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