"BUSH: Some al Qaeda leaders who fled Afghanistan went to Iraq. We've learned that Iraq has trained al Qaeda members in bomb making and poisons and deadly gases. "
cnn.com
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Suspected al-Qaida militants arrested
U.S. troops in Iraq have arrested a group of suspected Islamic militants who intelligence officials believe are associated with the al-Qaida terrorist network.....
....The officials said those arrested included several suspected associates of Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a Palestinian described by the Bush administration as "an associate and collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida lieutenants."
The group also included suspected members of Ansar al Islam, or Partisans of Islam, a Kurdish Islamic extremist group, the officials said.....
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miami.com
Posted 2/5/2003 8:40 PM Updated 2/6/2003 12:16 AM<font size=4>
Weapons man links al-Qaeda, Iraq <font size=3>
By Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY
The man at the center of Secretary of State Colin Powell's assertion that Iraq is hosting an al-Qaeda terrorist cell is said to be an expert in chemical and biological weapons and bomb making.
Abu Musab Zarqawi, 36, has been linked to several major terrorist actions in the past two years. "He is a dangerous member of al-Qaeda and is highly active," Hans Beth, head of counterterrorism for the German Federal Intelligence Service, or BND, said in November.
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To those who operate with and against the shadowy Zarqawi, including the Kurds of northern Iraq, he is called "the man with the limp." That is a reference to a poorly fitting artificial limb that replaced a leg amputated in Baghdad last August.
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Intelligence officials say the Jordanian-born Palestinian is an expert in deadly chemicals such as ricin, cyanide and aflatoxin, some of which he tested on animals in Afghanistan.
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"Al-Qaeda affiliates, based in Baghdad, now coordinate the movement of people, money and supplies into and throughout Iraq," Powell said as he outlined evidence to the United Nations Security Council that Saddam Hussein was ignoring orders to disarm. "From his terrorist network in Iraq, Zarqawi can direct his network in the Middle East and beyond."....
....Zarqawi, also known as Ahmed al-Khalayleh, is connected with Ansar al-Islam, a group that operates in northern Iraq outside the control of Baghdad. Ansar al-Islam came together as a group in September 2001, but its constituent factions have existed for several years.
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Zarqawi caught the attention of intelligence agencies in 1999, when he was linked to an al-Qaeda attempt to bomb the Radisson Hotel in Amman, Jordan. He was convicted in absentia by a Jordanian court and placed on that country's most-wanted list.
Among the latest crimes he is charged with is planning the murder of Laurence Foley, 60, a U.S. diplomat who was shot and killed in Amman on Oct. 28.
Zarqawi was wounded sometime in the fall of 2001 while fighting against the U.S. and Northern Alliance forces in Afghanistan. He reportedly fled Afghanistan via Iran and made his way to Lebanon. He also spent time in Syria, Turkey and Pakistan.<font size=4> His leg was amputated in August in Baghdad, but when Jordan asked Iraq to turn him over, Zarqawi reportedly left the city.
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Last month, British officials linked Zarqawi to a group of suspected Algerian terrorists arrested in London. In the homes of those individuals, investigators found traces of ricin. He has also been linked to terrorist plots in Spain, France and a scheme to poison food at a British military base, officials said.
usatoday.com
<font size=4>US provides evidence of ‘sinister nexus’ between Iraq and Al-Qaeda
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By Richard Evans, Jane's Terrorism Intelligence Centre, London
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Sec Powell alleged that Baghdad was providing instruction in terrorist tactics to Al-Qaeda cadres at a purpose-built terrorism training facility in Khurmal, northern Iraq.
He further alleged that Iraqi intelligence operatives had placed an agent among the leadership of Ansar al-Islam, a fundamentalist group in north-east Iraq which US officials have alleged has ties to Al-Qaeda. He claimed Baghdad was allowing Ansar al-Islam to operate freely in the country, and that while much of northern Iraq was controlled by Kurdish groups and was out of Saddam's control, Iraqi intelligence officers were nevertheless working with Ansar al-Islam and allowing Al-Qaeda fighters fleeing Afghanistan to resettle in the area.
Sec Powell said Iraq was harbouring an Al-Qaeda terrorist infrastructure and named one alleged operative, Abu Musab Zarqawi, as a key figure. In May 2002, Zarqawi received medical treatment in Baghdad for injuries sustained during the coalition operation in Afghanistan.
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He said Zarqawi, a Jordanian, had been allowed to instruct Al-Qaeda operatives in the production and use of Ricin and other toxins at the Khurmal camp. Zarqawi is thought to have sponsored the recent assassination of US diplomat Lawrence Foley in Jordan, and ties to Al-Qaeda attempts to mount chemical and biological terrorist attacks in European countries including Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Russia. An Al-Qaeda detainee named as Abu Atia - who graduated from an Afghan training camp run by Zarqawi, revealed to interrogators that Zarqawi had tasked at least nine north African extremists in 2001 to travel to Europe to conduct terrorist attacks using toxins and explosives.
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"During his [Zarqawi's] stay in Iraq, nearly two dozen extremists converged on Baghdad and established a base of operations there," Powell said. "These Al-Qaeda affiliates based in Baghdad now coordinate the movement of people, money, and supplies into and throughout Iraq for his [Zarqawi's] network, and they have now been operating freely in the capital for more than eight months."
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janes.com
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Allies capture suspected Al-Qaeda camp in north Iraq
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straitstimes.asia1.com.sg |
