Terrorist Behind September 11 Strike was Trained by Saddam

The Telegraph ^ | December 14, 2003 | Con Coughlin

[quidnunc]

Iraq's coalition government claims that it has uncovered documentary proof that Mohammed Atta, the al-Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks against the US, was trained in Baghdad by Abu Nidal, the notorious Palestinian terrorist.

Details of Atta's visit to the Iraqi capital in the summer of 2001, just weeks before he launched the most devastating terrorist attack in US history, are contained in a top secret memo written to Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi president, by Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service.

The handwritten memo, a copy of which has been obtained exclusively by the Telegraph, is dated July 1, 2001 and provides a short resume of a three-day "work programme" Atta had undertaken at Abu Nidal's base in Baghdad.

In the memo, Habbush reports that Atta "displayed extraordinary effort" and demonstrated his ability to lead the team that would be "responsible for attacking the targets that we have agreed to destroy".

The second part of the memo, which is headed "Niger Shipment", contains a report about an unspecified shipment — believed to be uranium — that it says has been transported to Iraq via Libya and Syria.

Although Iraqi officials refused to disclose how and where they had obtained the document, Dr Ayad Allawi, a member of Iraq's ruling seven-man Presidential Committee, said the document was genuine.

"We are uncovering evidence all the time of Saddam's involvement with al-Qaeda," he said. "But this is the most compelling piece of evidence that we have found so far. It shows that not only did Saddam have contacts with al-Qaeda, he had contact with those responsible for the September 11 attacks."

-snip-

[txhurl]

I can read enough Arabic to tell if Bin Laden's name is on them.

Boom! Give her a set of mod keys.

[Quilla]

What's the status of Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, at large, captured or otherwise disposed of (to steal a phrase from our President)?

[aristeides]

Three days spent in Iraq would probably require at least something like five consecutive days otherwise unaccounted for.

[nuffsenuff]

No idea...

[Selene]

Yes he was in Spain in summer 2001:

The terrorist
The shy, caring, deadly fanatic
Sunday September 23, 2001
The Observer


Although he remained enrolled, no one on campus seems ever to have seen him again. He next reappears this year making an unexplained 10-day visit to Spain. The Observer has seen hotel records which confirm that Atta spent at least one night in the eastern resort town of Salou in mid-July.

The FBI said that Atta flew to Madrid's Barajas airport from Miami on 9 July. His first step on arrival was to pick up a rental car which he had previously reserved over the internet.

Atta spent his last night in the Montsant Hostal in Salou, where he paid with his Visa card and registered under his own name. His Hyundai Accent car was returned to Madrid airport on 18 July with some 1,250 miles on the clock.

On 16 August, back in Florida, he rented a single-engined plane from a company in Palm Beach. He made a test flight to demonstrate his competence and then returned twice more, each time with a different passenger.

[Dan(9698)]

Since we were not tracking him, why do you think we could account for where he was for all that time?

[gaspar]

This raises certain questions. It has recently been written that Saddam Hussein fled the Mansur Villa site twenty minutes before it was bombed by US planes. It was said by an Iraqi official in November that Saddam feared he had been betrayed by al-Habbush al-Tikriti, the intelligence chief, and the same person who ostensibly wrote the letter regarding Atta and Niger. It has also been speculated that al-Habbush al-Tikriti came over to the Americans shortly after the invasion began.

So many questions. So few answers.

[aristeides]

Thanks. Gap between 18 July and 16 August. I wonder if it's unaccounted for.

[aristeides]

I'm not sure we can (account for all his movements.) But there's been plenty of time now, and plenty of reason, to thoroughly investigate.

[xzins]

President Bush vindicated.

[Angelus Errare]

The memo is dated July 1, 2001, so any visit would have to have occurred before that point. Late July won't do, though early June might.

In regards to al-Habbush, he seems to be quite an enigmatic figure given that he was involved in the apparent destruction of at least some amount of VX post-1999 as well as the bogus peace offer with Imad Hage and now a possible al-Qaeda connection. I'm kind of curious as to what exactly his job was at the Mukhabarat given all of his involvement with WMDs, terrorism, and under-the-table diplomacy.

[Dan(9698)]

My point is that he could have had more than 5 days to go do this.

The story is certainly possible.

[gaspar]

See post #167.

[Quilla]

Thank you.

[highlander_UW]

Not to beat a dead horse but seriously... How sad must it be to go through life (at least right now) hoping that this kind of news turns out false? I can't even fathom how that feels... I can't even fathom how a liberals mind works so I should be surprised anyway, but...

I've occasionally wondered that as well. In attempt to arrive at some sort of understanding I've visited the demo underground nuts and read through there some. It would appear that there are some who are moderately intelligent, but pretty much the whole mob is wrapped up in hatred over various issues as well as a massive dose of emotionalism, also over various issues. So the liberal mindset (and mind isn't necessarily the best term apparently) is one of hatred and emotional imbalance.

[arasina]

I think this is just the beginning. More and more information will be linked together until we get the full picture.

[LoudRepublicangirl]

The first word that is whited out looks like the letter could be an Arabic B. The last word in that part is an Arabic N. It looks like a half circle with a dot in it. That could be Bin Laden but I would have to see a better picture of it to tell since the white out obscures the letters somewhat.

[jwalsh07]

Thanks for the heads-up. Didn't Abu Nidal get shot in Iraq after 09/11? If so, the pieces fit.

Abu Nidal committed "suicide" by shooting himself in the head several times on or about August 21, 2002.

As to why Hussein had him killed, I think the answer has always been obvious. He was given asylum in exchange for his expertise.

[knak]

wow I go eat dinner come back and this little tidbit is here! I love Free Republic!

[lstanle]

"Too good to be true indeed. The tipoff that this is a fake is that the SAME memo vindicating the Atta-Iraq link also vindicates the Niger-Uranium link. Too improbable"

Its genuine alright, a fake memo would also tell how the WMD were divided between Syria and Iran.