Posted on 05/19/2006 7:14:48 PM PDT by FairOpinion
Baghdad, 23 May (AKI) - The number two of the al-Qaeda network, Ayman al-Zawahiri, visited Iraq under a false name in September 1999 to take part in the ninth Popular Islamic Congress, former Iraqi premier Iyad Allawi has revealed to pan-Arab daily al-Hayat. In an interview, Allawi made public information discovered by the Iraqi secret service in the archives of the Saddam Hussein regime, which sheds light on the relationship between Saddam Hussein and the Islamic terrorist network. He also said that both al-Zawahiri and Jordanian militant al-Zarqawi probably entered Iraq in the same period.
"Al-Zawahiri was summoned by Izza Ibrahim Al-Douri then deputy head of the council of the leadership of the revolution - to take part in the congress, along with some 150 other Islamic figures from 50 Muslim countries," Allawi said.
According to Allawi, important information has been gathered regarding the presence of another key terrorist figure operating in Iraq - the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
"The Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi entered Iraq secretly in the same period," Allawi affirmed, "and began to form a terrorist cell, even though the Iraqi services do not have precise information on his entry into the country," he said.
Allawi's remarks come after statements to al-Hayat by King Abdallah II of Jordan over Saddam's refusal to hand over al-Zarqawi to the authorities in Amman.
On this question Allawi said: ''The words of the Jordanian King are correct and important. We have proof of al-Zawahiri's visit to Iraq, but we do not have the precise date or information on al-Zarqawi's entry, though it is likely that he arrived around the same time."
In Allawi's view, Saddam's government "sponsored" the birth of al-Qaeda in Iraq, coordinating with other terrorist groups, both Arab and Muslim. "The Iraqi secret services had links to these groups through a person called Faruq Hajizi, later named Iraq's ambassador to Turkey and arrested after the fall of Saddam's regime as he tried to re-enter Iraq. Iraqi secret agents helped terrorists enter the country and directed them to the Ansar al-Islam camps in the Halbija area," he said.
The former prime minister claims that Saddam's regime sought to involve even Palestinian Abu Nidal - head of a group once considered the world's most dangerous terrorist organisation - in its terrorist circuit. Abu Nidal's organisation was responsible for terrorist attacks in some 20 countries, killing more than 300 people and wounding hundreds more.
He added that Abu Nidal's refusal to cooperate with Islamist groups was the reason for his death in Iraq, in the summer of 2002.
(Ham/Aki)
23-May-05 12:08
It provides clear evidence of link between Saddam and Al Qaeda, before 9-11-01
PING
ping
It provides clear evidence of link between Saddam and Al Qaeda, before 9-11-01
Nevertheless, talk amongst ourselves here at FR, talk radio, and the blogosphere is probably going to be the extent of the discussion of it. Such is the Bush Admin's ineptitude in providing good news about itself.
Link to article:
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.169852178&par=0
It is an Italian News Agency, in case anyone wonders. So it's legit news.
" In an interview, Allawi made public information discovered by the Iraqi secret service in the archives of the Saddam Hussein regime, "
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It's documented.
Abu Nidal was a suicide.
It was like 5 shots to the back of the head from his own hand.
That Saddam was connected to Al Qaeda is no longer in doubt. The only question is whether he was Bin Ladin's enabler, or whether he in fact pulled the trigger.
What a clever guy, shooting himself in the back of the head five times!
I bet it was Saddam who ruled it "suicide".
I still dont get the PR wars over the Iraq War...The administration needs to win it...this stuff is too important to let it drift
"That Saddam was connected to Al Qaeda is no longer in doubt. "
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The MSM and Democrats still don't admit it.
But while searching for that, I did find another very interesting article at FoxNews from 2004, which also didn't seem to have gotten much attention:
Possible Saddam-Al Qaeda Link Seen in U.N. Oil-for-Food Program
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,132682,00.html
Investigations have shown that the former Iraqi dictator grafted and smuggled more than $10 billion from the program that for seven years prior to Saddam's overthrow was meant to bring humanitarian aid to ordinary Iraqis. And the Sept. 11 Commission has shown a tracery of contacts between Saddam and Al Qaeda (search) that continued after billions of Oil-for-Food dollars began pouring into Saddam's coffers and Usama bin Laden (search) declared his infamous war on the U.S.
Now, buried in some of the United Nation's own confidential documents, clues can be seen that underscore the possibility of just such a Saddam-Al Qaeda link clues leading to a locked door in this Swiss lakeside resort. (To review a series of documents, audits and other stories related to Oil-for-Food, click here.)
Denying al-Qaida
http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/michaelbarone/2006/03/06/188672.html
So why do these Democrats and these government professionals seem to have such a conviction that there must have been no collaboration between al-Qaida and Saddam? The Democrats fear that more Americans would support Bush and the war effort if they believed there was. The career professionals, with their many years of training in the subtleties of the Middle East, have developed a vested interest in the notion that religious Wahhabis like al-Qaida could never collaborate with a secular tyrant like Saddam. If alliances could be formed across religious lines, what use would all their learning be?
The Minnesota Democrats cite the 9-11 commission's report that it found no evidence of "operational" cooperation between al-Qaida and Iraq, although it did find evidence of many contacts. But, as Donald Rumsfeld likes to say, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Neither al-Qaida nor Saddam operated under a Freedom of Information Act. Any collaboration between them on 9-11 would have been kept very secret -- al-Qaida did not want to leave a return address. We do not know that there was such collaboration. But we also do not know that there was not.
Leave us not forget that the MSM isn't interested in spreading news they don't like, and you know how they feel about news that's good for Pres. Bush.
No way! I was expecting this to be on the front page of the Sunday morning New York Times, and all over the evening news on Monday! /sarc
IRAQ: FORMER PM (ALLAWI) REVEALS SECRET SERVICE DATA ON BIRTH OF AL-QAEDA IN IRAQ it)
Release/Translation of Classified PreWar Docs ping. If you want to be added or removed to the ping list, please Freepmail me.
Please add the keyword prewardocs to any articles pertaining to this subject.
Operation Iraqi Freedom Documents
He was a determined guy. :-)>p>
read later
We all know there was a clear and documented relationship pre 9/11 and yet Gen. Hayden during his confirmation hearing said he didn't agree with Feifs (sp?) assessment that there was a relationship. I was pretty disgusted. The administration has given up on trying to confirm the accuracy of their assessments of why we went to war with the mistaken belief that it's no longer important.
I heard about some people in Arkansas who committed suicide by that same method.
Kids nowadays! /s
Pinz
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