Posted on 08/24/2005 4:58:53 PM PDT by Enchante
JUNE 2, 2000 : (ATTA ARRIVES IN PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC, BY BUS FROM GERMANY) on June 2, 2000, he [Mohamed Atta] had came to Prague from Germany by bus in the morning hours. ------------ "Terror Additive Tests Find Laced Anthrax; Atta Met Iraqi," ABCNEWS, Oct. 27 "Atta Met Iraqi Spy ," by Brian Hartman , ABC NEWS
JUNE 2, 2000 : (ATTA ARRIVES VIA BUS IN PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC) Similarly, they know little about Atta’s second visit [to Prague]. During that visit, the future terrorist arrived by bus on June 2, 2000. According to a closed-circuit camera and information from the Security Information Service (BIS) [the Czech intelligence agency], Atta lingered for a while at the Happy Day casino at Prague’s Florenc station and departed the next day on a Czech Airlines flight to New York.
No record, however, has been found of his having spent the night at any Czech hotel; hence it appears he stayed at a private residence. What is interesting is the fact, unpublicized until now, that three days after this Prague visit, tens of thousands of dollars were transferred from several accounts to Atta’s own American and German bank accounts (officials have not made public the precise amount, and it is not available from unofficial sources). ------- "Mohammad Atta’s Decisive Meeting," By Jaroslav Spurny, Respekt (Czech) 16/11/03, Dec 1, 2003, 08:58
JUNE 2000 : (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
JUNE 2000 : (PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC : ATTA MEETS WITH AL ANI, AN IRAQI INTELLIGENCE OFFICER) The ringleader of the 19 hijackers from the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Mohamed Atta, met twice with Iraq intelligence operatives in Prague, in June 2000 and then again last April, Newsweek reports in the current issue. The second meeting was with Farouk Hijazi, Iraq's ambassador to Turkey, who was called back to Baghdad before Sept. 11. One intelligence source called the two meetings interesting, but still far from proof of Iraqi involvement in the plot, Newsweek reports. ------ NEW YORK, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ ---- PRNewswire, Oct 7, citing Newsweek
JUNE 2000 : (PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC : ATTA MEETS WITH AL ANI, AN IRAQI INTELLIGENCE OFFICER) -- PRNewswire, Oct 7, citing Newsweek
JUNE 3, 2000 : (ATTA LEAVES FOR THE USA) The next day, [Czech Interior Minister Stanislav ] Gross said, [Mohamid] Atta left for the United States. -----"Atta Met Iraqi Spy ," by Brian Hartman , ABC NEWS------- "Terror Additive Tests Find Laced Anthrax; Atta Met Iraqi," ABCNEWS, Oct. 27
JUNE 3, 2000 : (ATTA TAKES CZECH AIRLINES FLIGHT TO NEW YORK) ------- "Mohammad Atta’s Decisive Meeting," By Jaroslav Spurny, Respekt (Czech) 16/11/03, Dec 1, 2003, 08:58
JUNE 3, 2000 : (ATTA FLIES TO NEWARK, NJ) Baathist Fingerprints
JUNE 5, 2000 : (THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ARE TRANSFERRED TO ATTA'S PERSONAL US & GERMAN BANK ACCOUNTS) What is interesting is the fact, unpublicized until now, that three days after this Prague visit [on June 2], tens of thousands of dollars were transferred from several accounts to Atta’s own American and German bank accounts (officials have not made public the precise amount, and it is not available from unofficial sources). ------- "Mohammad Atta’s Decisive Meeting," By Jaroslav Spurny, Respekt (Czech) 16/11/03, Dec 1, 2003, 08:58
2000 summer : (AT LEAST $99,455 WAS TRANSFERRED TO ATTA & AL-SHEHHI'S SUN TRUST ACCOUNT FROM FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE UAE) During the summer of 2000 — as the Los Angeles Times detailed on January 20, 2002 — at least $99,455 flowed from financial institutions in the United Arab Emirates into a Florida SunTrust account Atta shared with his roommate and fellow hijacker, Marwan Al-Shehhi. Baathist Fingerprints
AUGUST 2000 : (VENICE, FL : HUFFMAN AVIATION : ATTA & AL-SHEHHI TAKE FLIGHT LESSONS) That August, they began flight lessons at Venice, Florida's Huffman Aviation. Baathist Fingerprints
SEPTEMBER 2000 : (ATTA KEY WEST, FL : MOCK PASSPORTS) They are touted as being tongue-in-cheek but look authentic: navy blue and red ``passports'' embossed with a ``Conch Republic'' crest -- complete with photo, blank official-looking pages for immigration stamps, personal identification information and expiration dates. Now federal investigators are trying to find out whether Mohamed Atta, one of the men believed to be a key player in last month's terrorist attacks against the United States added a novelty Conch Republic passport to his collection of travel documents. After discovering that a man named Mohamed Atta applied for and likely received one of the passports in September 2000, FBI agents are now combing through thousands of pages of supporting material provided by a Key West group that champions the Keys as the ``Conch Republic'' and issues its own passports. FBI agents hauled away boxes of records, but have been unable to find Atta's passport application and his accompanying passport snapshots, a federal investigator said. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment Tuesday. Agents did find someone in the registration book under the name Atta from New York, but cannot say if it was the suicide hijacker. - Miami Herald, "FBI Examining 'Conch' Passport Link," Wednesday, Oct 3, 2001, BY JENNIFER BABSON http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/538844/posts
OCTOBER 12, 2000 : (YEMEN : USS COLE IS BOMBED ON ITS WAY TO ENFORCE EMBARGO ON IRAQ) Al-Qaeda strikes in Aden : Terrorists attack the USS Cole on its way to enforce the embargo on Iraq, as it lies in harbour at Aden in Yemen. At least 17 servicemen are killed. Al-Qaeda operatives later confirm their involvement - "The path to war timeline: Saddam's 24 bloody years in power," Special Reports, The Observer Sunday March 16, 2003
OCTOBER 19, 2000 : (WAS THE PLOT TO BOMB THE USS COLE A JOINT OPERATION BETWEEN IRAQ'S SADDAM HUSSEIN & AL QAEDA?) “…..Investigators in Yemen yesterday uncovered evidence suggesting the bomb attack on the warship USS Cole had been a meticulously organised conspiracy, which a leading US terrorism expert said may have been the first joint operation between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein…” -- The Guardian 10/19/00 Julian Borger in Washington
DECEMBER 27, 2000 : (FLORIDA : ATTA & AL-SHEHHI ABANDON SMALL PRIVATE PANE ON TAXIWAY AT MIAMI INTERNATIONAL) Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi abandon their broken-down small private plane on a taxiway at Miami International Airport.- "A Mission to die for : Timeline," ABC, Broadcast Monday, 12 November 2001
JANUARY 10, 2001 : (MIAMI, FLORIDA) Mohamed Atta was almost denied entry to the US when an immigration inspector at Miami International Airport became suspicious that he wanted to take flight lessons while on a tourist visa. The inspector ordered Atta out of the regular immigration line so a second immigration officer could question him at length, a federal official familiar with the incident said.
The U.S. official familiar with the investigation said the INS officer who inspected Atta's papers at 5:03 p.m. Jan. 10 became concerned when Atta said he was in the US for flight training. The inspector pulled Atta out of the line because he had a tourist visa, not the M vocational training visa commonly issued to foreign students seeking flight training, the official said. Atta told the inspector that he had applied for an M and was awaiting a change in status, the official said. The INS officer told Atta to report to a second INS official for secondary inspection, ostensibly a more thorough interview in which an arriving passenger is grilled extensively on his or her intentions while in the US. After a 57-minute delay, the second inspector cleared Atta into the country as a tourist, the official said. Atta's brief detention at the airport on Jan. 10, after arriving on a flight from Madrid, Spain, is the fourth instance that has come to light since the attacks that U.S. authorities missed a chance to stop the 33-year-old Egyptian pilot before the hijackings. The INS inspectors who interviewed Atta failed to notice that he had overstayed his visa by 32 days during a prior trip to the US.
Atta's arrival record for Jan. 10, the day he was briefly detained at the Miami airport, contains another intriguing feature: He was admitted to the US twice on the same day. It's unclear on which entry Atta was delayed at the immigration line because the record does not show a time of arrival. On one entry record that day, Atta was given until July 9 to stay in the United States, on the other until Sept. 8. The immigration record does not explain why Atta was cleared into the country twice on the same day. But a small notation on the record says the second entry ``may be another person entering with identical passport.''
A U.S. official familiar with the document said it was also possible that Atta left the country on a private plane and returned the same day. Establishing whether another person used Atta's passport is important because of the contention by U.S. intelligence officials that Atta was spotted in Prague in April 2001 meeting with an Iraqi agent. INS records do not show Atta leaving the country at all between Jan. 10 and July 7, when he again left Miami for Madrid. If Atta left the country and returned before July 7, he did so without leaving a trace. - The Miami Herald, "Atta faced questions about visa at MIA-INS,Police blew 4 chances to deport ringleader" , 10-19-01| Alfonso Chardy
(* My note: Remember this guy? Al-Tourabi was the broker between Iraq's intel agent/ambassador Farouk Hijazi and bin Laden; Hijazi's also one of the Iraqi agents Atta would later meet with in Europe) :
FEBRUARY 21, 2001 : (SUDAN : ARREST OF HASSAN AL-TOURABI - See also Bin Laden, Atta, and Saddam Hussein)
FEBRUARY 22, 2001 : (SUDAN : SECURITY TIGHTENED FOLLOWING ARREST OF AL-TOURABI) Security has been tightened in Sudan following the arrest of Islamist leader Hassan al-Tourabi, a former close ally of President Omar al-Bashir. At least 20 of Mr Tourabi’s Popular National Congress (PNC) supporters have been rounded up since his arrest on 21 February, says an aide. Armed police have also deployed around the party headquarters as well as the offices of his newspaper, Rai al-Shaab, which was not published on 22 February.
Sudan’s Information Minister, Ghazi Salah Eddin, told the BBC that Mr Tourabi had been arrested because he was cooperating with what he called a terrorist organisation to fight the state. He added that at a news conference, Mr Tourabi had given details of the proposed cooperation with the rebels and that this had gone further than what was in the document. - "Sudan. Clampdown after al-Tourabi’s arrest," (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 23 February 2001) - via http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:gAByeEa7PFIJ:www.peacelink.it/anb-bia/week_2k1/010301d.htm+%22Hassan+al-Tourabi%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
FEBRUARY 26, 2001 : (SUDAN : HASSAN AL-TOURABI IMPRISONED) 26 February: Detained Sudanese leader, Hassan al-Tourabi, is being held in solitary confinement in a rat-infested prison cell with no access to newspapers or writing material, his wife said in recent remarks published today. «He will not answer ant of their (interrogators’) questions...he asked me for papers and pens», she said. Al-Tourabi’s Popular National Congress has reiterated its commitment to the Memorandum of Understanding it signed last week with the SPLA. - Sudan. Al-Tourabi in prison — (CNN, 27 February 2001) - via http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:gAByeEa7PFIJ:www.peacelink.it/anb-bia/week_2k1/010301d.htm+%22Hassan+al-Tourabi%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
MARCH 30, 2001 : (DEPARTURE DATE ON FUTURE 9/11 HIJACKER JARRAH'S KLM FLIGHT TICKET TO DUSSELDORF, GERMANY)
APRIL 4, 2001 : (VIRGINIA BEACH, VA : FUTURE 9/11 HIJACKER ATTA CHECKS OUT OF HOTEL & CASHES $8,000 CHECK) On April 4, 2001, Atta checked out of the Diplomat Inn in Virginia Beach and cashed a check for $8,000 from a SunTrust account, according to the FBI. Atta was not seen again in America by any witness before April 11, 2001.-- "More info on Mohammed Atta and Iraqi Consul in Prague," by Edward Jay Epstein, http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/PragueApril2004.htm
APRIL 4, 2001 : (VIRGINIA BEACH, VA : ATTA & AL-SHEHHI CHECK OUT OF HOTEL; A CHECK IS WRITTEN FOR $8,000 CASH ON A SUN TRUST ACCOUNT) FBI records show Atta and fellow hijacker Marwan Al-Shehhi checking out of the Diplomat Inn in Virginia Beach, Va., and writing a check for cash for $8,000 for a SunTrust account in that city on April 4, 2001. For the rest of that week, Atta's cell phone was used to make repeated calls to Florida. ------- "Dubious Link Between Atta and Saddam A document tying the Iraqi leader with the 9/11 terrorist is probably fake. PLUS, how terror financiers manage to stay in business," by Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball, WEB EXCLUSIVE Newsweek Updated: 11:31 a.m. ET Dec.19, 2003
APRIL 4- 11, 2001 : (ATTA APPARENTLY WASN'T PHYSICALLY SEEN IN THE US BETWEEN THESE DATES) To: Shermy : Today [June 17, 2004] on Fox Roundtable Fred Barnes noted the Atta portion of the commission report and said at best it is non-conclusive. He went on to cite the bank camera documenting Atta there on April 4, the cell phone use that could have been anyone, and his next being actually seen in America on April 11. Fred did a very good summation of what we all had deduced. ----80 posted on 06/17/2004 4:04:52 PM PDT by cyncooper
APRIL 8, 2001 : (ATTA FLIES TO PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC) Safire noted that last October [2001] the FBI had told the [?] Times that Atta had flown to Prague on April 8 last year.[2001] - "Iraq's Link To Mohammed Atta," By Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid, August 30, 2002
APRIL 8, 2001 : (AL ANI'S SCHEDULE INCLUDES MEETING WITH 'HAMBURG STUDENT' IN APPOINTMENT CALENDAR LATER RECOVERED BY THE CZECHS IN SEARCH OF IRAQI EMBASSY) Al-Ani scheduled a meeting on April 8,2001 with a "Hamburg student" according to an appointment calendar subsequently turned up by Czech intelligence in a surreptitious search of the Iraq Embassy (presumably after the defeat of Iraq in April 2003.)-- "More info on Mohammed Atta and Iraqi Consul in Prague," by Edward Jay Epstein, http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/PragueApril2004.htm
APRIL 8, 2001 : (PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC : A "STUDENT FROM HAMBURG," GERMANY MEETS WITH IRAQI CONSUL AL-ANI) Atta was to visit Prague a third time in April 2001. The Czech secret service received from one of its informers a warning that Al-Ani, the Iraqi consul, was to meet with a “distinguished Arab student” from Hamburg—this is information that up until now was top secret. BIS monitored the meeting: The men met in a Prague restaurant on the evening of April 8. To this day, it remains unclear whether this “Hamburg student” was Atta. Yet again, three days after that meeting, $100,000 arrived in Atta’s Florida account.------- "Mohammad Atta’s Decisive Meeting," By Jaroslav Spurny, Respekt (Czech) 16/11/03, Dec 1, 2003, 08:58
APRIL 8, 2001 : (AL ANI OBSERVED MEETING WITH AN ARABIC-SPEAKING MAN, LATER IDENTIFIED BY COUNTERINTELLIGENCE WATCHER AS ATTA) Al-Ani was observed meeting a young Arab-speaking man on the outskirts of Prague on April 8th by a watcher for Czech counterintelligence. After seeing Atta’s picture on September 11th, the watcher identified the Arab-speaking man as Mohammed Atta. Al-Ani was expelled from Prague less than 2 weeks after that meeting.-- "More info on Mohammed Atta and Iraqi Consul in Prague," by Edward Jay Epstein, http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/PragueApril2004.htm
APRIL 2001 : (PRAGUE, CZECHOSLAVAKIA : FUTURE 9/11 HIJACKER ATTA REPORTEDLY MET WITH IRAQI DIPLOMAT/MUKHABARAT OPERATIVE FAROUK HIJAZI) Newsweek magazine also reported Hijazi met with Mohammed Atta - the suspected organizer of the Sept. 11 terror attacks who died on one of the hijacked planes - in Prague in April 2001. But other sources have cast doubt on that report. - "COWED SYRIA YIELDS SADDAM'S SPY BOSS," by NILES LATHEM, New York Post, 4/26/03
APRIL 9, 2001 : (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
APRIL 2001? : (PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC : ATTA MEETS WITH FAROUK HIJAZI, IRAQ'S AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY) The ringleader of the 19 hijackers from the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Mohamed Atta, met twice with Iraq intelligence operatives in Prague, in June 2000 and then again last April, Newsweek reports in the current issue. The second meeting was with Farouk Hijazi, Iraq's ambassador to Turkey, who was called back to Baghdad before Sept. 11. One intelligence source called the two meetings interesting, but still far from proof of Iraqi involvement in the plot, Newsweek reports. ------ NEW YORK, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ --- PRNewswire, Oct 7, citing Newsweek
2001, spring : (UAE : TWO OF THE FUTURE 9/11 HIJACKERS, AL SHEHHI & JARRAH, MEET WITH IRAQI INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS - note it's plural) The CIA has evidence that two more hijackers, besides terror leader Mohamed Atta, met with Iraqi intelligence officials earlier this year - bolstering arguments for a Baghdad role in the attacks, it was reported yesterday. The two other skyjackers were Atta's friends and co-conspirators, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Samir Jarrah, who were believed to have been at the controls of two of the pirated jets on Sept. 11. The Observer newspaper of London reported yesterday that senior U.S. intelligence sources said they have "credible information" al-Shehhi and Jarrah met with an Iraqi agent last spring. The secret meetings took place in the United Arab Emirates, the paper reported. - New York Post, "2 (3) More September 11 Hijackers Tied To Iraq" November 12, 2001, by WILLIAM NEUMAN http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/587611/posts
APRIL 2001 : (PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC : ATTA MEETS WITH FAROUK HIJAZI, IRAQ'S AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY) - PRNewswire, Oct 7, citing Newsweek
APRIL 17, 2001: (CZECH REPUBLIC 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
JULY 1, 2001 : (THIS IS THE DAY THE "UK TELEGRAPH MEMO CONCERNING ATTA & ABU NIDAL" WAS DATED) The paper described a "handwritten memo" that was supposedly sent to Saddam Hussein by Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, chief of Iraqi intelligence at the time. It describes a three-day "work program" that Atta had undertaken in Baghdad under the tutelage of notorious Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal, who lived in the Iraqi capital until his death under suspicious circumstances in August 2002.
"Mohammed Atta, an Egyptian national, came with Abu Ammer [who is unidentified] and we hosted him in Abu Nidal's house at Al-Dora under our direct supervision," the document states. "We arranged a work program for him for three days with a team dedicated to working with him ... He displayed extraordinary effort and showed a firm commitment to lead the team which will be responsible for attacking the targets that we have agreed to destroy."
The document, which according to Coughlin was supplied by Iraq's interim government, doesn't say exactly when Atta was supposed to have actually flown to Baghdad. But the memo is dated July 1, 2001, and Coughlin himself places the trip as the summer of 2001.
JULY 2001 : (ITALY : IRAQI INTELLIGENCE AGENT AL-MAMOURI DISAPPEARS FROM HIS JOB, SHORTLY AFTER HE MET 9/11 HIJACKER MOHAMMAD ATTA; BOTH HAD BEEN SEEN TOGETHER IN HAMBURG GERMANY & PRAGUE, CZECHOSLAVAKIA BEFORE) One of Saddam’s intelligence agents, Habib Faris Abdullah al-Mamouri, was sent to be the new headmaster of a school for Iraqi diplomats in Italy. The bogus headmaster has not been seen in Rome since July, shortly after he also met Atta. The pair are also said to have been together in Hamburg and Prague.
There is no proof the men were in direct contact, but as one intelligence source in Madrid said [later in the year] : “They chose a strange time and place to take a holiday.”
The Rome daily Il Messaggero, quoting Western intelligence sources, said of Mr al-Mamouri that “he spent more time pursuing contacts helpful to the Iraqi regime among fundamentalist Islamic groups than he had on his supposed teaching duties”.
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. He was transferred to his “teaching duties” in 1998, although all the Iraqi Embassy will say of his sudden departure is that “he had money problems”. - "Hijacker 'given anthrax flask by Iraqi agent'," by DANIEL MCGRORY, The London Times, SATURDAY OCTOBER 27 2001
SEPTEMBER 2001 before the 11th : (IRAQI OFFICIAL FAROUK HIJAZI DISAPPEARS FROM HIS EMBASSY) Mr Hijazi also disappeared from his embassy last month [Sept 2001] after the first reports of his meetings with al-Qaeda, and he is believed to have slipped back into Ankara earlier this week. The Foreign Ministry in Turkey says it has not been told that the Ambassador had returned, although the Iraqi Embassy says that he is “resting”. What puzzles Turkish officials is that there are no airport records of his return. -- "Hijacker 'given anthrax flask by Iraqi agent' ," BY DANIEL MCGRORY, The London Times, SATURDAY OCTOBER 27 2001
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 : (9/11 ATTACKS ON THE UNITED STATES)
SEPTEMBER 16, 2001 : (IRAQ HAS BEEN PROVIDING AL QAEDA WITH FUNDING, LOGISTICS & TRAINING : IRAQ TRANSFERRED MILLIONS TO BIN LADEN AGENTS VIA LEBANESE BANKS IN DIPLOMATIC BAGS OVER LAST 4 MONTHS) The Pentagon is also preparing to strike against Iraq after it emerged that Saddam Hussein has been providing bin Laden's terrorist network with funding, logistical back-up and advanced weapons training. Over the past four months senior Iraqi intelligence officers have met representatives from al-Qaeda, bin Laden's international network, in Pakistan. They are believed to have transferred at least £2.7 million to his agents via diplomatic bags in cash or Lebanese bank accounts over the past year. - "Bush finalises battle plan," Daily Telegraph, September 16, 2001
Oct? 2001 - 5 months : (FIVE MONTHS BEFORE FORMER AMBASSADOR TO GABON, JOE WILSON, IS SENT TO NIGER, ITALY PASSES TO THE UK INFORMATION ABOUT SUSPECTED ILLICIT TRADE IN NIGER URANIUM INVOLVING LIBYA, IRAN, N KOREA AND CHINA - NOTE THAT THIS INTEL IS NOT THE LATER "FORGED NIGER DOCS" OF NIGERFLAP WILSON/PLAME FAME) Information gathered in 1999-2001 suggested that the uranium sold illicitly would be extracted from mines in Niger that had been abandoned as uneconomic by the two French-owned mining companies - Cominak and Somair, both of which are owned by the mining giant Cogema - operating in Niger.
"Mines can be abandoned by Cogema when they become unproductive. This doesn't mean that people near the mines can't keep on extracting," a senior European counter-proliferation official said. He added that there was no evidence the companies were aware of the plans for illicit mining.
When the intelligence gathered in 1999-2001 was thrown into the diplomatic maelstrom that preceded the US-led invasion of Iraq, it took on new significance. Several services contributed to the picture.
The Italians, looking for corroboration but lacking the global reach of the CIA or the UK intelligence service MI6, passed information to the US in 2001 and to the UK in 2002. -- "Evidence of Niger uranium trade 'years before war'," by Mark Huband, FT, (Financial Times UK), Published: 06/27/04, Last Updated: June 27 2004 21:56, http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373295039&p=1012571727085
OCTOBER 2001 late : (IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY, FAROUK HIJAZI, IS BELIEVED TO HAVE RETURNED TO TURKEY, BUT THERE ARE NO AIRPORT RECORDS OF HIS RETURN AND THE IRAQI EMBASSY CLAIMS HE IS RESTING) Mr Hijazi also disappeared from his embassy last month after the first reports of his meetings with al-Qaeda, and he is believed to have slipped back into Ankara [Turkey] earlier this week. The Foreign Ministry in Turkey says it has not been told that the Ambassador had returned, although the Iraqi Embassy says that he is “resting”. What puzzles Turkish officials is that there are no airport records of his return. - "Hijacker 'given anthrax flask by Iraqi agent'," by DANIEL MCGRORY, The London Times, SATURDAY OCTOBER 27 2001, Additional reporting by Roger Boyes in Berlin; Richard Owen in Rome and Andrew Finkel in Istanbul
2002 or earlier : (UK EAVESDROPPING CENTER GCHQ & THE FRENCH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE INTERCEPTS COMMUNICATIONS SUGGESTING IRAQ WAS SEEKING A URANIUM SUPPLIER) The UK eavesdropping centre GCHQ had intercepted communications suggesting Iraq was seeking clandestine uranium supplies, as had the French intelligence service. -- "Evidence of Niger uranium trade 'years before war'," by Mark Huband, FT, (Financial Times UK), Published: 06/27/04, Last Updated: June 27 2004 21:56, http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373295039&p=1012571727085
JUNE 2002 : (TENET COMMENT ON ATTA MEETING IN PRAGUE) Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet testified to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in June 2002, "It is possible that Atta traveled under an unknown alias" to "meet with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague."
OCTOBER 21, 2002 : (NY TIMES FABRICATES FRONT-PAGE REPORT ; CLAIMS CZECH PRESIDENT HAVEL TOLD THE WHITE HOUSE THERE IS NO EVIDENCE TO CONFIRM REPORTS THAT ATTA HAD MET WITH IRAQI INTEL OFFICER AL ANI IN PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC; HAVEL IMMEDIATELY REFUTES THE NY TIMES CLAIM) On October 21, 2002, the New York Times reported on its front page that "The Czech president, Vaclav Havel, has quietly told the White House he has concluded that there is no evidence to confirm earlier reports that Mohamed Atta, the leader in the Sept. 11 attacks, met with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague just months before the attacks on New York and Washington."
This scoop, which the Times' attributed to anonymous "Czech officials," suggested that the alleged meeting between Atta and the Iraqi official had not occurred, and, even worse, that President Bush had learned of the misunderstanding from the phone conversation with President Havel but he had failed to disclose it.
As it turned out, the scoop itself, and not the meeting, was the fabrication. On October 21st (after the story appeared) President Havel stated through his spokesman that he had never spoken to President Bush or the "White House" about this meeting. His spokesman, Ladislav Spacek, stated unequivocally that the Times claim that Havel had called Bush, or any other high-ranking officials of his Administration, about the Atta meeting was "a fabrication." And that "Nothing like this has occurred."
Even so, on October 23rd, the Times again used the fabricated phone conversation between Havel and the White House. This time as the basis of an editorial, entitled "The Illusory Prague Connection," that argued that all the evidence from Prague linking Iraq to terrorism was wholly illusionary. -- http://edwardjayepstein.com/2002question/prague_illusion.htm
OCTOBER 23, 2002 : (NY TIMES AGAIN PUSHES FRAUDULENT CLAIM THAT CZECH PRESIDENT HAVEL TOLD BUSH THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE ATTA HAD MET WITH IRAQI INTEL OFFICER AL ANI IN PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC) Even so, on October 23rd, the Times again used the fabricated phone conversation between Havel and the White House. This time as the basis of an editorial, entitled "The Illusory Prague Connection," that argued that all the evidence from Prague linking Iraq to terrorism was wholly illusionary. -- http://edwardjayepstein.com/2002question/prague_illusion.htm
2003 : (IRAQI MUKHABARET OFFICER/FORMER AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY & TUNISIA FAROUK HIJAZI FLEES TO SYRIA AFTER THE FALL OF BAGHDAD TO US/UK LED COALITION FORCES) The United States had evidence that Hijazi was among the regime figures who had fled to Syria in the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad, and his continued presence in that country was high on the list of complaints the Bush administration had made against the Syrian government for its backstage role in helping Saddam.
Hijazi, who most recently served as Iraq's ambassador to Tunisia, 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
APRIL 17, 2003 : (REPORT : SYRIA DENIES THAT IT IS SHELTERING FAROUK HIJAZI, IRAQ'S AMBASSADOR TO TUNISIA AND FORMERLY #3 IN THE IRAQI INTELLIGENCE SERVICE) DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria denied American accusations Wednesday that it is sheltering a high-level Iraqi diplomat - or any other senior members of Saddam Hussein's regime. U.S. officials in Washington said that Farouk Hijazi, Iraq's ambassador to Tunisia and once the No. 3 man in the Mukhabarat, Saddam's intelligence service, apparently had surfaced in Syria. Hijazi is believed to be one of several high-ranking Iraqis who made their way across Iraq's western border to Syria, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. He is believed to have come from Tunisia, not Iraq.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Bouthayna Shaaban denied that Hijazi was in Syria and said no other Iraqis had fled here, either. ``What Syria says is what Syria does,'' Shaaban said. ``When Syria says its borders are closed, it means the borders are closed. When Syria says it did not allow any symbol of the Iraqi regime to come here, it means that it did not allow anyone to come here.'' ...
In recent days, senior U.S. officials, including President Bush, have accused Syria of providing Iraq with war materiel, giving haven to senior Iraqi officials and permitting foreign fighters to join the war against the U.S.-led coalition. The charges have raised concerns that Syria could be the next U.S. target.
APRIL 25, 2003 : (SYRIAN-IRAQI BORDER : SYRIANS HAND IRAQI INTEL OFFICER & AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY FAROUK HIJAZI OVER TO THE US) WASHINGTON -- A longtime Iraqi spy official, suspected of involvement in a plot to assassinate former President Bush and of having links to al-Qaida, was delivered to the Iraqi border by Syrian authorities Friday, U.S. officials said. Farouk Hijazi was taken into custody near the Syrian border, U.S. officials said, indicating new cooperation from a government that had been accused of harboring members of Saddam Hussein's deposed regime. Hijazi most recently served as Iraq's ambassador to Tunisia and was formerly ambassador to Turkey. But he is of particular interest to the CIA and the Pentagon because he was "a lifelong member of the Iraqi Intelligence Service," known as Mukhabarat, a U.S. official said. "He is significant," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. "We think he could be interesting."
Hijazi is thought to have extensive knowledge of Iraqi operations and plots dating back decades. He occupied the No. 3 position in Hussein's spy apparatus in the early 1990s when Iraq tried to assassinate former President Bush in Kuwait.
Former CIA Director James Woolsey said that Hijazi's capture was "the biggest catch so far" for U.S. forces and that Hijazi is a key link between Hussein and terrorist organizations, including al-Qaida. "This man was involved, we know, with a number of contacts with al-Qaida," Woolsey told CNN.
But U.S. officials were more measured in their appraisals and expressed some skepticism about reports that Hijazi had once met with al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Unconfirmed media reports have indicated that Hijazi was Hussein's liaison to anti-Western terrorist organizations and that he met with bin Laden between 1996 and 1998. "We've seen the reports," one official said. "We don't know how true they are. It certainly presents an avenue of questioning." He said U.S. intelligence analysts are divided over whether Hijazi would have met bin Laden given that the radical Islamic terror chieftain had publicly denounced Hussein's secular regime.
Officials said it is more likely that Hijazi would be able to provide information on the attempted assassination of the first President Bush in 1993. "We think that's highly probable given the job that he had at the time," the U.S. official said. "We believe he was either witting or responsible." At the time of the assassination attempt, Hijazi was responsible for overseeing covert operations overseas for Hussein.
The administration official said the Syrians had held Hijazi for a week and questioned him extensively."They put him out on the Iraq side of the border," the administration official said. "The Syrians put him into our hands. We knew when he was going to cross. We knew he was going to be there." The official indicated that there was no direct communication between the United States and Syria on the matter but that there were indirect signals, perhaps conveyed through a third party friendly to both sides, such as Jordan.
Details on Hijazi's capture were sketchy Friday, but U.S. officials said he was delivered to the Iraqi border by the Syrian government.The word on Hijazi's capture came the day after the surrender of Tariq Aziz, Hussein's deputy prime minister .- "Syria hands top Iraqi spy to U.S. forces," by Greg Miller, Washington correspondent, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, April 26 2003 Greg Miller writes for the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Co. newspaper. Information from The New York Times was used to supplement this report.
APRIL 25, 2003 : (RUMSFELD BRIEFING ON THE CAPTURE OF IRAQI OFFICIAL FAROUK HIJAZI AND ANOTHER SENIOR IRAQI INTELLIGENCE OPERATIVE WITH THE 'AMERICAN PORTFOLIO' ) As US officials announced the capture of an Iraqi official with suspected al-Qaeda links, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said other key prisoners were providing useful information. Farouk Hijazi, Iraq's ambassador to Tunisia and a former high-ranking intelligence official, joins Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and others under interrogation. The key questions put to them: What happened to Saddam Hussein and the rest of the Iraqi leadership? Where are chemical and biological weapons hidden? What links did Saddam have to terrorist groups?
"You can be certain that the people who we have reason to believe have information are being interrogated by inter-agency teams, and they are in fact providing information that's useful," said Rumsfeld, briefing reporters yesterday [April 25, 2003] at the Pentagon. "He is significant. We think he could be interesting," Rumsfeld said of Hijazi. Rumsfeld said another senior Iraqi intelligence operative, who he said "had the American portfolio," was also captured. He did not identify that person.
Hijazi was captured at Iraq's border with Syria, US officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He had been in Tunisia when the war started and sought refuge in Syria as Saddam's government fell, officials said. It was unclear whether the Syrians expelled him. President George W Bush's administration has been pressuring Syria to expel any Iraqi leaders who turn up there, and US officials said last week the Syrians appeared to be responding positively.
Hijazi, born in Saudi Arabia, served as Iraq's ambassador to Turkey in the late 1990s. US officials believe he travelled to Afghanistan in December 1998, and they say he may have met with Osama bin Laden in Kandahar. What occurred at the alleged meeting - which Saddam's government denied took place - is unknown, but it is one of the events that US officials refer to in suggesting contacts between Iraq and the terror network al-Qaeda.
Hijazi also served as the director of external operations for the Iraqi Mukhabarat, or intelligence service, in the early 1990s - the service's No. 3 position. During that time, in 1993, Mukhabarat operatives are alleged to have plotted to assassinate former President George Bush with a car bomb, but Kuwaiti security forces foiled the plan.
If Hijazi was indeed a liaison to terrorist organisations, he would know to what extent Iraq assisted such groups, one official said. As a foreign ambassador, he may also have information on any efforts to acquire illicit materials abroad for Iraq's alleged weapons programs, the official said. Hijazi wasn't on the military's top-55 list of Iraqi leaders. -- "Iraqi intelligence agents held,"AP via TheAge.com.au, April 26 2003
1982 - 1990 : (IRAQ : SALMAN PAK : AL-MAMOURI) From 1982 to 1990, [Habib Faris Abdullah] al-Mamouri worked for the secret service’s Special Operations Branch at Salman Pak. ------- "Estate of John Patrick O'Neill v Republic of Iraq, et al," http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:jb1Ak4sXKMsJ:cryptome.sabotage.org/oneill-v-iraq.htm+AL-MAMOURI+italy+&hl=en
1990 - 1996 : (AL MAMOURI, UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE IRAQI MUKHABARAT'S SECTION M4, CULTIVATES RELATIONS WITH FUNDAMENTALIST ORGANIZATIONS ) In 1990, he [al-Mamouri] was put in charge of relations with the various Islamic fundamentalist movements. Until 1996, al-Mamouri then traveled to strengthen his relations with various fundamentalist organizations under the auspices of Section M4, the clandestine division of the Mukhabarat. Saddam Hussein, realizing that he could not defeat the U.S in a conflict, decided to resort to terrorism. He then realized that the simplest and most effective way was to resort to Kamikaze terrorism. He gave instructions to the Mukhabarat to establish contacts with those fundamentalist groups, including the Hamburg cell, thereby making Atta a co-optee of the Iraqi Mukhabarat. ------- "Estate of John Patrick O'Neill v Republic of Iraq, et al," http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:jb1Ak4sXKMsJ:cryptome.sabotage.org/oneill-v-iraq.htm+AL-MAMOURI+italy+&hl=en
1995 or before : (IRAQ : SALMAN PAK : AL MAMOURI & AL HIJAZI DEVELOP HIJACKING TECHNIQUES) 156. Al-Mamouri’s meeting with Atta was in keeping with his previous duties at Salman Pak. Al-Hijazihad recommended to Saddam Hussein the appointment of al- Mamouri to head the Special Operations Branch at Salman Pak. Al-Mamouri’s working relationship with al-Hijazihad had been strengthened when they worked together at Salman Pak to devise a new range of terrorist methods. It is here that the plan of controlling a civilian airplane with full fuel tanks by teams of five using items that can be easily carried aboard a plane and using the plane as a guided missile was developed by al-Mamouri and al-Hijazi at Salman Pak, sometime before 1995.
157. At Salman Pak, al-Mamouri was placed in charge of coordinating activities with fundamentalist Islamic movements in Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf Countries and Sudan. This came about after Saddam Hussein had decided to seek links with the Islamic terrorist network after the Gulf War. ------- "Estate of John Patrick O'Neill v Republic of Iraq, et al," http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:jb1Ak4sXKMsJ:cryptome.sabotage.org/oneill-v-iraq.htm+AL-MAMOURI+italy+&hl=en
bttt
No connection there ... *wink wink*
;-)
timeline for ya
Thank you!
Thanks.
timeline
Meanwhile, in a February 24 letter to James Beasley, Jr., the attorney in the aforementioned lawsuit, Czech U.N. Ambassador Hynek Kmonicek affirms an October 26, 2001 statement by Czech Interior Minister Stanislav Gross: "In this moment we can confirm, that during the next stay of Mr. Muhammad Atta in the Czech Republic there was the contact with the official of the Iraqi intelligence, Mr. Al Ani, Ahmed Khalin Ibrahim Samir, who was on 22nd April 2001 expelled from the Czech Republic on the basis of activities which were not compatible with the diplomatic status." Atta flew from Virginia Beach, Virginia to Prague on April 7, 2001. Car-rental records place him in the Czech capitol the next day. He flew home to Florida that April 9.The FBI doesn't have squat confirming anything...I do travel arrangements for my company and I know it is impossible to get a rental car without a credit card AND a driver's license.
In Washington, the FBI moved to quiet the Prague connection by telling journalists that it had car rentals and records that put Atta in Virginia Beach, Va., and Florida close to, if not during, the period when he was supposed to be in Prague. The New York Times , citing information provided by "federal law enforcement officials," reported that Atta was in Virginia Beach on April 2, 2001, and by April 11, "Atta was back in Florida, renting a car."Well...duh, Tenet...All these reports attributed to the FBI were, as it turns out, erroneous. There were no car rental records in Virginia, Florida, or anywhere else in April 2001 for Mohamed Atta, since he had not yet obtained his Florida license.
His international license was at his father's home in Cairo, Egypt (where his roommate Marwan al-Shehhi picked it up in late April). Nor were there other records in the hands of the FBI that put Atta in the United States at the time. Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet testified to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in June 2002, "It is possible that Atta traveled under an unknown alias" to "meet with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague." Clearly, it was not beyond the capabilities of the 9/11 hijackers to use aliases.
Spanish police last February arrested Algerians Khaled Madani, 33, and Moussa Laour, 36, on suspicion of furnishing phony passports to, among others, al Qaeda operatives Ramzi Binalshibh and Mohamed Atta. According to a February 29 Associated Press dispatch, Binalshibh revealed Madani's identity to interrogators at the American military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Thanks!
thanks!
BUMP!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.