Posted on 07/19/2003 10:03:18 AM PDT by nwrep
ROME - A journalist for an Italian news magazine has come forward, saying it was she who turned over to U.S. diplomats some documents purportedly showing that Iraq (news - web sites) wanted to buy uranium from Niger. The documents turned out to be forgeries.
In an interview published Saturday, Corriere della Sera, a leading Italian daily, quoted Elisabetta Burba as saying her source "in the past proved to be reliable." The journalist, who writes for the weekly Panorama, refused to reveal her source.
Abuse won't work; the Mods aren't going to dig up the articles and post them themselves. What we need to do is some serious public naming and shaming.
NOVEMBER 2001 : (KENYA : A DELEGATION OF FIVE IRAQIS WAS ARRESTED ON THEIR WAY TO EASTERN CONGO ON FAKE INDIAN PASSPORTS) - "African gangs offer route to uranium : Suspicion falls on Congo and South Africa ," by James Astill in Nairobi and Rory Carroll in Johannesburg, The Guardian UK, Wednesday September 25, 2002
SEPTEMBER 25, 2002 (THE UK GUARDIAN REPORTS THAT IRAQI AGENTS HAVE BEEN NEGOTIATING WITH GANGS IN THE CONGO) Iraqi agents have been negotiating with criminal gangs in the Democratic Republic of Congo to trade Iraqi military weapons and training for high-grade minerals, possibly including uranium, according to evidence obtained by the Guardian. A delegation of five Iraqis was arrested in Nairobi by the Kenyan secret service last November while travelling to eastern Congo on fake Indian passports, a western intelligence officer said. Documents seen by the Guardian show that leaders of the Mayi-Mayi, a brutal militia embroiled in the country's civil war, visited Baghdad twice and offered diamonds and gold to the Iraqis. Uranium was not mentioned in the documents but the intelligence officer said the Mayi-Mayi would be able to obtain the material in areas it controlled. Initial contact between Baghdad and the militia was said to have been brokered by a Sudanese general who offered Sudan as a conduit for Iraqi oil and arms. - "African gangs offer route to uranium : Suspicion falls on Congo and South Africa ," by James Astill in Nairobi and Rory Carroll in Johannesburg, The Guardian UK, Wednesday September 25, 2002
(snip) The 1993-1994 attempted uranium purchase in Sudan During the third day of the trial, February 7, 2001, Al-Fadl testified that he was directly involved in an attempt to purchase uranium for Usama Bin Laden at the end of 1993 or the beginning of 1994. According to his testimony, Al-Fadl was telephoned by a senior Al-Qa’ida official, Abu Fadhl [most probably Fadl or Fazl] al-Makkee, and was instructed to meet with a contact in Khartoum, Sudan, who allegedly possessed uranium. The witness met first with Abu Abd Allah al-Yemeni (aka Abu Dijana) and was given the name of another contact, Moqadem Salah Abd al-Mobruk, a lieutenant colonel in the Sudanese Army who, according to the testimony, had been a former minister during the Numeiri presidency (1969-83).(5)Al-Fadl was charged with evaluating the situation, and after conferring with other associates, including his cousin, he met with al-Mobruk. Al-Mobruk referred Al-Fadl to a man named Basheer, and the two met at an office on Jambouria Street in Khartoum, Sudan. When questioned by Basheer as to whether Al-Qa’ida was serious about acuiring uranium, Al-Fadl claimed, “I know people, they [are] very serious, and they want to buy it.” He noted that l-Qa’ida was concerned primarily with the quality of the material and the country of origin, and secondarily with the cost. The arranged price was $1.5 million, plus additional commissions for Basheer and al-Mobruk. At this point, the main issue concerned the method of testing the uranium.
After reporting back to al-Makkee, Al-Fadl was sent to speak with a new contact, Abu Rida al-Suri. This meeting took place at the Ikhlak Company in the Baraka building in Khartoum. Al-Suri instructed Al-Fadl to return to Basheer and report that the organization had an “electric machine” capable of testing uranium. Again through an intermediary, Al-Fadl arranged a meeting with Basheer and, in a small house in the town of Bait al-Mal, north of Khartoum, Al-Fadl and al-Suri were shown a cylinder approximately 2-3 feet tall with a lot of words engraved on it. The men were given a note that Al-Fadl was told to deliver to another contact, Abu Hajer, and then await further instructions. Al-Fadl did not recollect exactly what was written on the paper, only that it was written in English, said “South Africa” on it, and contained a serial number.(/snip)
The source is worth a good read : - "WMD TERRORISM AND USAMA BIN LADEN," by Kimberly McCloud and Matthew Osborne , CNS Reports, http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/reports/binladen.htm.
NY POST.com: "JUDGE FINDS OSAMA-SADDAM LINK" by Brian Blomquist (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON - A federal judge helping to rebuild Iraq's judicial system says he's come up with an intriguing document linking Saddam Hussein to Osama bin Laden. Federal appellate Judge Gilbert Merritt, who is currently in Iraq, said an Iraqi lawyer brought him documents that included the name of an Iraqi officer in that country's embassy in Pakistan who was described as "responsible for the coordination of activities with the Osama bin Laden group." "It seems to me to be strong proof that the two were in contact and conspiring to perform terrorist acts," Merritt, a Democrat and longtime family friend of Al Gore, wrote in a dispatch for The Tennesseean newspaper - charges similar to those previously reported by The Weekly Standard. "Until this time, I have been skeptical about these claims," wrote the Cincinnati-based judge. "Now I have changed my mind."") (July 12, 2003) (Read More...)
In an interview published Saturday, Corriere della Sera, a leading Italian daily, quoted Elisabetta Burba as saying her source "in the past proved to be reliable." The journalist, who writes for the weekly Panorama, refused to reveal her source.
Great 'source' cartoon!!
LOL
Thanks for repeating JimRob's take on this anti-American BS we see here way too much.
If this happened while Gore (or Clinton) was President (and the Iraq war probably would have happened since the advisors and those think tanks work and advise for both parties-Richard Pearl is a Democrat) we would have demanded an impeachment.
The African nuclear material story was not a case of the Bush White House telling a lie, just a show of incompetence by the Bush White House. One of a string of incompetently handled issues. I would be happy to enoumerate them for you breifly.
9/11-As you know I blame Clinton for 9/11 but the Bush WH did a piss poor job of cutting off Clinton hold overs who downplayed Islamic extremists. In addition Condi Rice (who forced the Ukraine not to send arms to Macedonia for it to defend itself against Islamic rebels-Clinton's old allies) said she never read a report about possible airline terrorist operations and then had to admit she did.
Rumi wanting to send too few troops into Iraq and in the end used the minimum required amount to win the war but not the peace.
The botched diplomacy. Yes our "allies" can share the blame but a diplomat is supposed to KNOW they will reject us before he asks for help in public.
The increase in the size of govt.
I was and still am pro-Iraq war and I have always said that the Iraq war was the right war fought for the wrong reason and fought the wrong way.
If this happened while Gore (or Clinton) was President (and the Iraq war probably would have happened since the advisors and those think tanks work and advise for both parties-Richard Pearl is a Democrat) we would have demanded an impeachment.Nonsense. Remember when Clinton bombed the aspirin factory? That was a much more significant intelligence failure, and no one called for his impeachment over that failure (although some did because he seemed to order the attack to give him political cover).
The African nuclear material story was not a case of the Bush White House telling a lie, just a show of incompetence by the Bush White House.The African nuclear material story is much ado over nothing. It is so much so that it is long past the point where it is more than fair to openly question the motives of those attempting to portray it as something big.
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