IRAQ: FORMER PM (ALLAWI) REVEALS SECRET SERVICE DATA ON BIRTH OF AL-QAEDA IN IRAQ it)

AKI | May 23, 2005 | AKI

[FairOpinion]

Baghdad, 23 May (AKI) - 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, 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.

"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 congress, along with some 150 other Islamic figures from 50 Muslim countries," Allawi said.

According to Allawi, important information has been gathered regarding the presence of another key terrorist figure operating in Iraq - the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

"The Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi entered Iraq secretly in the same period," Allawi affirmed, "and began to form a terrorist cell, even though the Iraqi services do not have precise information on his entry into the country," he said.

Allawi's remarks come after statements to al-Hayat by King Abdallah II of Jordan over Saddam's refusal to hand over al-Zarqawi to the authorities in Amman.

On this question Allawi said: ''The words of the Jordanian King are correct and important. We have proof of al-Zawahiri's visit to Iraq, but we do not have the precise date or information on al-Zarqawi's entry, though it is likely that he arrived around the same time."

In Allawi's view, Saddam's government "sponsored" the birth of al-Qaeda in Iraq, coordinating with other terrorist groups, both Arab and Muslim. "The Iraqi secret services had links to these groups through a person called Faruq Hajizi, later named Iraq's ambassador to Turkey and arrested after the fall of Saddam's regime as he tried to re-enter Iraq. Iraqi secret agents helped terrorists enter the country and directed them to the Ansar al-Islam camps in the Halbija area," he said.

The former prime minister claims that Saddam's regime sought to involve even Palestinian Abu Nidal - head of a group once considered the world's most dangerous terrorist organisation - in its terrorist circuit. Abu Nidal's organisation was responsible for terrorist attacks in some 20 countries, killing more than 300 people and wounding hundreds more.

He added that Abu Nidal's refusal to cooperate with Islamist groups was the reason for his death in Iraq, in the summer of 2002.

(Ham/Aki)

23-May-05 12:08

[justshutupandtakeit]

Something we've all known bump

[Khepri]

Such is the Bush Admin's ineptitude in providing good news about itself. I have to disagree. I think they don't correct themselves for a reason.

#1 Correctly the lie of no WMD wouldn't change a thing now operationally

#2 You have to ask yourself, what advantage can be gained from the Intelligence being "wrong"? Neocons have restructured the government under the guise of the intel being "wrong". The fool liberals barely put up a fight.

We have the NSA doing their thing, "because the Intel was wrong"

All the Intel agencies now report to one guy, "because the Intel was wrong"

We have the Pariot Acts breezing through Congress, "because the Intel was wrong"

Think about it.

Bush is about the smartest damn poker player I've ever witnessed. And if it isn't him thinking of this stuff, he's at least smart enough to use what Yale taught him and aurround himself with the people that can think of these things.

Believe me, I'll bet Rove and those guys sit around laughing their butts off every time a Liberal say Bush is an idiot. LOL

They knew the Intel was right. It was their ace in the hole. Their probably saving it for the 2008 elections.

OR

They might not have known it wouldn't be there. The Left starts screaming. What to do? Turn a bad situation into a good opportunity. We have all the above.

[SE Mom]

Well- while you're at it- show him this too:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1647586/posts

[AmericanYankee]

Czech intel still stands by there story that Atta met with someone and has never been discredited. Only the NYT manufactured the myth that the event did not occur. Other wise, Atta met with SOMEONE who the Czechs suspected to be the Iraqi diplomat Al Ani, his alibi was weak. He stated he was miles away from Prague at the time, in which the Czechs said was impossible since they were monitoring him. It was already proven that Al ani was to met with a "hamburg student" and Atta was a Hamburg student! So there was a suspicious event that occurred in Prague with Atta. One should also note that Atta went to Prague on multiple occasions in the years leading up to 9/11, this wasn't his first time.