Iraq had role in Sept. 11 attacks, lawsuit says.

The New York Sun | September 3, 2003 | Colin Miner

[syriacus]

Family of famed terror expert accuses Saddam, Bin Laden

Iraq played a major role in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon --providing Al Qaeda with money, training and material support, according to a suit filed by the family of the man described as America's foremost expert on terrorism.

[syriacus]

I do not have access to the online verson of the Sun.

What I have put here is taken from today's hard copy.

If no one else puts the Sun Article on FR, I will try to add more text later.

[syriacus]

More text:

John O'Neill, a flamboyant former top agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was killed in the attack on the trade center, where he had started working as the Port Authority's chief of security two weeks earlier.

The 70-page complaint alleges connections between Iraq and Al Qaeda dating back to the 1990's, when it says iraq began actively supporting Al Qaeda operations by providing intelligence, training, weapons, supplied, passports, travel documents, and financial support.

[Maria S]

Great book that was recently released:

"The Man who Warned America: The life and death of John O'Neill, the FBI's embattled Counterror Warrior" by Murray Weiss.

One quote: "When Bin Laden speaks, we have to listen. They have the capability to strike American soil any time they choose." John O'Neill, 1997

[syriacus]

More:

"Al Qaeda, backed by Iraq, carried out the September 11th terror attacks with the financial and logistical support of numerous individuals and organizations," the complaint says. "These individuals and organizations provided Al Qaeda with the means to recruit, train, and employ thousands of terrorists."

One of those "thousands," according to the suit, was September 11 ring-leader Mohammed Atta, who, "through his close connections to Iraqi intelligence and his activities as a conduit of information and funding, became an agent of the Iraqi Intelligence Agency."

[syriacus]

more:

O'Neill's estate charges that Atta not only met with an Iraqi intelligence agent, but also met several times with Iraq's former ambassador to Turkey, Farouk al-Hijazi. According to the suit, cooperation between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein goes back more than 10 years to a 1992 visit to Baghad by Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad and a top aide to Osama bin Laden.

During that visit, Dr. Zawahiri met with Saddam, according to an Iraqi intelligence veteran quoted in the complaint, which states that Mr. bin Laden sent Dr. Zawahiri back in 1998 for more strategy sessions with Saddam and his top aides, including the vice president of Iraq, Taha Yassin Ramadan.

During that visit, Dr. Zawahiri also toured a potential site for a new headquarters for Mr. bin Laden and Al Qaeda and went to an Iraqi military base and nuclear and chemical weapons facility near al-Fallujah.

[DAPFE8900]

Any one have the pic of four us soldiers standing next to the paintin in iraq of the twin towers burning and saddam standing next to it? If so post it please!

[syriacus]

I tried looking for it for a while, but could not find it. I hope someone else can find it for you.

[syriacus]

When Bin Laden speaks, we have to listen. They have the capability to strike American soil any time they choose." John O'Neill, 1997

It's certainly unfortunate that higher ups didn't listen to him.

[Maria S]

I don't remember where I found the following; dang it! I didn't get the URL! Anyway, maybe you can google it (try the 'images' tab) and find it that way.

A mural in Iraq depicts an airplane slamming into buildings resembling the World Trade Center towers. On 26 March 2003, a mural showing an airplane crashing into one of two tall vertical buildings and setting it aflame (while a second airplane approaches the other building) was discovered by U.S. Marines searching Iraqi military headquarters in Nasiriya. The plane in this cheerily-hued painting bears the logo and color scheme of Iraqi Airlines.

The now famous photo, which shows two Marines in front of the mural, was taken by Joe Raedle, a photo journalist accompanying the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force from Task Force Tarawa.

No comment has so far been offered as to whether the mural pre-dates the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City or whether it was painted afterwards in celebration of same.