Terrorist Behind September 11 Strike was Trained by Saddam

The Telegraph ^ | December 14, 2003 | Con Coughlin

[quidnunc]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-snip-

[squidly]

Well now

[aristeides]

Does what we know of Atta's chronology allow him to spend three weeks in Iraq in the summer of 2001?

[aristeides]

Oops, three days that should be, not three weeks. But still, I wonder.

[rllngrk33]

This can't be true. The DemocRATs have been telling us there's no link between Saddam and 9-11. </sarcasm off>

[mercy]

Rats will poo poo it BUMP.

[Quilla]

Someone needs to put Daschle on a suicide watch.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Case for war? Got it.
Ideas? Democrats have none.
Bush wins in Oh-4.

[Paul Atreides]

Forget it! There are more pressing issues, such as W mispronouncing Nevada and displaying a "fake" turkey in a photo-op. Besides, Howard Dean said there is an unsubstantiated theory that W had prior info of 9-11. And, Susan, Michael, Alec, Barbra, Janeane, Ed, and George said that W is the terrorist. Besides, Cheney was part of Halliburton. So, give it rest with this obsession of trying to refute these world reknown experts on everything!

[cmsgop]

Hey Now!!!!!

[cmsgop]

LMAO!!!! LOL!!!!!

[Dan(9698)]

That may explain why they killed Abu Nedal.

[Dog Gone]

"responsible for attacking the targets that we have agreed to destroy".

Written in a letter to Saddam Hussein?

I'm curious, what could be more of a smoking gun?

[ladyinred]

Never been a doubt in my mind that Iraq was involved. The leftists will still deny this, and/or bury this under a ton of quagmire coverage.

[Paul Atreides]

Get ready for Howard Dean to get angrier.

Kerry will start opening up about the, heretofore unknown, fact that he was in Vietnam. He was!

Tom Daschle will be saddened.....for the 3,569th time.

Hillary will demand an investigation into the Baghdad turkey photo-op.

Bill Clinton will state that he knew this, as a result of a prescient moment, during a climax with Monica.

[Rocko]

Bump.

[Sabertooth]

Terrorist behind September 11 strike was trained by Saddam
By Con Coughlin
(Filed: 14/12/2003)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Although Atta is believed to have been resident in Florida in the summer of 2001, he is known to have used more than a dozen aliases, and intelligence experts believe he could easily have slipped out of the US to visit Iraq.

Abu Nidal, who was responsible for the failed assassination of the Israeli ambassador to London in 1982, was based in Baghdad for more than two decades.
LINK

[LoudRepublicangirl]

I am treating this with careful optimism. I would love to serve crow to all of those who doubted our president-however, I don't know if I trust all of those on the Iraqi ruling council. They have an agenda that I am not sure is 100% with what ours is.

[Killborn]

Make that "the leftist spn watch".

"Being liberal means never having to say you are sorry." Iconoclast

[rdb3]

Hold it right here for later...