Posted on 08/24/2005 4:58:53 PM PDT by Enchante
The background: On April 21, 2001, the CIA's liaison officer at the U.S. Embassy in Prague was briefed by the Czech counterintelligence service (known by its Czech acronym, BIS) about an extraordinary development in a spy case that concerned both the United States and the Czech Republic. The subject of the briefing was Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani, the consul at Iraq's embassy in Prague.
....
So when al-Ani replaced Salim at the Iraq Embassy in Prague in 1999, both the United States and the Czech Republic wanted him closely watched in case he had a similar assignment. The BIS handled the surveillance through its own full-time teams and its network of part-time "watchers" at hotels, restaurants, and other likely locations. Then, on April 8, 2001, a BIS watcher saw al-Ani meeting in a restaurant outside Prague with an Arab man in his 20s. This set off alarm bells because a BIS informant in the Arab community had provided information indicating that the person with whom al-Ani was meeting was a visiting "student" from Hamburg—and one who was potentially dangerous.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.msn.com ...
Now it could be Epstein doesn't have his facts right, but if in fact this is a contemporaneous report 5 months before 9/11 then it was not triggered by the fact that Atta's name and face became famous after 9/11 -- it was solely triggered by the surveillance on the Iraqi agent.
What an excellent observation, Enchante. I had never thought about that. And you are correct..it is very significant.
Thank you for remembering my interest in this matter, My2Cents.
I posted this a few years ago, I see. LOL
.... and the Czechs had EXPELLED that Iraqi agent by late April 2001 due to his evident terror-related activities, I recall reading that somewhere. So the Czechs definitely link this Iraqi agent to a "Hamburg student" and whether that is Mohammed Atta or someone else in his cell such as Ramzi Binsalbib (who was the main financial link for the 9/11 plotters), there were things going on in Prague and Hamburg that must be re-assessed and studied anew from every angle....
Can you write to this reporter?
At the least, I'd send the paragraph you quoted above, and a link to this article to Brit Hume, Rush Limbaugh, etc.
Heck, I'd even send it to the White House. I've written the president asking why he doesn't make the case about the Iraq/OBL/911 link and got back a letter that didn't address my question.
btw, if the Czechs DID report the April 2001 meeting to the CIA in April 2001 then we have a MASSIVE motive for some people in the CIA to do major major CYA.... just think if some CIA analyst(s) were handed a MAJOR thread to the 9/11 plot 5 months ahead of time and didn't follow through or take it seriously enough..... Porter Goss may have to turn the agency upside down, inside out, and shake till the cows come home if he's really going to get to the bottom of this....
Another good point. It will be interesting to see if the new 9/11 CIA report just released will discuss Atta and Prague.
What about the rest of the 4th, the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and before the lease of the apartment - assuming there's a photo involved and not just someone's recollection- the first part of the 11th of April?
'Seems that since Atta could enter the US twice on the same day- it would be easy to make one or more round trips to Europe in such a long time interval.
"'Seems that since Atta could enter the US twice on the same day- it would be easy to make one or more round trips to Europe in such a long time interval."
I don't know! heh heh heh.....I can't take it no more! heh heh. Perhaps it is going to turn out the South Koreans actually used him in their first cloning experiments and there are half a dozen of hims floating around wondering what the hell is going on........where's my passport....what country am I in.
This stuff is just above my pee brain capabilities to try to follow. And as for Clintoon frying! He will fry later down the pike. What we should all hope is that all our Intel/Military/Domestic Law inforcement agencies will truly start to click together under Negropointe, and that even better close relationships/no ballshit like the 8 ball deal,
are formed with all nations in the loop.
That is the best I hope for. I doubt we are ever going to fit this, the Able Danger end of it etc., together. To many heads would have to roll. And some good people perhaps in the military end of it could get hurt when they where only following orders. That I would hate to see happen.
"Another good point. It will be interesting to see if the new 9/11 CIA report just released will discuss Atta and Prague."
That is going to be a diffinite download. Hopefully enough will be de-classified to make it not sterial.
1982 - 1990 : (IRAQI INTELLIGENCE OFFICER AL MAMOURI IS EMPLOYED TO FORGE LINKS BETWEEN IRAQ & FUNDAMENTALIST GROUPS IN PAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN, THE GULF & SUDAN) Italian officials say that Mr al-Mamouri held the rank of general in the Iraqi secret service, and from 1982 to 1990 worked in the Special Operations Branch forging Baghdad’s links with Islamic fundamentalist groups in Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Gulf and Sudan. - "Hijacker 'given anthrax flask by Iraqi agent'," by DANIEL MCGRORY, The London Times, SATURDAY OCTOBER 27 2001
1989 : (SUDAN : THE NATIONAL ISLAMIC FRONT aka NIF, LED BY HASSAN TURABI [aka AL TURABI , AL TOURABI], SEIZES POWER IN A COUP) Khartoum was an important center of Islamic political activity. Sudan's National Islamic Front, led by the fiery, Sorbonne-educated Hassan Turabi, seized power in a 1989 coup. ----- "Kerry’s new Snr Advisor for National Security rejected Sudan's 1998 offer to share info on al-Qaeda," Benador Associates, June 30, 2002
1989 : (SUDAN : NIF DECLARES JIHAD ON SOUTH) Sudan's cleric-backed National Islamic Front regime in the Arab and Muslim north declared a jihad on the south in 1989. ----- "Sudanese Jihadists Given Pass By Bush," by Art Moore, 2003 WorldNetDaily.com , April 24, 2003
1990s : (SUDAN : AL-TOURABI ARRANGES FOR BIN LADEN TO MEET IRAQI AGENT AL-HIJAZI, WHO WOULD EVENTUALLY HEAD IRAQI INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, THE MUKHABARAT) During the early 1990s, Sudan’s Sheikh Hassan al-Tourabi of the Islamic National Front arranged meetings between bin Laden and Iraqi Intelligence officials. Bin Laden met with Faruq al-Hijazi, an Iraqi intelligence agent in the Sudan who would later head Iraqi intelligence for Saddam Hussein. There would be later meetings as well in 1994 and 1995.- Findlaw, Ashton, et al. v. al Qaeda
1990s : (ISLAMIC REFORM MOVEMENT GRADUALLY BECOMES DOMINATED BY RADICALS- HASSAN AL TURABI / AL TOURABI HOSTS ANNUAL ISLAMIC CONFERENCES IN KHARTOUM, SUDAN THAT DRAW THOUSANDS OF EXTREMISTS) During the 1990s, some committed Muslims around the world tried to forge a political movement to bridge the gap between the modern world and medieval scripture. But instead of engaging this movement, the United States lumped Islamic political groups together and viewed them all as dangerous. It clung to relationships with authoritarian regimes that felt threatened by Islamic groups and thus let well-organized radicals dominate the Muslim world's reformist movement. Khartoum was an important center of Islamic political activity. Sudan's National Islamic Front, led by the fiery, Sorbonne-educated Hassan Turabi, seized power in a 1989 coup. Turabi held annual conferences that attracted thousands of Muslim radicals to Khartoum to craft their vision for an Islamic utopia. Turabi described the conferences as venting sessions aimed at moderating extremist Islam's rhetoric. The U.S. government called them terrorist planning sessions and, rather than infiltrate and decipher their workings, demanded that Khartoum shut them down.
Turabi raised deep concerns among U.S. allies in Riyadh, Cairo, Asmara, Addis Ababa, Nairobi and Kampala. Washington relied on their reading of events in Sudan, rather than on its own eyes and ears.
There were real grounds for concern. Sudan's new leaders expanded long-standing ties to Middle Eastern terrorist groups. Bin Laden and his followers arrived in 1991.
The "Blind Sheikh," Omar Abdel Rahman, an Egyptian later convicted of plotting to blow up New York landmarks, received his U.S. visa from Khartoum in 1993. ----- "Kerry’s new Snr Advisor for National Security rejected Sudan's 1998 offer to share info on al-Qaeda," Benador Associates, June 30, 2002
1990 - mid March 2003 : (IRAQ AL QAEDA/AL QAEDA IRAQ CONTACTS BEGIN; BIN LADEN SENDS EMISSARIES TO JORDAN TO MEET WITH IRAQI GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS) According to the memo--which lays out the intelligence in 50 numbered points--Iraq-al Qaeda contacts began in 1990 and continued through mid-March 2003, days before the Iraq War began. Most of the numbered passages contain straight, fact-based intelligence reporting, which some cases includes an evaluation of the credibility of the source. This reporting is often followed by commentary and analysis. ..
The relationship began shortly before the first Gulf War. According to reporting in the memo, bin Laden sent "emissaries to Jordan in 1990 to meet with Iraqi government officials."
The primary go-between throughout these early stages was Sudanese strongman Hassan al-Turabi, a leader of the al Qaeda-affiliated National Islamic Front. Numerous sources have confirmed this. One defector reported that "al-Turabi was instrumental in arranging the Iraqi-al Qaeda relationship. The defector said Iraq sought al Qaeda influence through its connections with Afghanistan, to facilitate the transshipment of proscribed weapons and equipment to Iraq. In return, Iraq provided al Qaeda with training and instructors."
One such confirmation came in a postwar interview with one of Saddam Hussein's henchmen. As the memo details:
4. According to a May 2003 debriefing of a senior Iraqi intelligence officer, Iraqi intelligence established a highly secretive relationship with Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and later with al Qaeda. The first meeting in 1992 between the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) and al Qaeda was brokered by [* leader of Sudan's al Qaeda affiliated National Islamic Front, Hassan] al-Turabi. Former IIS deputy director Faruq Hijazi and senior al Qaeda leader [Ayman al] Zawahiri were at the meeting--the first of several between 1992 and 1995 in Sudan. Additional meetings between Iraqi intelligence and al Qaeda were held in Pakistan. Members of al Qaeda would sometimes visit Baghdad where they would meet the Iraqi intelligence chief [Mani abd-al-Rashid al-Tikriti] in a safe house. The report claimed that [Iraqi leader] Saddam [Hussein] insisted the relationship with al Qaeda be kept secret. After 9-11, the source said Saddam made a personnel change in the IIS for fear the relationship would come under scrutiny from foreign probes. ------- "The U.S. government's secret memo detailing cooperation between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. ," by Stephen F. Hayes, 11/24/2003, the Weekly Standard, Volume 009, Issue 11
1991 : (BIN LADEN GROUP ARRIVES IN SUDAN) There were real grounds for concern. Sudan's new leaders expanded long-standing ties to Middle Eastern terrorist groups. Bin Laden and his followers arrived in 1991. -----Kerry’s new Snr Advisor for National Security rejected Sudan's 1998 offer to share info on al-Qaeda Benador Associates ^ | June 30, 2002
1991 spring : (IRAQ TRANSFERS WEAPONS PROGRAMS TO LIBYA & SUDAN) Then, in the Spring of 1991, once the extent of the post-War inspection regime became clarified, especially given the type and amount of data provided to the West by numerous defectors, a second round of hasty smuggling took place. Essentially, the core of the next-generation projects of the Iraqi WMD programs was moved to safe-havens. A lot of know-how and key subsystems were shipped out with the idea of building alternate production facilities in the host countries. Most important are the programs transferred to Libya and Sudan -- two of Iraq's closest allies during the Gulf War that have strong aspirations for WMD of their own. Libya, long struggling to overcome embargoes and the cancellation of arrangements for the supply of technology and systems from Western Europe, has been looking for the Iraqi embargo-busting knowledge and for Iraqi proven solutions for Libyan problems. Sudan needs WMD in order to hit the Black rebels in the south and deter Western intervention against the Islamist terrorism empire. Hence, Iraq found eager and willing partners for its efforts to circumvent the world's campaign against its WMD. - Yossef Bodansky, "The Iraqi WMD Challenge - Myths and Reality," TASK FORCE ON TERRORISM & UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515 , February 10, 1998
1992 : (THE FIRST MEETING BETWEEN THE IRAQI INTELLIGENCE SERVICE AND AL QAEDA IS BROKERED BY HASSAN AL-TURABI, LEADER OF SUDAN'S AL-QAEDA-AFFILIATED NATIONAL ISLAMIC FRONT; IRAQI INTELLIGENCE SERVICE DIRECTOR FARUQ HIJAZI AND SENIOR AL QAEDA LEADER AYMAN AL ZAWAHIRI WERE IN ATTENDANCE ---See IRAQ AL QAEDA/AL QAEDA IRAQ) 4. According to a May 2003 debriefing of a senior Iraqi intelligence officer, Iraqi intelligence established a highly secretive relationship with Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and later with al Qaeda. The first meeting in 1992 between the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) and al Qaeda was brokered by [* leader of Sudan's al Qaeda affiliated National Islamic Front, Hassan] al-Turabi. Former IIS deputy director Faruq Hijazi and senior al Qaeda leader [Ayman al] Zawahiri were at the meeting--the first of several between 1992 and 1995 in Sudan------- "The U.S. government's secret memo detailing cooperation between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. ," by Stephen F. Hayes, 11/24/2003, the Weekly Standard, Volume 009, Issue 11
1992 - 1995 : (SUDAN : SERIES OF MEETINGS BETWEEN THE IRAQI INTELLIGENCE SERVICE AND AL QAEDA; OTHER MEETINGS WERE IN PAKISTAN AND IRAQ; IN IRAQ MEMBERS OF AL QAEDA WOULD SOMETIMES MEET IRAQI INTELLIGENCE CHIEF MANI ABD AL RASHID AL TIKRITI IN A SAFE HOUSE ---See IRAQ AL QAEDA/AL QAEDA IRAQ) 4. According to a May 2003 debriefing of a senior Iraqi intelligence officer, Iraqi intelligence established a highly secretive relationship with Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and later with al Qaeda. The first meeting in 1992 between the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) and al Qaeda was brokered by [* leader of Sudan's al Qaeda affiliated National Islamic Front, Hassan] al-Turabi. Former IIS deputy director Faruq Hijazi and senior al Qaeda leader [Ayman al] Zawahiri were at the meeting--the first of several between 1992 and 1995 in Sudan. Additional meetings between Iraqi intelligence and al Qaeda were held in Pakistan. Members of al Qaeda would sometimes visit Baghdad where they would meet the Iraqi intelligence chief [Mani abd-al-Rashid al-Tikriti] in a safe house. The report claimed that [Iraqi leader] Saddam [Hussein] insisted the relationship with al Qaeda be kept secret. After 9-11 [2001], the source said Saddam made a personnel change in the IIS for fear the relationship would come under scrutiny from foreign probes. ------- "The U.S. government's secret memo detailing cooperation between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. ," by Stephen F. Hayes, 11/24/2003, the Weekly Standard, Volume 009, Issue 11
1993 : (1993 IRAQI DOCUMENT -FOUND IN MARCH 2004 - LISTS OSAMA BIN LADEN AS A COLLABORATOR WITH THE IRAQI IIS AND STATES THAT HE IS IN GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH THE IRAQI IIS SECTION IN SYRIA ) Washington Times Pentagon correspondents Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough reported March 19 [2004] on a 20-page, Arabic-language document from the Iraqi Intelligence Service. Stamped "top secret," it lists IIS "collaborators," among them, "the Saudi Osama bin Laden." It says he is a "Saudi businessman and is in charge of the Saudi opposition in Afghanistan...And he is in good relationship with our section in Syria." Signed "Jabar," the 1993 record seemed authentic to an American official who reviewed it.-- "Clarke’s Not Blind; Even the Dems’ favorite grandstander sees the Saddam-9/11 link.," By Deroy Murdock, National Review Online , March 26, 2004, 8:58 a.m., http://www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock200403260858.asp
APRIL 1993 : (ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON FORMER PRESIDENT BUSH MAY HAVE BEEN ORGANIZED BY IRAQI FAROUK HIJAZI) [Iraqi ambassador/ Mukhabarat Intelligence service director of internal affairs Farouk Hijazi] Hijazi... was the man the Washington believes organized the April 1993 assassination attempt on President Bush's father during a visit to Kuwait. - "COWED SYRIA YIELDS SADDAM'S SPY BOSS," by NILES LATHEM, New York Post, 4/26/03
MARCH 1994 : (HINTS OF A SUMMIT BETWEEN IRAQ, LIBYA, SUDAN) In March 1994, Babil (a newspaper run by Saddam Hussein's eldest son Uday) declared that it would be "desirable for the leaders of Iraq, Libya and Sudan to hold a summit meeting ... and adopt a common stance" to meet the challenges facing the Arab World. Meanwhile, Iraq was reviving the international support system for its WMD development and production programs. - Yossef Bodansky, "The Iraqi WMD Challenge - Myths and Reality," TASK FORCE ON TERRORISM & UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515 , February 10, 1998
1994 summer : (ATTA GOES ON A STUDENT TRIP TO TURKEY; AT THIS POINT HE IS CLEAN-SHAVEN) A photograph taken of Atta on a student trip to Istanbul in the summer of 1994 shows him clean-shaven. But a year later, when he returned to Cairo, Atta had acquired that distinctive beard which fringes the chin and leaves the upper lip free of hair which, in North Africa, is usually the sign of a committed fundamentalist. - "The shy, caring, deadly fanatic : Double life of suicide pilot," by John Hooper, Hamburg, The Observer, Sunday September 23, 2001
1994 : (ATTA REPORT, TRIP TO ISTANBUL & SYRIA) Ralph Bodenstein joins Mohamed Atta and Volker Hauth in a project sponsored by the German government, writing a report on the renovation work being undertaken by the Egyptian government on the old city gates. The subsequent report is deemed excellent. The same year, Atta goes on a student trip to Istanbul. Atta and Volker Hauth go to Aleppo, Syria on a field trip for several weeks to research what would become his thesis, the conflict between Islam and modernity as reflected in the planning of historical cities. Atta takes six months off from Plankontor to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, sending them a postcard from the holy city.- "A Mission to die for : Timeline," ABC, Broadcast Monday, 12 November 2001
DECEMBER 1994 : (ATTA IS IN PRAGUE, CZECHOSLAVAKIA) CIA can confirm two Atta visits to Prague--in Dec. 1994 and in June 2000; data surrounding the other two--on 26 Oct 1999 and 9 April 2001--is complicated and sometimes contradictory and CIA and FBI cannot confirm Atta met with the IIS. Czech Interior Minister Stanislav Gross continues to stand by his information. ------- the Feith memo via [http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/378fmxyz.asp via 15 posted on 12/14/2003 6:28:26 PM PST by denydenydeny
DECEMBER 1994 : (ATTA RETURNS TO SYRIA) Mohamed Atta returns to Syria and makes contact with members in the committee of the project to revive old Aleppo. - "A Mission to die for : Timeline," ABC, Broadcast Monday, 12 November 2001
1994 late - 1995 early : (SYRIA : ATTA MEETS PALESTINIAN WOMAN NAMED AMAL) While he was visiting the Syrian town of Aleppo in late 1994 and early 1995, Mohamed Atta met a young Palestinian woman called Amal. She worked in a planning bureau there, so she had plenty in common with Atta, who was studying town planning. 'I got the impression he was interested in her,' said Volker Hauth, a fellow student travelling with Atta at the time. Amal was attractive and self-confident. She observed the Muslim niceties, taking taxis to and from the office so as not to come into close physical contact with men on the buses. But, said Hauth, she was 'emancipated' and 'challenging'. It seemed, too, that she was as interested in Atta as he was in her. Atta was Egyptian and Hauth last week recalled how Amal had teased his friend with one of those half-admiring, half-provoking asides that women reserve for men they find attractive. 'All Egyptians are Pharaohs,' she is said to have joked.
'He spoke about her back in the hotel. But he said she had a quite different orientation and that the emancipation of the young lady did not fit. He told this with regret,' said Hauth. The story of Amal is the closest thing to romance in the austerely dutiful life of the pivotal figure in the inquiry into the attacks on New York and Washington. - "The shy, caring, deadly fanatic : Double life of suicide pilot," by John Hooper, Hamburg, The Observer, Sunday September 23, 2001
AUGUST 1995 : (ATTA GROWS A BEARD BEFORE TAKING A THREE-MONTH TRIP TO EGYPT) Atta grows a distinctive beard shortly before he takes a three-month trip to Egypt with Volker Hauth and Ralph Bodenstein in order to conduct research for their project. - "A Mission to die for : Timeline," ABC, Broadcast Monday, 12 November 2001
1995 : (ATTA RETURNS TO EGYPT ; NOW HE IS WEARING THE BEARD OF A FUNDAMENTALIST) ...when he returned to Cairo, Atta had acquired that distinctive beard which fringes the chin and leaves the upper lip free of hair which, in North Africa, is usually the sign of a committed fundamentalist. It is at this point that odd gaps begin to open up in his life and the first evidence appears of his dissembling. Helga Rake at Plankontor said that he was absent for half of 1995 and that he said he had taken time out to make the pilgrimage to Mecca and return home. But [Volker] Hauth said that neither on their subsequent visit to Cairo, nor at any time over the next few months, did the Egyptian mention a pilgrimage. This is all the more extraordinary given the German's keen interest in religion. 'It was the very basis of our relationship', he said. - "The shy, caring, deadly fanatic : Double life of suicide pilot," by John Hooper, Hamburg, The Observer, Sunday September 23, 2001, Additional reporting by Giles Tremlett in Salou.
NOVEMBER 1, 1995 : (LIBYA : IRAQI SCIENTIST JA'AFAR DHIA JA'AFAR ARRIVES IN LIBYA TO LEAD A GROUP OF IRAQI PERSONNEL IN INSTALLING A NUCLEAR ENRICHMENT KILN) According to the Jerusalem Post, Iraqi nuclear scientist Ja'afar Dhia Ja'afar arrived in Libya to lead a group of experts and engineers from Iraqi military industries in installing a small nuclear enrichment kiln in the area of Sidi Abu Zarik, approximately 380 kilometers south of Tripoli. The Iraq-Libya cooperation allegedly began with a secret visit by Ra'ad Id Aldafi, from Libyan military industries, to Baghdad on August 30, 1995. The Jerusalem Post goes on to say that contracts for Iraqi scientists to work in Libya were passed off as contracts for these scientists to lecture in Libyan universities and institutions. Unnamed experts suggest that Iraqi nuclear fuel could reach Libya by sea within weeks, and that Iraqi experts in Libya could begin enriching it after installing more small or medium-sized kilns. —Tom O'Dwyer, "Libya Helps Iraq Dodge Weapons Supervision," The Jerusalem Post, 1 November 1995.
MAY 1996 : (SUDAN EXPELS BIN LADEN) In May 1996, at the request of the United States and Saudi Arabia, Sudan expelled bin Laden, who moved to Afghanistan. Sudanese officials also say that they sent 100 of his operatives and their dependents to Afghanistan as well. .------ "Decision to Strike Factory in Sudan Based Partly on Surmise," By TIM WEINER and JAMES RISEN, N Y TIMES, September 21, 1998
1997 - OCTOBER 1998 : (ATTA LEAVES THE UNIVERSITY; THIS IS THE TIME HE IS THOUGHT TO HAVE GONE TO AFGHANISTAN FOR AL QAEDA TRAINING) Atta leaves Plankontor and drops out of university for 15 months. From mid-1997 to October 1998, Atta seems to disappear from Hamburg, telling his thesis advisor that he was gone for family reasons. Investigators speculate that this is when Atta went to Afghanistan for training with Al Qaeda.- "A Mission to die for : Timeline," ABC, Broadcast Monday, 12 November 2001
Thanks a whole lot for those posts. I shall bookmark this stuff and download. My brains and eyes are fried at this point gotta call it a night.
[* My note: ...wouldn't be an anecdote for anthrax, would it? Probably not but...]
FEBRUARY 1998 : (SUDAN'S INTELLIGENCE CHIEF, GUTBI AL-MAHDI, REPEATS THE OFFER TO SHARE TERRORISM INTEL IN A LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE FBI'S DAVID WILLIAMS) In a final attempt to find a way of cooperating with U.S. authorities, Sudan's intelligence chief [Gutbi Al-Mahdi] repeated the unconditional offer [of April 1997] to share terrorism data with the FBI in a February 1998 letter addressed directly to Middle East and North Africa special agent-in-charge David Williams. But the White House and Susan Rice objected. On June 24, 1998, Williams wrote to Mahdi, saying he was "not in a position to accept your kind offer." The U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed six weeks later. -----Kerry’s new Snr Advisor for National Security rejected Sudan's 1998 offer to share info on al-Qaeda, Benador Associates, June 30, 2002
FEBRUARY 19, 1998 : (IRAQI INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS BEGIN PLAN TO BRING A SENIOR BIN LADEN AIDE TO BAGHDAD FROM FROM SUDAN) On February 19, 1998, about six months prior to the attacks in Dar Es Salaam [Tanzania] and Nairobi [Kenya], Iraqi intelligence officials set in motion a plan to bring a senior and trusted bin Laden aide to Baghdad from Khartoum [Sudan]. One of the key Mukhabarat intelligence documents shows that a recommendation was made for "…the deputy director general to bring the [bin Laden] envoy to Iraq because we may find in this envoy a way to maintain contacts with bin Laden." The meetings took place in March 1998. "The Clinton Intel Record Deeper failures revealed. ," by Mansoor Ijaz, National Review Online, 4-29-2003
1998 early : (BIN LADEN'S DEPUTY ZAWAHIRI IS INVITED TO DINE WITH THE IRAQI VP TAHA YASIN RAMADAN; THIS WOULD LEAD TO AN AL QAEDA DELEGATION BEING DISPATCHED TO ATTEND SADDAM HUSSEIN'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS IN APRIL) US Intelligence says Saddam cultivated the relationship with al-Qaeda at the start of 1998 by inviting the man regarded as bin Laden’s deputy — Ayman Zawahiri — to dine with Taha Yasin Ramadan, the Iraqi Vice-President. That was such a success that a delegation from al-Qaeda attended Saddam’s birthday celebrations that April, and it was during this trip that arrangements were made for bin Laden recruits to receive the sort of advanced weapons training they could not get in their camps in Afghanistan. -- "Hijacker 'given anthrax flask by Iraqi agent' ," BY DANIEL MCGRORY, The London Times, SATURDAY OCTOBER 27 2001 [* My note: At one of Saddam's birthday celebrations, his staff arranged a demo of an attack on a US ship]
1998 : (IRAQI INTELLIGENCE OFFICER AL MAMOURI IS TRANSFERRED TO HIS TEACHING POST IN ITALY) He was transferred to his “teaching duties” in 1998, although all the Iraqi Embassy will say of his sudden departure [around July 2001] is that “he had money problems”. - "Hijacker 'given anthrax flask by Iraqi agent'," by DANIEL MCGRORY, The London Times, SATURDAY OCTOBER 27 2001
1998 : (WMD : CLINTON ADMINISTRATION ACCUSES IRAQ OF PROVIDING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A VX FACILITY IN SUDAN AND ALSO INVOLVING AL QAEDA) In 1998, the Clinton administration asserted that Iraq provided technical assistance in the construction of a VX production facility in Sudan, undertaken jointly with al-Qaeda. In retaliation for al-Qaeda's August 1998 truck bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, President Bill Clinton ordered the destruction of the al Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum, Sudan's capital.- December 12, 2002 Washington Post
APRIL 1998 : (AN AL QAEDA DELEGATION ATTENDS SADDAM HUSSEIN'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS; AT THIS TIME ARRANGEMENTS WERE MADE FOR BIN LADEN'S RECRUITS TO RECEIVE ADDITIONAL TRAINING FROM IRAQ, UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF UDAY HUSSEIN; IN PAYMENT BIN LADEN SENT 400 OF HIS MEN TO FIGHT KURDS FOR SADDAM HUSSEIN) That [the dinner attended by Zawahiri with the Iraqi VP] was such a success that a delegation from al-Qaeda attended Saddam’s birthday celebrations that April, and it was during this trip that arrangements were made for bin Laden recruits to receive the sort of advanced weapons training they could not get in their camps in Afghanistan. The hand-picked bin Laden agents found themselves under the supervision of Saddam’s violent son, Uday, who wanted to conscript some of bin Laden’s skilled fighters into his own militia. Bin Laden reciprocated by dispatching “400 Afghan Arabs” to Iraq to fight Kurds. -- "Hijacker 'given anthrax flask by Iraqi agent' ," BY DANIEL MCGRORY, The London Times, SATURDAY OCTOBER 27 2001
AUGUST 6, 1998 : (USA : CLINTON SCANDALS) Lewinsky Testifies Before Starr Grand Jury
AUGUST 7, 1998 : (KENYA & TANZANIA : US EMBASSY BOMBINGS) On Aug. 7, 1998 two trucks loaded with explosives detonated nearly simultaneously, wrecking U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Killed were 224 persons, including 12 Americans, and more than 4,000 were wounded. The U.S. government quickly concluded that the embassy attacks were an al Qaeda operation. Thirteen days later, the Clinton administration launched Operation Infinite Reach. -------------- "Deja vu five years before Iraq," By James Bovard, The Washington Times, Aug 30 2003, www.washtimes.com/commentary/20030830-104308-2053r.htm
AUGUST 20, 1998 : (OPERATION INFINITE REACH - US FIRES CRUISE MISSILES AT TARGETS IN AFGHANISTAN & SUDAN - FAILS TO IMPRESS) "Today I ordered our armed forces to strike at terrorist-related facilities in Afghanistan and Sudan because of the imminent threat they presented to our national security....Our target was terror. Our mission was clear: to strike at the network of radical groups affiliated with and funded by Usama bin Ladin, perhaps the preeminent organizer and financier of international terrorism in the world today....Bin Ladin publicly vowed to wage a terrorist war against America, saying -- and I quote -- 'We do not differentiate between those dressed in military uniforms and civilians. They're all targets.' -- President Clinton, White House statement, August 20, 1998
AUGUST 22, 1998 : (CLINTON RADIO ADDRESS) "The information now in our possession is convincing. Behind these attacks were the same hands that killed American and Pakistani peacekeepers in Somalia, the same hands that targeted U.S. airlines, and the same hands that plotted the assassinations of the Pope and President Mubarak of Egypt.
I'm referring to the bin Ladin network of radical groups -- probably the most dangerous, non-state terrorist actor in the world today. We also had compelling evidence that the bin Ladin network was poised to strike at us again, and soon....With that information and evidence, we simply could not stand idly by. That is why I ordered our military strikes last Thursday (August 20). Our goals were to disrupt bin Ladin's terrorist network and destroy elements of its infrastructure in Afghanistan and Sudan. And our goal was to destroy in Sudan the factory with which bin Ladin's network is associated, which was producing an ingredient essential for nerve gas." -- President Clinton, Radio Address to the Nation, August 22, 1998
AUGUST 25, 1998 : (US ACCUSES IRAQ OF AIDING THE PRODUCTIONOF CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN SUDAN) U.S. Says Iraq Aided Production of Chemical Weapons in Sudan (Aug. 25) 1998?
1998 end : (HIS COVER BLOWN BY CZECH FOREIGN MINISTER JAN KAVAN, IRAQI SPY JABIR SALIM IS BROUGHT FROM PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC TO LONDON, UK AFTER HE REVEALED A PLOT TO TAKE OUT US-SUPPORTED RADIO FREE EUROPE) Iraqi spy Jabir Salim informed the BIS of such a plan [ plot to attack Radio Free Europe facilities in the Czech Republic] at the end of 1998 and later informed Britain’s MI6 [intelligence service].
Saddam Hussein supposedly gave him an order to attack the radio station and provided him with $150,000 to carry out the action. Salim (whom the British hastily brought to London from Prague in 1998, after former Foreign Minister Jan Kavan scandalously blew his cover) went to the side of his “enemy,” supposedly because he did not want to have innocent lives on his conscience, and his testimony was regarded by both secret services as absolutely credible. ------- "Mohammad Atta’s Decisive Meeting," By Jaroslav Spurny, Respekt (Czech) 16/11/03, Dec 1, 2003, 08:58
DECEMBER 1998 : (IRAQ'S AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY, FAROUK HIJAZI, TRAVELS TO AFGHANISTAN AND MEETS WITH BIN LADEN) In December 1998, while he was Iraq's ambassador to Turkey, Hijazi traveled to Afghanistan and reportedly met with Osama bin Laden, officials in Washington said. Details of the meeting are not known, but American officials have pointed to it as an Iraqi link to al-Qaida. ---- "Syria Downplays U.S. Accusations," AP in The Guardian, 17 April 2003, via http://www.peacemalaysia.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=630
[ * My Note: Farouk Hijazi was once the No. 3 man in the Mukhabarat, Saddam's intelligence service; after his station in Turkey I think he became ambassador to Tunisia]
DECEMBER 21, 1998 : (IRAQI FAROUK HIJAZI & BIN LADEN TARGET LIST MADE) "Terrorist cells belonging to the network organized by Osama bin Laden...are ready go into action in the countries of the Persian Gulf and Europe...The list of targets is ready. It was agreed in Kandahar 21 December by Osama himself and Farouk Hijazi... The new recruits, together with the veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Bosnia, form the secret army that is expected to use its weapons against all those who oppose the rais of Baghdad. In order to make them even more dangerous, traditional training has been supplemented with training in the use of chemical weapons, toxins and viruses." [Corriere della Sera, February 1, 1999 (Italia)] see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/743697/posts?page=51#51
DECEMBER 1998 : (IRAQI CONSUL IN PRAGUE, JABIR SALIM, DEFECTS TO THE UK - HE INFORMS THE CZECHS AND THE BRITS THAT SADDAM HUSSEIN'S GOVERNMENT HAD PAID $150,000 TO FINANCE THE RECRUITMENT OF TERRORISTS TO BLOW UP RADIO FREE EUROPE HEADQUARTERS) in 1998, Czech and British intelligence received detailed information from a high-ranking Iraqi official in Prague that the government of Iraq had provided $150,000 to finance the recruitment of terrorists to detonate a truck bomb in front of the headquarters of Radio Free Europe. The Iraqi official, Jabir Salim, who was the Iraqi consul in Prague, defected to England in December 1998. Since Radio Free Europe occupied the former Czech parliament building in the center of Prague, where a truck-bomb attack could cause casualties on the order of the Oklahoma City bombing, the Clinton Administration asked the Czechs to greatly increase security around the building. Consequently, when al-Ani replaced Salim at the Iraq Embassy, the Czech intelligence service, BIS, kept close tabs on his activities in Prague to determine if he was continuing Salim's mission of recruiting terrorists. -- http://edwardjayepstein.com/2002question/prague_illusion.htm
Thanks, so much incredible stuff there -- how to get it to the attention of people who can really do something about it?? I still can't believe the 9/11 Commission whitewash has held up this long.... I sure hope the ABLE DANGER revelations will continue and wipe the Gorelick frauds right out of public life.... (OK, may be too much to hope for, but I can dream).
JANUARY 23, 1999 : (WASHINGTON POST REPORTS : RICHARD CLARKE DEFENDS CLINTON ADMINISTRATION'S AUGUST 20, 1998 MISSILE STRIKE ON SUDAN, SAYS IRAQI EXPERTS AT THE EL SHIFA PHARMACEUTICAL PLANT IN SUDAN HAD PRODUCED A POWDERED VX NERVE GAS COMPONENT, ALSO SAID INTEL LINKED BIN LADEN TO IRAQI NERVE GAS EXPERTS AND THE NATIONAL ISLAMIC FRONT IN SUDAN) ...a January 23, 1999, Washington Post article in which Clarke defended the Clinton administration's August 20, 1998, cruise-missile strike on the El Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum, Sudan. That mission avenged al Qaeda's demolition of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that August 7, which killed 224 individuals and injured more than 5,000. The Post quoted Clarke as "sure" that Iraqi experts there produced a powdered VX nerve gas component. According to the Post, Clarke "said that intelligence exists linking bin Laden to El Shifa's current and past operators, the Iraqi nerve gas experts and the National Islamic Front in Sudan."-- "Clarke’s Not Blind; Even the Dems’ favorite grandstander sees the Saddam-9/11 link.," By Deroy Murdock, National Review Online , March 26, 2004, 8:58 a.m., http://www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock200403260858.asp
FEBRUARY 11, 1999 : (RICHARD CLARKE EMAILS SANDY BERGER; HE'S WORRIED BIN LADEN WILL FIND OUT ABOUT A PROPOSED U-2 FLYOVER OF AFGHANISTAN AND FLEE TO BAGHDAD) The Clinton administration was not unaware of these reports. As reported in the [2004] 9/11 Commission Report, Bush administration critic Richard Clarke worried in an email to Sandy Berger on February 11 [1999] that bin Laden would find out about a proposed U-2 fly over and "armed with that knowledge, old wily Usama will likely boogie to Baghdad." Also according to the 9/11 Commission Report, Bruce Riedel, of the National Security Council staff, told Berger that, "Saddam Hussein wanted Bin Ladin in Baghdad." ---- "The Evidence Scheuer Ignored," by Thomas Joscelyn, Weekly Standard, 11/23/04
FEBRUARY 21, 1999 : (QADEER KHAN'S GROUP HEADS TO SUDAN - HE WOULD LATER MAKE ANOTHER TRIP IN 2000) "We left Dubai for Khartoum on 21 February 1999. The education minister of Sudan received the group and we were lodged at the State Guest House. After making a short stopover in a Nigerian city we reached Timbuktu on 24 February 1999. After spending a couple of days we were on our way back and our first stop was Niamey, capital of Niger."
Siddique also writes that after a stopver at N'Djamena, capital of Chad... they we flew to Khartoum [in Sudan]. After Khan had attended to "some business", they visited the Shifa factory that was destroyed by American missiles (launched by the Clinton administration on grounds, false as it turned out, that the factory was making WMD)[* My note: Well, maybe...].
------ Khan's friend Abdul Ma'bood Siddiqui , in "Khan made trips to Niger, Sudan," CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA, The Times of India, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2004
FEBRUARY 26? +/-, 1999 : (PAKISTANI NUCLEAR SCIENTIST QADEER KHAN'S GROUP TRAVELS TO NIGER, CHAD AND THEN TO SUDAN WHERE THEY VISITED THE EL SHIFA "ASPIRIN" FACTORY WHICH THE US HAD DESTROYED EARLIER) After spending a couple of days [in Timbuktu] we were on our way back and our first stop was Niamey, capital of Niger." Siddique also writes that after a stopver at N'Djamena, capital of Chad... they we flew to Khartoum. After Khan had attended to "some business", they visited the Shifa factory that was destroyed by American missiles ... - "Khan made trips to Niger, Sudan," CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA, TIMES NEWS NETWORK, THE TIMES OF INDIA, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2004 11:52:23 AM , http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow/497486.cms
MARCH 7, 1999 : (RICHARD CLARKE CALLS A UAE OFFICIAL TO EXPRESS HIS CONCERNS ABOUT ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN UAE OFFICIALS & BIN LADEN) One thing not clear to me...was it Clarke or Berger who tipped off the UAE so that Osama would get away? If they were both involved in the decision - who specifically made the call? 1 posted on 07/26/2004 2:36:03 PM PDT by swilhelm73
MARCH 7, 1999 : (RICHARD CLARKE CALLS A UAE OFFICIAL, APPARENTLY TIPS OFF AL QAEDA THAT THE CAMP IS BEING WATCHED, AND WITHIN A WEEK THE CAMP IS ABANDONED) Even after Bin Ladin's departure from the area, CIA officers hoped he might return, seeing the camp as a magnet that could draw him for as long as it was still set up. The military maintained readiness for another strike opportunity. [BUT...] On March 7, 1999, Clarke called a UAE official to express his concerns about possible associations between Emirati officials and Bin Ladin. Clarke later wrote in a memorandum of this conversation that the call had been approved at an interagency meeting and cleared with the CIA. When the former Bin Ladin unit chief ["Mike"] found out about Clarke's call, he questioned CIA officials, who denied having given such a clearance. Imagery confirmed that less than a week after Clarke's phone call the camp was hurriedly dismantled, and the site was deserted. CIA officers, including Deputy Director for Operations Pavitt, were irate. 'Mike' (the CIA's Bin Ladin unit chief) thought the dismantling of the camp erased a possible site for targeting Bin Ladin. Clarke's phone call was the equivalent of sending bin Laden a telegram saying, "We know all about the camp and we're watching it." --- "Clarke Tipped in the Wrong Direction (Important)," by Representative J. D. Hayworth, NRO, July 26, 2004
MARCH 1999 - APRIL 22, 2001 : (CZECH REPUBLIC : AL ANI IS IRAQI CONSUL & SECOND SEC AT IRAQI EMBASSY) Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani, Consul and Second Secretary at Iraq's Czech embassy between March 1999 and April 22, 2001. Baathist Fingerprints
SEPTEMBER 1999 : (AL QAEDA'S AYMAN AL ZAWAHIRI ATTENDS THE NINTH POPULAR ISLAMIC CONGRESS AT THE INVITATION OF IRAQI OFFICIAL IZZA IBRAHIM AL DOURI) The number two of the al-Qaeda network, Ayman al-Zawahiri, visited Iraq under a false name in September 1999 to take part in the ninth Popular Islamic Congress, former Iraqi premier Iyad Allawi has revealed to pan-Arab daily al-Hayat. In an interview [in 2005], Allawi made public information discovered by the Iraqi secret service in the archives of the Saddam Hussein regime, which sheds light on the relationship between Saddam Hussein and the Islamic terrorist network. He also said that both al-Zawahiri and Jordanian militant al-Zarqawi probably entered Iraq in the same period. "[Ayman] Al-Zawahiri was summoned by Izza Ibrahim Al-Douri – then deputy head of the council of the leadership of the revolution - to take part in the [Popular Islamic Congress] congress, along with some 150 other Islamic figures from 50 Muslim countries," Allawi said. -------- "Iraq: Former PM Reveals Secret Service Data on Birth of Al-Qaeda in Iraq," AKI , 23-May-2005 12:08, http://www.freerepublic.info/focus/f-news/1409083/posts [Story also picked up by the Washington Times]
OCTOBER 26, 1999 : (ATTA IS IN PRAGUE, , CZECH REPUBLIC) CIA can confirm two Atta visits to Prague--in Dec. 1994 and in June 2000; data surrounding the other two--on 26 Oct 1999 and 9 April 2001--is complicated and sometimes contradictory and CIA and FBI cannot confirm Atta met with the IIS. Czech Interior Minister Stanislav Gross continues to stand by his information. ------- the Feith memo [http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/378fmxyz.asp via 15 posted on 12/14/2003 6:28:26 PM PST by denydenydeny
1999 late : (GERMANY : ATTA, AL-SHEHHI & JARRAH REPORT THEIR PASSPORTS STOLEN) A German news item says that Mohamed Atta, Marwan Al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah report their passports had been stolen. The German Interior Ministry [later] says this may have been a plan to clear any record of travel to Afghanistan. - "A Mission to die for : Timeline," ABC, Broadcast Monday, 12 November 2001
If he knew his way around meeting fellow terrorists in Prague, then it is highly believable that he was there in April 2001. Has the photo of him and al Ani surfaced on this thread yet? Remember that NONE of Saddam's "diplomats" were diplomats. They were intelligence agents as well as helping hands for his weapons procuring program.
JANUARY 2000 : (UK POLICE INTERCEPT NORTH KOREAN MISSILE PARTS BOUND FOR LIBYA)the [North Korean ship "MV Kuwolsan"] incident, European officials have twice intercepted other North Korean missile materials bound for Libya. In January 2000, British police disclosed the interception of 32 crates of missile parts — mostly components of jet propulsion systems — at London’s Gatwick Airport as the parts were about to be flown to Malta, then on to Tripoli. - "Uncrating a sea-going missile factory : Indian officials find Scud components aboard N. Korean ship, " FIRST OF TWO ARTICLES, By Joby Warrick, THE WASHINGTON POST, via MSNBCnews
FEBRUARY 2000 : (1998 US EMBASSY BOMBING TRIALS, Al-QEADA, WMD, NUKES, AL-FADL) Sudanese-born Al Qaeda defector Jamal Ahmed al-Fadl testifies in the trial of 4 men accused in the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. He revealed many details about the al Qaeda network. The 4 defendants were convicted. ("Jamal al Fadl, an al Qaeda defector who testified in the trial of four men convicted in the 1998 embassy bombings, illuminated an organization structured with bin Laden and his consultative council at the top, surrounded by committees to handle business enterprises, military training, religious policy and even publicity." -- Washington Post, 9/15/01) Al-Fadl testified that he was born and raised in Sudan, moved to the US, then moved back to Sudan in 1991 to work for an al Qaeda office in Khartoum. He decided to defect after he realized he was in trouble for having embezzled $100,000 from bin Laden's fund. He also testified that bin Laden had tried to buy uranium from black market sources for $1.5 million, presumably in an attempt to develop nuclear weapons.
FEBRUARY 2000 : (NIGER : KHAN'S GROUP IS TREATED TO DINNER IN KHAN'S HONOR IN THE CAPITAL OF NIGER, NIAMEY, BY AMBASSADOR NISAR) In February 2000 Siddiqui describes how 'we were again air borne for Timbuktu', this time from Dubai to Khartoum, then to Niamey, capital of Niger, where ambassador Brigadier Nisar, hosted a dinner in honour of Khan. "Niger has big uranium deposits," Siddiqui notes without further comment. - 'A Q Khan (Pakistani nuke scientist) visited Timbuktu for uranium' rediff.com ^ | February 17, 2004 19:12 IST | Shyam Bhatia in London
APRIL 17, 2000: (CZECHOSLAVAKIA EXPELLS IRAQI AL-ANI FOR SPYING, IRAQIS MET WITH ATTA, AL-SHEHHI, JARRAH IN CZ & UAE) The Czechs expelled Iraqi al-Ani, who had diplomatic cover, as a hostile spy. Last night, a senior US diplomatic source told The Observer that Atta was not the only suspected al-Qaeda member who met al-Ani and other Iraqi agents in Prague. He said the Czechs monitored at least two further such meetings in the months before 11 September. The senior US intelligence source said the CIA believed that two other hijackers, al-Shehri and Jarrah, also met known Iraqi intelligence officers outside the US in the run-up to 9/11/2002. It is understood these meetings took place in the UAE - where Iraq maintains its largest 'illegal', or non-diplomatic, cover intelligence operation, most of it devoted to oil exports and busting economic sanctions. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/568298/posts
APRIL 2000 : (N KOREAN SPY YAI TRAVELED TO , CZECH REPUBLIC & AUSTRIA) In April 2000, John Joungwoong Yai and his wife, Susan Youngja Yai, traveled to the Czech Republic and Vienna to meet with a North Korean representative, according to later reports by US authorities. - "Here's one in our own backyard!! Arrested in Santa Monica, California, " AP, Feb 5, 2003 12:10 pm US/Pacific
APRIL 20, 2000 : (N KOREAN SPY FLIES FROM SWITZERLAND TO LOS ANGELES, LIED TO CUSTOMS) Upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport from Zurich, Switzerland on April 20, 2000, Yai and his wife declared to U.S. Customs officials they were not carrying more than $10,000 in U.S. currency.
"In fact, a search revealed that they were carrying $18,179," the FBI said in court papers later. Yai, a South Korea native, was charged with making fraudulent and false statements to a representative of the United States Customs Service and conspiring to make such statements, a criminal affidavit said. His wife was charged with making and conspiring to make fraudulent and false statements within the jurisdiction of the United States. The investigation was ongoing to determine whether Yai's actions posed any threat to national security, said Cheryl Mimuma, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles. Yai's wife will receive a summons to appear in federal court at a later date.
Although the State Department has listed North Korea as a sponsor of terrorism, terrorist activity was not suspected in the case, officials said. - "Here's one in our own backyard!! Arrested in Santa Monica, California, " AP, Feb 5, 2003 12:10 pm US/Pacific
MAY 18, 2000 : (ATTA GETS A VISA AT US CONSULATE IN GERMANY) Mohamed Atta obtained a visa at the U.S. Consulate in Berlin on May 18, 2000- "Hijacker Shuttled in and out of U.S. on Visas issued by Consulates," By CRAIG PYES, PATRICK J. McDONNELL and WILLIAM C. REMPEL, Los AngelesTimes http://www.webcom.com/hrin/magazine/la-atta.html.Times staff writers Josh Meyer, Richard E. Meyer, Tim Rutten and Evan Halper, and researcher Nona Yates contributed , September 16, 2001
MAY 2000 : (ATTA HAS VISA AND IS READY TO GO) By May 2000, his new Egyptian passport containing a U.S. visa obtained in Berlin, the beard he grew for religious reasons shaved off, and flush with money beyond his known means, Atta was ready to move. He traveled to Prague in the Czech Republic in early June and 24 hours later took a flight to Newark. In the next year, he learned how to fly aircraft in Florida. But during this period, he returned to Europe twice. The first time was in January 2001 when he flew from Miami to Madrid. He returned to the United States six days later, apparently with a new visa despite having overstayed by one month on his previous trip.On July 7 [2001] he [Atta] flew to Spain again for 12 days, renting a car and visiting the northeastern Catalan resort of Salou.
Spanish press reports say he left the hotel where he first checked in, trading it for a more modest hostel, whose room he inspected before deciding to stay. Atta flew back to the United States on July 19. His time in Europe was over.- A Fanatic's Quiet Path to Terror , The Washington Post, Sept 21, 2001
MAY 18, 2000 : (ATTA USES HIS NEW PASSPORT IN BERLIN TO OBTAIN TOURIST VISA FOR THE US) CNN reports that Atta uses his new passport in Berlin to obtain a tourist visa for the United States.- "A Mission to die for : Timeline," ABC, Broadcast Monday, 12 November 2001
2000 : (ATTA MEETS WITH AN IRAQI INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL) An Iraqi intelligence official met secretly with one of the airline hijackers a year ago [2000], raising the likelihood of Iraqi government involvement in last week's terrorist attacks in the United States, officials said yesterday. The unidentified Iraqi intelligence official met with Mohamed Atta, whom U.S. officials believe to have been the leader of a terrorist cell linked to Islamic terrorist Osama bin Laden. Atta traveled regularly between the United States and several countries, including Germany and Spain.Atta is believed to have been aboard the first commercial airliner that crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.- "Hijacker met with Iraqi official ," Author: Bill Gertz, Source: Washington Times, Published: 9/19/01
MAY 26, 2000 : (GERMANY : ATTA REFERS TO HIMSELF AS A "HAMBURG STUDENT") According to his May 26, 2000 Czech visa application — submitted in Bonn, Germany — Atta called himself a "Hamburg student." He had studied urban planning for seven years at Hamburg-Harburg Technical University and launched an Islamic club there in 1999. Baathist Fingerprints
MAY 30, 2000 : (ATTA FLIES TO PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC AND HANGS OUT FOR 6 HOURS BEFORE RETURNING TO GERMANY) Atta apparently had pressing business in Prague. With his visa application pending until May 31, Atta nonetheless flew to Prague International Airport on May 30 and remained in its transit lounge for about six hours before flying back to Germany. Czech officials suspect he may have met someone there. Baathist Fingerprints
MAY 30, 2000 : (ATTA FLIES TO PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC) Muhammad Atta, 33, an Egyptian, the leader of a 20-member group that committed the attack against the United States in September 2001 that left nearly 3,000 dead in its wake, flew to Prague for the first time on May 30, 2000. He had applied for a visa four days earlier and sat on a plane in Hamburg, although his application had not yet been acted on, and he must have known that Czech officials would not admit him to Czech territory. And, indeed, they didn’t: Atta spent six hours in the duty-free zone of the Prague airport and then flew back to Germany.
“As far as I know, U.S. officials are intensively looking into this visit. Atta must have been brought to Prague by a genuinely urgent and important matter, when he flew with the knowledge that they would not let him leave the airport,” says Edward Jay Epstein, a well-known U.S. journalist and author of respected books on the activities of intelligence services who has been researching the case for two years. Still, despite persistent efforts, neither Czech nor American officials know the purpose of Atta’s trip.------- "Mohammad Atta’s Decisive Meeting," By Jaroslav Spurny, Respekt (Czech) 16/11/03, Dec 1, 2003, 08:58
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