posted April 28, 2003 11:45 AM              

"The paper said the documents show that the purpose of the meeting was to establish a relationship between Baghdad and al Qaeda based on their mutual hatred of the United States and Saudi Arabia"

-Hmmmm, this sounds familiar????

posted April 28, 2003 06:58 PM              

Published on Monday, April 28, 2003 by the Times/UK

Saddam Link to al-Qaeda In Doubt

by Michael Evans

British Intelligence officials have expressed doubt that Saddam Hussein established any working relationship with al-Qaeda despite the discovery of documents showing that an “envoy” for Osama bin Laden visited Baghdad in 1998.

The documents were found by The Sunday Telegraph at the bombed-out Baghdad headquarters of the Mukhabarat, Iraq’s Intelligence service, and were hailed yesterday as positive proof of an Iraqi link to al-Qaeda. They mentioned the arrival of a confidant of bin Laden who had traveled to Baghdad from Khartoum in March 1998. Bin Laden was based in Sudan until 1996.

Officials told The Times that there had been intelligence indicators about that time of a possible visit to Baghdad by someone purporting to represent al-Qaeda. There had been no evidence of any follow-up meetings to suggest that Baghdad had forged a long-term partnership with al-Qaeda.

According to The Sunday Telegraph report, the purpose of the March 1998 meeting was to establish a relationship on the basis of Iraq and al-Qaeda’s mutual hatred of the United States and Saudi Arabia. Because of the sensitivity of the meeting, the Iraqi agents who wrote the documents had covered bin Laden’s name with correcting fluid. Once it was removed, the name was visible, the report claimed.

There is pressure on Western Intelligence services to provide governments with their own assessment of the thousands of secret files that were abandoned when Saddam’s regime collapsed.

posted May 06, 2003 01:36 PM              

I always like the quotes you pick!

posted May 06, 2003 01:44 PM              

Jakie