US Government - Bin Laden and Iraq Agreed to Cooperate on Weapons Development

New York Times, Facts on File World News Digest | Novemeber 1998 | BENJAMIN WEISER

[tallhappy]

Breaking News from 1998. The US released an indictment on November 4, 1998 stating bin Laden and al Qaeda were working with the Saddam and the Iraqi regime to develop weapons of mass destruction.

What is all the pussyfooting about?

From New York Times and Facts on File -- articles from November 1998.

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Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company  
The New York Times
 View Related Topics 
November 5, 1998, Thursday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 2; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 1093 words

HEADLINE: SAUDI IS INDICTED IN BOMB ATTACKS ON U.S. EMBASSIES

BYLINE:  By BENJAMIN WEISER 

BODY:
A Federal grand jury in Manhattan returned a 238-count indictment yesterday charging the Saudi exile Osama bin Laden in the bombings of two United States Embassies in Africa in August and with conspiring to commit other acts of terrorism against Americans abroad.

Government officials immediately announced that they were offering two rewards of $5 million each for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Mr. bin Laden and another man charged yesterday, Muhammad Atef, who was described as Mr. bin Laden's chief military commander.

Mr. bin Laden is believed to be living in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban, the Islamic fundamentalist movement that rules that country.

Mr. Atef's whereabouts are unknown.

It is uncertain whether Mr. bin Laden will ever stand trial in the United States. But if he does, prosecutors said, he could face life in prison or the death penalty if he is convicted.
Prosecutors also unsealed an earlier indictment, issued in June, that included similar but less detailed charges against Mr. bin Laden.

That indictment was returned before the embassy bombings and resulted from a two-year grand jury investigation of his activities in Somalia and Saudi Arabia, as well as reports that he had connections to a circle of Islamic militants in Brooklyn.

The new indictment, which supersedes the June action, accuses Mr. bin Laden of leading a vast terrorist conspiracy from 1989 to the present, in which he is said to have been working in concert with governments, including those of Sudan, Iraq and Iran, and terrorist groups to build weapons and attack American military installations. Excerpts, page A8.

But the indictment gives few details of Mr. bin Laden's alleged involvement in the embassy attacks. The indictment does not, for example, specify whether prosecutors have evidence that Mr. bin Laden gave direct orders to those who carried out the attacks.

Nothing in the document indicates why the original indictment was kept secret for months. But the secret charges were returned about the time that American officials were plotting a possible military attack into Afghanistan to arrest Mr. bin Laden.

Mary Jo White, the United States Attorney in Manhattan, said, "It's very common to have sealed indictments when you're trying to apprehend those who are indicted."

Both indictments offer new information about Mr. bin Laden's operations, including one deal he is said to have struck with Iraq to cooperate in the development of weapons in return for Mr. bin Laden's agreeing not to work against that country.

No details were given about whether the alleged deal with Iraq led to the development of actual weapons for Mr. bin Laden's group, which is called Al Qaeda.

The Government said yesterday that Mr. bin Laden's group had made use of private relief groups "as conduits for transmitting funds" for Al Qaeda.

The groups were not identified.

Prosecutors also said Mr. bin Laden's group had conducted internal investigations of its members and their associates, trying to detect who might be acting as informants, and had killed those who had been suspected of collaborating with enemies of the organization.

The Government indicated earlier that its knowledge of Mr. bin Laden's activities stemmed in part from the cooperation of one such informant, who it said yesterday had worked for Mr. bin Laden, transporting weapons to terrorists, helping to buy land for his training camps and assisting in running his finances.

The June indictment against Mr. bin Laden suggested that the Government had a considerable amount of knowledge of his dealings in the months before the attacks on the embassies, one in Tanzania and one in Kenya.

But the new charges are an indication of how quickly the Government has worked to solve the embassy attacks, which occurred just three months ago.

Ms. White said that Mr. bin Laden was charged with "plotting and carrying out the most heinous acts of international terrorism and murder."

Citing the more than 250 people killed in the embassy attacks and the more than 1,000 wounded, she added, "In a greater sense, all of the citizens of the world are also victims whenever and wherever the cruel and cowardly acts of international terrorism strike."

The investigation of Mr. bin Laden is continuing, said Ms. White and Lewis D. Schiliro, assistant director of the F.B.I. in New York, whose agents have fanned out around the world to investigate the embassy attacks.

"Our investigative strategy is clear," Mr. Schiliro said.

"We will identify, locate and prosecute all those responsible, right up the line, from those who constructed and delivered the bombs to those who paid for them and ordered it done."

In charging Mr. Atef, the Government reported new details about what it called his role as Mr. bin Laden's military commander, referring to his "principal responsibility for the training of Al Qaeda members."

Mr. Atef was a member of a committee under Mr. bin Laden that approved all terrorist actions by Al Qaeda, the indictment said, and he also played a major role in coordinating attacks on United States and United Nations troops in Somalia in October 1993.

In those attacks, 18 American soldiers and hundreds of Somalis were killed. Americans were shocked by the images of the body of one of the Americans being dragged through the streets, and the violence provoked a furor over the United States role in Somalia as part of the United Nations effort to pacify the country and supply food and medicine to the Somalis.

At the time, the battle was seen as one with Somali warlords. But yesterday's charges made clear that the Government now contends that Mr. bin Laden had a critical role in instigating the fighting.

In late 1992 and 1993, when Mr. bin Laden's group was based in Sudan, Mr. Atef went to Somalia to determine "how best to cause violence to the United States and United Nations military forces stationed there," and reported back to Mr. bin Laden at his headquarters in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, the indictment said.

Prosecutors said that in the spring of 1993, Mr. Atef and other members of Al Qaeda, including Haroun Fazil and Mohammed Saddiq Odeh, both of whom have been charged in the embassy attacks, traveled to Somalia and trained Somalis opposed to the United Nation's intervention.
On Oct. 3 and 4, 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, Somali soldiers trained by Al Qaeda took part in the attacks on the soldiers, according to the June 10 indictment that was unsealed yesterday.


GRAPHIC: Photos: Mary Jo White, a United States Attorney, at a news conference yesterday with a portrait of Osama bin Laden, a Saudi exile indicted on charges of conspiracy in the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. (Ruby Washington/The New York Times); Prosecutors say this photo shows Osama bin Laden, left, and Muhammad Atef, who were indicted yesterday on terrorism charges. (United States Attorney's Office)(pg. A8)

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Copyright 1998 Facts on File, Inc.  
Facts on File World News Digest
November 12, 1998
SECTION: UNITED STATES

PAGE: Pg. 810 E1

LENGTH: 1680 words

HEADLINE: Saudi Millionaire Indicted In African Embassy Blasts ;
 --Bin Laden Also Linked to Other Attacks; Other Developments.

BODY:
A federal grand jury in New York City November 4 issued a 238-count indictment against fugitive Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden, charging him in the August bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The indictment also charged five members of bin Laden's alleged international terrorist group, Al-Qaeda, in the bombings. (See p. 710E1)

Federal prosecutors charged bin Laden and four Al-Qaeda members with murder for all of the more than 200 victims killed in the embassy bombings. Bin Laden allegedly had planned and financed the attacks, which were then carried out by his followers. Prosecutors also charged the suspects with conspiracy for their alleged roles in those attacks, as well as for their alleged participation in the killing of U.S. soldiers in Somalia. One of the Al-Qaeda members charged was Muhammed Atef, who was described as bin Laden's top military commander.

Federal prosecutors had brought conspiracy and murder charges against other Al-Qaeda members in September and October. As of the November 4 indictment, five Al-Qaeda members had been indicted in the U.S. on charges of murder and conspiracy in the embassy bombings, and four others had been charged with conspiracy. Four of the nine were in custody in New York. One suspect was to be extradited from Germany, and one from Britain. Three were fugitives. Bin Laden was thought to be hiding in Afghanistan. (See p. 666A1; 1993, p. 743B2)

Mary Jo White, the U.S. attorney for the Southern Distict of New York, at a November 4 news conference said that bin Laden was charged with "plotting and carrying out the most heinous acts of international terrorism and murder."

Accused of Terrorism Campaign-- The November 4 indictment charged bin Laden with leading an extensive terrorist conspiracy that started in 1989. Bin Laden allegedly worked in collusion with governments--including those of Sudan, Iraq and Iran--as well as with terrorist groups, to construct weapons and carry out attacks on American military installations.

The indictment also alleged that Al-Qaeda had tried to obtain nuclear and chemical weapons; supported extremists in more than 20 countries; trained Somalis who killed 18 American soldiers in Mogadishu in 1993 and carried out the two U.S. embassy bombings in Africa.

Federal presecutors November 4 also made public a sealed indictment that had been returned June 10--before the embassy blasts--naming bin Laden and members of Al-Qaeda in many of the broad conspiracy charges listed in the November document. The June indictment, which indicated that the U.S. government had known a considerable amount about bin Laden's activities before the embassy bombings, had been returned after a two-year grand jury investigation into the Saudi millionaire's activities in Saudi Arabia and Somalia, as well as into his reported connections to a New York group of Islamic militants. The grand jury was set up after 19 U.S. military personnel were killed in the 1996 bombing of a military complex in Saudi Arabia. (See p. 608B3)

The November 4 indictment incorporated and expanded upon charges made in June, which would be added to the current case. The later indictment did not explain why the June charges, which were returned at approximately the time that American officials were considering the use of military force to capture bin Laden in Afghanistan, had been kept a secret. The November indictment superceded the previous one.

The November indictment also alleged that bin Laden provided training camps and housing for members of Al-Qaeda, ran money and guns worldwide, recruited American citizens to work for him and established companies as fronts to allow Al-Qaeda to obtain arms and explosives.

The November 4 document named as co-conspirators, but did not indict, several Islamic extremists, including Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, a blind Egyptian cleric convicted in 1995 on conspiracy charges stemming from failed plots to bomb targets in New York City and to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. (Prosecutors had accused Abdel Rahman of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, but he was not convicted on those charges.) The indictment did not specify the extremists' exact links to Al-Qaeda. In an attempt to link Al-Qaeda to the Alkifah Refugee Center in New York, a now-defunct mosque that Abdel Rahman and his followers dominated in the early 1990s, the indictment alleged that Alkifah was an "office" of an earlier incarnation of Al-Qaeda. The indictment gave no details about such an alleged link and did not mention the World Trade Center bombing. (See p. 237B3; 1996, p. 20F1; 1994, p. 376B2)

The November 4 indictment included new charges that Al-Qaeda had shipped weapons and explosives to the Arabian peninsula from Sudan in the mid-1990s during a period of attacks on Americans in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The indictment made no direct allegations, however, that bin Laden had played a role in attacks on American soldiers in those countries.

The indictment also charged that Al-Qaeda had reached an arrangement with President Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq whereby the group said that it would not work against Iraq, and the two parties agreed to cooperate in the development of weapons.

The indictment did not offer a precise description of bin Laden's alleged role as sponsor of global terrorism or give many details about bin Laden's alleged role in the embassy bombings. It did not indicate whether prosecutors had proof that the embassy attacks occurred on bin Laden's direct orders.

Al-Qaeda Accused of Conspiracy-- The November 4 indictment also charged that bin Laden and Al-Qaeda had played a crucial role in instigating fighting in Somalia during a 1992-93 United Nations relief mission. The indictment alleged that during that operation, at which time Al-Qaeda was allegedly based in Sudan, Atef had traveled to Somalia to determine how best to attack U.S. and U.N. forces there. According to prosecutors, in the spring of 1993, Atef and other members of Al-Qaeda, including Haroun Fazil and Mohammed Saddiq Odeh--both charged in the embassy attacks--traveled to Somalia and trained Somalis who opposed the intervention by the U.N. According to the June indictment, Al-Qaeda-trained Somali soldiers participated in the October attacks on U.S. and U.N. soldiers in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The indictment disclosed new information about Atef's alleged role as bin Laden's top military commander. In addition to the key role he was said to have played in the Somalia attacks, he allegedly had "principal responsibility" in the training of members of Al-Qaeda.

U.S. Offers Record Reward-- The State Department November 4 announced rewards of $ 5 million each for information leading to the arrest or conviction of bin Laden and Atef. The reward was the largest sum of money the U.S. had ever offered for the capture of a terrorist.

Kenya Embassy Warning Confirmed-- U.S. intelligence officials had received a detailed warning about the Nairobi embassy attack nine months before it occurred, the New York Times reported October 23, citing unidentified U.S and Kenyan officials. In November 1997, Mustafa Mahmoud Said Ahmed, an Egyptian who stood accused of participating in the Dar es Salaam bombing, went to the Nairobi embassy and warned officials of a planned attack on the building. According to U.S. officials, Ahmed reportedly said that a group of Islamic radicals would detonate a truck filled with explosives inside the building's underground parking garage--which is what happened in the August bombing.

The Times article reported that in a separate interrogation by Kenyan intelligence officials, Ahmed had said that he had taken surveillance photographs of the embassy in preparation for the attack.

The U.S. State Department had officially denied since the bombings that it had received specific threats regarding the attacks. However, an unidentified official late October 22 said that the State Department had received from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) two reports about Ahmed, according to the Times article. The official said that the reports resulted in several weeks of heightened security at the embassy, but because there was no attack, the extra security precautions were removed.

Tanzanian officials had arrested Ahmed after the twin bombings, and local prosecutors September 21 charged him with the Dar es Salaam attack. The Times article said that the U.S. had not sought to extradite Ahmed, but that officials would not say why. It also said that U.S. officials believed Ahmed to be involved in both embassy bombings, although CIA analysts had not been able to link Ahmed to any terrorist group. (See p. 668G2)

The article said that, in its two warning reports to the State Department, CIA officials had said that they believed that Ahmed might have fabricated the threats. (The Washington Post October 31 quoted an unidentified U.S. diplomat in Nairobi as saying that Ahmed had a history of fabrication and that his warning was a generalized description of any terrorist attack.) The CIA, however, also said in the report that it had not ruled out that the threats might be serious, the Times reported. CIA officials had suggested that Ahmed's warning might have been a ploy by the terrorists to allow them to observe the defense measures the embassy would take in the event of a terrorist attack.

Ahmed denied involvement in the bombings. His lawyer, Abdul Mwengela, said that Ahmed had overheard details of the bomb plot in the lobby of a Nairobi hotel in 1997.

Bin Laden's Bomb Role Disputed-- Saudi Arabia's interior minister, Prince Nayef Bin Abdul-Aziz, said in an interview published October 4 in a Kuwaiti newspaper, Al-Siyassah, that bin Laden was not directly responsible for bombings in Saudi Arabia in 1995 and 1996 that had killed 24 U.S. military personnel and two Indian nationals. Nayef said it was, however, possible that the attacks were perpetrated by people who had "adopted [bin Laden's] ideas."

[tallhappy]

Breaking news from 1998!

Feel free to move from this, Admin.

The point is, though, clear.

Why has this been so polticized. The US Federal Government unequivocably outlined cooperation between Saddam/Iraq and bin Laden/al Qaeda in 1998.

No proof? No evidence?

This is only one of many reports but it is official US document and assertion, not a report in the press.

[PISANO]

Amazing find. Good work tallhappy! You are correct we will only see it HERE on FR. Eventually we (FR) will be the last bastion of conservatism if the Media has it's way.

[RDangerfield]

Apparently the President, Rice and Rumsfeld don't agree with you or New York Times and Facts on File. They state flatly that they have no such evidence.
--Raoul

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Proof ping.

[Dog]

AM please leave this in Breaking so others can see it .....a nice piece of research TH.

[No Truce With Kings]

"Apparently the President, Rice and Rumsfeld don't agree with you or New York Times and Facts on File. They state flatly that they have no such evidence."

Nope. They stated that there is no direct evidence that Saddam Hussain aided al Qaeda to attack us on 9-11. They have often said that Saddam Hussain had ties to terrorism and to al Qaeda. However, there is no evidence that Hussain participated in the 9-11 attacks.

That does not undercut Bush's reason for getting rid of Hussain. He always linked that to Iraq *genreral* ties with terrorism, not the specific incidents that occurred on 9-11. And, yes, unlike, say Libya, Iraq had active terrorist groups inside its borders following 9-11, and would not let us remove them.

[Dog]

The indictment also charged that Al-Qaeda had reached an arrangement with President Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq whereby the group said that it would not work against Iraq, and the two parties agreed to cooperate in the development of weapons.

Smoking gun?

[MizSterious]

We knew it in 1998. Why don't "we" (i.e., the dems, some freepers, and others) know it now?

[StriperSniper]

They state flatly that they have no such evidence.

Wrong. They 'state flatly' that they don't see any evidence of Saddam playing a role in 9/11. None of them have denied a link between Saddam and bin Laden/Al-Qaeda.

[Dog]

This is damning of the Clinton Administration........they had a detailed warning of an attack and did nothing about it....

Kenya Embassy Warning Confirmed-- U.S. intelligence officials had received a detailed warning about the Nairobi embassy attack nine months before it occurred, the New York Times reported October 23, citing unidentified U.S and Kenyan officials. In November 1997, Mustafa Mahmoud Said Ahmed, an Egyptian who stood accused of participating in the Dar es Salaam bombing, went to the Nairobi embassy and warned officials of a planned attack on the building. According to U.S. officials, Ahmed reportedly said that a group of Islamic radicals would detonate a truck filled with explosives inside the building's underground parking garage--which is what happened in the August bombing.

The Times article reported that in a separate interrogation by Kenyan intelligence officials, Ahmed had said that he had taken surveillance photographs of the embassy in preparation for the attack.

The U.S. State Department had officially denied since the bombings that it had received specific threats regarding the attacks. However, an unidentified official late October 22 said that the State Department had received from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) two reports about Ahmed, according to the Times article. The official said that the reports resulted in several weeks of heightened security at the embassy, but because there was no attack, the extra security precautions were removed.

[Bonaparte]

Are you saying that the AQ terrorist training camp in northern Iraq was not evidence of AQ-Saddam collaboration?

[tallhappy]

I think what needs to happen is that conservative politicians and writers and others need to cite this specific indictment to shut up the Dems.

In 1998 US Government stated Al Qaeda and Iraq were working together.

I think, as well, the document is available and may even have been posted here.

[doug from upland]

Excellent archival work!

[cyncooper]

Apparently the President, Rice and Rumsfeld don't agree with you or New York Times and Facts on File. They state flatly that they have no such evidence.

The fact is that all of the above, President Bush, VP Cheney, Rice and Rumsfeld all agree that al Qaeda and Iraq forged an alliance.

You are confusing that with their statements that they do not have evidence that Saddam helped plan the 9/11 attacks.

President Bush and VP Cheney both stated this very week that the relationship was there.

[MizSterious]

Not only did nothing about it then (we all knew that), but now they're lying through their teeth about it.

[q_an_a]

Good work TAllhappy.

[cyncooper]

Very good.

Let the record be clear: This administration knows that Saddam was helping al Qaeda. What they do not go so far to assert is Iraq's involvement in 9/11, though they have not ruled it out.

What is galling is that the previous "administration" is the one promoting the lie that the two entities would never have anything to do with each other, when the evidence was plain during that time and they know it.....they now sing a different tune for only one reason: To undermine President Bush. And the country be damned. (And those in the media who sympathize with the clintons obviously ignore the state of the record and willingly put forth the false talking points)

[jwalsh07]

btt

[colorado tanker]

You missed the applicable principle. If a Democrat administration says Bin Laden is allied with Iraq, the fact is taken as established. If a Republican administration asserts the same thing, there is "no proof."

[cyncooper]

Here's President Bush on September 17, 2003 (two days ago with headline meant to play down Saddam's terrorist ties):

Bush Says No Evidence That Saddam Hussein Involved in Sept. 11 Attacks

"There's no question that Saddam Hussein had al-Qaida ties," the president said.