlin) reports, "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 Telegraph adds, "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. ... 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."

Con Coughlin, author of the London Sunday Telegraph article, told Tom Brokaw during a special interview that briefly interrupted Tim Russert's "Meet the Press" (12/14), "This is an intriguing story. I mean, basically, when I was in Baghdad, I picked up a document that was given to me by a senior member of the Iraqi interim government. It's an intelligence document written by the then head of Iraqi intelligence, Habbush, to Saddam. It's dated the 1st of July, 2001. And it was basically a memo saying that Mohammed Atta has successfully completed a training course at the house of Abu Nidal, the infamous Palestinian terrorist who of course was killed by Saddam a couple of months later." Coughlin added, "Now, this is the first really concrete proof that Al Qaeda was working with Saddam. I saw your interview with James Woolsey earlier, and he was talking about the article in the Standard magazine, the Weekly Standard, and there's a lot of detail there. But this is a document -- and I've had it authenticated -- this is the handwriting of the head of Iraqi intelligence, Habbush, who is one of the few people still at large who's in the pack of cards. And it basically says that Atta was in Baghdad being trained under Saddam's guidance prior to the 9/11 attack. It's a very explosive development."

White House Report Cites "Clear Evidence" Of Saddam's WMD Program, Ties To Terror.

The Washington Post (12/14, A6, Allen) reports, "The White House said in a year-end report released yesterday that the invasion of Iraq had produced 'clear evidence of Saddam's illegal weapons program' and new intelligence about his ties to terrorist organizations. Those statements and other assertions in the eight-page report offer a preview of President Bush's plan for framing his record as he begins the final year of his term and plunges into his reelection campaign." The document also "could provide fodder for Democratic presidential candidates, who contend that crucial elements of Bush's prewar case have been discredited. 'Working with the Iraqi people,' the report says, 'we are now learning the full truth about Saddam Hussein's regime, including: the mass graves of more than 300,000 victims of Saddam's brutality; clear evidence of Saddam's illegal weapons program; and previously undocumented ties to terror organizations.'" The Post adds, "The reference to an 'illegal weapons program' includes a tacit acknowledgment that no actual weapons of mass destruction have been found, eight months after President Saddam Hussein's government collapsed. ... A senior administration official said the statement about new evidence tying Hussein to terrorism refers in part to files of the former Iraqi Intelligence Service that were seized by the CIA. The Washington Post reported last month that the records would stretch 91/2 miles if laid end to end."

The New York Times (12/13, Risen) reports, "A former Iraqi intelligence officer who was said to have met with the suspected leader of the Sept. 11 attacks has told American interrogators the meeting never happened, according to United States officials familiar with classified intelligence reports on the matter." Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani, the former intelligence officer, "was taken into custody by the United States in July. Under questioning he has said that he did not meet with Mohamed Atta in Prague, according to the officials, who have reviewed classified debriefing reports based on the interrogations." The Times adds, "American officials caution that Mr. Ani may have been lying to American interrogators, but the only other person reported to have attended the meeting was Mr. Atta, who died in the crash of his hijacked plane into the World Trade Center." He Times also reports, "Reports that an Iraqi spy had met with Mr. Atta in Prague first circulated soon after the attacks on New York and the Pentagon, but they have been in dispute ever since. Czech government officials initially confirmed the reports, even as the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation said they could not corroborate them. Conservatives both inside and out of the Bush administration, arguing for war with Iraq, pointed to the reports as evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization that planned the Sept. 11 attacks."

12B might find this interesting:

Posted by (64.91.145.24) on Thursday, June 13th, 2002 at 20:05:58 GMT

In Reply to: US Officials Question Link Between 9/11 and Iraq posted by on Wednesday, June 12th, 2002 at 23:49:12 GMT:

From the INTELbriefing article linked to below:
AFI Daily OSINT

Salman Pak - Iraq‘s own terrorist training camp

Two Iraqi Military defectors, an unnamed former Lt. General and a Captain Sabah Khodada recently gave details of an Iraqi school at Salman Pak which includes training for the hijacking of passenger airliners and other modes of transportation. The former Iraqi General said that there was a old Boeing 707 resting next to rail tracks on edge of Salman Pak being used in terrorist training, the existence of this aircraft has been confirmed by UN. Inspectors.

The General, who had been the Security Officer in charge of the camp also reported that there were mixed nationality units including Saudi‘s, Egyptians and Chechens at Salman Pak. Usually about 40 strong, these terrorist units received upto five months of intensive training. However the terrorist units were actually under the control of Iraq‘s Al- Mukhabarat Intelligence Service and in particular a section called the Division of Special Operations. Much of this was also confirmed by Captain Khodada.

The foreign fighters were segregated from Iraqi military personnel and Saddam Husseins own Fedayeen, except during certain specific training sessions. The overall training program included assassination, kidnapping, sabotage or hijacking of aircraft, buses, trains, sabotage of public utilities and most importantly of all, in the use of Chemical, Biological and possibly crude nuclear devices.

However, the training also included how to prepare and carry out suicide attacks and involved how to get access to the flight cabin, getting weapons on board, security weakness, terrorizing the passengers and crew. Captain Khodada stated " Those ‘Arabs‘ are real volunteers. They come in small numbers, and they come with the intention to do some real suicidal operations. "

" It has been said openly in the (Iraqi)media and even to us, from the highest command, that the purpose of establishing of establishing Saddam’s Fedayeen Fighters is to attack American targets and American interests. This is known. There is no doubt about it. All this training is directed towards attacking American targets, and American interests."

Khodada added "The training does not only include hijacking of planes and sabotage, some of the people were trained to do parachuting. Some other areas were training on how to penetrate enemy lines and get information from behind enemy lines. But its all for the general concept of hitting and attacking American targets and American interests. "

The worldwide terrorist threat

While no hard evidence was provided of a link between Iraq and Al Qaida or the Palestinians, the overall impression given by these two defectors and information made available from European Intelligence officials is that Iraq‘s training camps, Al Qaida, Iran‘s Hezbollah and other non-Muslim groups are part of a determined and highly dangerous international terrorist network that is not controlled from Afghanistan or by Osama Bin-Ladin.

With CIA Special Operations Group personnel already in Somalia, officers from the Agency‘s Near East Division in discussion with Somali rebels near Berbera and Yemeni Security officials and with the re-deployment of important US military assets there is the imminent prospect of the conflict spreading to new areas. However, as with the war in Afghanistan, this will just be another serious distraction from coming to terms with the real long-term terrorist threat.

Most of the really effective international terrorists are long-term sleepers, planted within Western nations over the years. They may be your dentist, your tax adviser or that nice family who moved in next door five years ago. These are the planners and organizers who prepare the ground for the suicide bomber or aircraft hijacker who arrive a few months ahead of an operation.

B52 bombing strikes and daring Special Forces operations make good copy, but the real work to dismantle the Al Qaida and other terrorist networks will eventually be down to the

internal security forces such as the FBI, MI-5, DST or even to national Police forces. It is indeed going to be a long and difficult war and it is vitally important that the first casualty is not the very democracy, individual freedom and respect for justice we seek to defend.

Source: http://www.intelmessages.org/Messages/National_Security/wwwboard/messages/826.html

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