No Evidence of Meeting With Iraqi (Atta in Prague)

New York Times ^ | June 16, 2004 | James Risen

[Khan Noonian Singh]

A threatening message received by the Secret Service was relayed to the agents with the president that "Air Force One is next."

Quote from two of the anthrax letters: "THIS IS NEXT"

Similar wording?

[muawiyah]

Billzo was given a visa through family contacts. Donchaknow his grandma on his momma's side was Roma?

Ends up the guy he visited was also Roma.

BTW, it was fairly easy to get a visa to Eastbloc at the time. (Circa 1966/68) Just about once a month a 2-day tourgroup made up mostly of 3rd Division soldiers traveled to Bratislava. You could also visit places in what is now Slovenia.

The Eastbloc emphasis in those days was in not letting people out while, simultaneously, earning hard currency.

[TrebleRebel]

You are quite correct. The Tribune story is very misleading - it implies they have ATM pictures of Atta in Florida around April 9. In fact the only picture they have is of Atta withdrawing $8,000 cash in Virginia on April 4. If anything, that would indicate he needed cash for a trip he was about to take.

This whole Atta-Prague business continues to amaze.

[jpl]

This whole Atta-Prague business continues to amaze.

There's been more disinformation about this incident put out by the media than just about anything else I can think of. You never even hear any of them mention that there are at least two or three other clearly documented and proven trips to Prague by Atta, yet the tenor of the reports try to give the impression that he never went there. It seems deliberate to me.

[TrebleRebel]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040620/nysu011a_1.html

Newsweek has also learned that Czech investigators and U.S. intelligence
have now obtained corroborated evidence which they believe shows that the
Iraqi spy who allegedly met Atta was away from Prague on that day.

[TrebleRebel]

So Newsweek have a new spin out. They now say Al-Ani was out of town on April 9!!!!

Kind of strange that the Czechs would expel him a few weeks afterwards! For attending a non-existing meeting with a Hamburg student that was deemed a threat to Radio Free Europe.

So why did they expel him exactly? And why has it taken two and half years for them to tell us that Al-Ani wasn't even in Prague on April 9?

Incredible!!!

[Shermy]

The vice president also reasserted his belief that a long-alleged meeting between 9/11 hijacker Muhammad Atta and an Iraqi intel agent on April 9, 2001, in Prague might have occurred. Some 9-11 staffers said they were astonished by this: their report, citing cell-phone records, concludes unambiguously that Atta could not have been in Prague on that date; he was in Florida. Newsweek has also learned that Czech investigators and U.S. intelligence have now obtained corroborated evidence which they believe shows that the Iraqi spy who allegedly met Atta was away from Prague on that day.

Will Isikoff dare put his name on this peice of disinfo? They made up the Vaclav Havel story...

And notice the political spin...what do these "staffers" know different than George Tenet, whom they don't mention, but said the same thing as Cheney?

Where there's smoke there's fire, and someone is worried about this story for sure...

[Shermy]

Assume its true - did they meet on another day? Did Atta meet Hijazi? I want to hear from the czechs.

[TrebleRebel]

Notice the apparent confusion over the dates as well. The new Newsweek story says April 9. But the meeting was apparently April 8, right?

[Shermy]

The Slate article says April 8. I'll check more.

[Shermy]

Ive seen both the 8th and ninth.

Interestingly, EJE reports that ATta met on the outskirts of Prague. So...Al ani or whomever could be described being "out of town"


BTW, why don't they tell us where he was?

[jpl]

Notice the apparent confusion over the dates as well. The new Newsweek story says April 9. But the meeting was apparently April 8, right?

The meeting was scheduled for April 8 according to a calendar which was recently found, but he was actually eyewitnessed on April 9. He could have gotten there on either day.

I'm sure who's feeding Michael Isikoff this latest round of garbage about Al-Ani, but my first guess would be it's just another nameless, faceless, disgruntled left-wing bureaucrat in the State Department.

[jpl]

Should read NOT sure.

[cookcounty]

"The report cited a photograph taken by a bank surveillance camera in Virginia showing Mr. Atta withdrawing money on April 4, 2001, a few days before the supposed Prague meeting on April 9, and records showing his cell phone was used on April 6, 9, 10 and 11 in Florida. " Facts: Today is Sunday, I'm going to the bank to make a withdrawal tomorrow. Thursday I will be in Toulouse, France. I'm leaving my cell phone with my daughter, who, I am certain, will not fail to use it in my absence.

[cookcounty]

"but the introduction of an anonymous “senior administration source” with an unknown agenda, whose claim that “the Czechs” doubted the meeting took place, has now been directly denied by the relevant officials."

Richard Clark?

[cookcounty]

" I never take my cellphone to Europe. It doesn't work there and one less thing to bother with. I can see where Atta would have left it for his terrorist pals in Florida to use while he was in Prague. "

Bingo. lots of them work in Europe now....but not back in 2001.

[FairOpinion]

Fortunately the American people seem to be smarter, than the media gives them credit for.

I just found and posted this:

Americans Disagree With 9/11 Commission on Al Qaeda Iraq Link (69% think there WAS link)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1157076/posts

(CPOD) Jun. 20, 2004 – Many Americans believe al-Qaeda may have worked alongside the regime of Saddam Hussein, according to a poll by Harris Interactive. 69 per cent of respondents believe the deposed Iraqi leader supported the terrorist network, while 22 per cent disagree.

On Jun. 16, the federal commission that is currently investigating the events of 9/11 stated that there had been "no collaborative relationship" between the deposed Iraqi regime and the terrorist network in the planning and carrying out of the 9/11 attacks. Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, killing more than 3,000 people.

On Jun. 17, U.S. president George W. Bush said that his administration "never said that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and al-Qaeda. We did say there were numerous contacts between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda." Vice-president Dick Cheney declared that the commission "did not address the broader question of a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda in other areas, in other ways" aside from the 9/11 attacks, and stated that the evidence of a link "is overwhelming."

Polling Data

Do you believe that Saddam Hussein was supporting the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, which attacked the United States on September 11, 2001?

Believe he was 69%

Do not believe he was 22%

Not sure 9%

[cookcounty]

How did the US get hold of Mr. Al-Ani's diary?

[cookcounty]

"NEW YORK, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The ringleader of the 19 hijackers from the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Mohamed Atta, met twice with Iraq intelligence operatives in Prague, in June 2000 and then again last April, Newsweek reports in the current issue."

Hmmmm..."operatives"....in the plural.

[Shermy]

Do you believe that Saddam Hussein was supporting the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, which attacked the United States on September 11, 2001?

Trick question. Careful pollees will cautiously answer "yes". The results will be spun to allege that pollees thought Hussein was directly connected to 9/11. Not unlike the Pew results sometime back similarly spun.

By the way, what is "supporting" - Hussein said he supported the facts.