Baghdad Recalls Ambassador to Turkey "after reports linked him to meetings with al Qaeda network"

ANKARA (Reuters) - Iraq recalled its ambassador to Turkey on Friday after media reports linked him to meetings with members of the al Qaeda network, suspected of involvement in the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Ambassador Farouk Yahya al-Hijazi denied his departure from Turkey was in connection with allegations that he was involved in contacts between Mohammed Atta, a suspect in the attacks on New York and Washington, and Iraqi intelligence.

``These (allegations) are baseless. I was recalled to my country after the normal period of time,'' al-Hijazi was quoted as saying by Turkey's state-run Anatolian news agency.

``I am returning because my time of duty has ended. I want to stress that my return has nothing to with anything else.''

When asked about press reports tying him to Atta, al-Hijazi said: ``We definitely do not have any such ties within Turkey or outside.''

Iraq has denied any contacts with Atta and Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, accused with his al Qaeda network of masterminding the attacks on the United States that killed nearly 4,000 people.

Turkish investors have wobbled this week on fears U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan would spread to neighboring Iraq, which refuses to allow the return of U.N. weapons inspectors.

Ankara has worked to revive commercial and diplomatic relations with Baghdad after losing billions of dollars in trade revenues since U.N. sanctions against Iraq were set in 1991.

But NATO member Turkey has also allowed U.S. warplanes to patrol northern Iraq's no-fly zone from its Incirlik airbase.

A must read: IRAQ: The Threat of Liberation "Russia has changed it's policy towards Iraq"

Turkey has never had a problem with Iraq. In fact keeping the Kurds down and oil flowing have always been a mutual concern of both nations. The Turks have sacraficed a lot to carry out the sanctions (but the Turkish authorities allow oil smuggling on a grand scale). Turkey's reluctance to do more against Iraq is understandable.

Speaking of al-Qaeda and Turkey, when will the good Turks go after those bad Turks in the military and in civilian life in both the mainland and in Turkish occupied Cyprus that have close links to al-Qaeda within their own nation?

The first contact with Bin Laden was in 1979, when the new graduate from the Univ. of Jedah got in touch with the U.S. embassy in Ankara, Turkey.

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On Trail of the Real Osama bin Laden - CIA officials say the underground network frequently crosses into gangsterism. One official cites "ample evidence" that Bin Laden's group uses profits from the drug trade to finance its campaign. Followers also have been tied to bank robberies, holdups, credit card fraud and other crimes. The group also raises money from wealthy citizens and charitable groups that operate as fronts in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Persian Gulf states, among other nations.

One has to wonder what foreign nations think of our pilot training bases here that have taught so many terrorists. A lot of this finger pointing is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

As long as there is some money to be made, Al Qaeda and terrorism can be overlooked. Just last week a pilot from India was picked up with plans to carry out an attack against the UK. He was trained over here.

Congradulations Pericles. You have managed to turn even this news into anit-Turkish propaganda. Ofcourse anyone with half a mind can very easily see what you are trying to do. But you are wasting your time (and probably Greece's money too). Americans are not fools. They know who their real friends are and who really stabs them in the back every chance it gets.

You mean Chechens were not allowed to use Turkey as a transit point and that wounded Chechens were not recovering in Turkish hospitals? You do know that some of the Chechen 9/11 terrorists used Turkey and Bosnia as a resting stop before they went off into Jihad?

Point out one of my points regarding Iraq and the Kurds that is not as I stated.

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