WASHINGTON (AP) -
Osama bin Laden names some of the
Sept. 11 hijackers and commends them to
God, according to a more thorough
translation by one of the experts hired by
the government to review a videotape of
the suspected terrorist.
A more leisurely review of the tape
released by the government last week came up with ``a whole bunch of
names,'' translater George Michael said Thursday in an
interview with The Associated Press. He would identify only
three: Nawaq Alhamzi, Salem Alhamzi and Wail Alshehri.
Alshehri was on American Airlines flight 11, one of the planes
that hit the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in New
York; Alhamzi and Alhamzi were on American Airlines flight 77,
which hit the Pentagon.
``You'll have to talk to the Pentagon about the rest,''
Michael said.
Michael, one of two translators hired by the government,
said he handed the more detailed transcript to the Pentagon
Wednesday at 1 p.m.
Pentagon spokeswoman Torie Clarke said Thursday night that
she was unaware of a new translation, but added it was not
surprising to find more information with a more in-depth
study of the conversation, considering the poor quality of
the sound on the tape.
White House officials did not immediately comment on the
reports.
The Pentagon released the first transcript last week, offering
a chilling glimpse of terrorist planning as bin Laden told his
aides and clerics that the deaths and destruction achieved
by the Sept. 11 attacks exceeded his ``most optimistic''
expectations.
Bin Laden appeared calm and at times amused as he talked
about the attacks on the hour-long tape dated Nov. 9 that
the Bush administration said was found in Afghanistan.
Bin Laden's voice was difficult to hear on the videotape, and
government-hired translators at several points wrote
``inaudible'' when they didn't agree on an interpretation or
when they couldn't make out the words. None of the
hijackers' names were in the first transcript.
In the more thorough, updated version, Michael said, bin
Laden names several hijackers and says: ``may God accept
their action.''
References bin Laden made in the original transcription of the
tape released last week already tied him to the attacks - but
naming and blessing the hijackers suggests an intimacy that
would reinforces U.S. claims of his deep involvement in the
planning.
The names only emerged now, Michael said, because the first
translation was rushed in 12 hours, in a room in the
Pentagon. It took four days to complete the fuller transcript
in the comfort of his own office, Michael said.
``We did the first translation under a tight time frame,'' he
said. |
