Sorry, it is not true that Iraq had "no links to al Qaida". You could choose to minimize the links but to say its a fact that there were no links is clearly not truthful.
Here are a couple of stories on the subject - they are not new:
Intercepted call linked Saddam to al-Qa'ida terror cell
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
07 February 2003
He was supposed to have been a professional. He should have known better, but in the end he could not resist. Using a satellite phone, the senior al-Qa'ida operative excitedly called two associates and congratulated them on their cold-blooded assassination of an American diplomat.
The call cost the man his liberty. It may yet cost him his life but, more importantly, it could have provided America with the "smoking gun" evidence it has long sought and which apparently links the Iraqi regime to an active al-Qa'ida cell committing terror killings and planning others across Europe and the Middle East. One thing is certain: it has left Iraq needing to do a lot of explaining.
The name of the man who made the telephone call as he drove through the rugged landscapes of northern Iraq towards the borders with Syria and Turkey has not been revealed. But his alleged position in the al-Qa'ida network was made clear. Information gathered by the intelligence services of the US, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Pakistan shows he is the deputy of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of an Iraqi-based al-Qa'ida cell.
Though he would not have known it at the time, the deputy's congratulatory telephone call to two men accused of murdering the US diplomat Laurence Foley last October – killed in the garden of his Amman home by a volley of eight shots – was an error of incalculable proportions. The call was intercepted by Western intelligence services, possibly America's National Security Agency (NSA) or Britain's electronic eavesdropping service at GCHQ, Cheltenham, and allowed coalition operatives to trace the man from Syria, then to Turkey.
When he arrived in Turkey, those intelligence operatives took the decision to pounce. The al-Qa'ida deputy was seized and taken to one of the interrogation centres covertly operated in the region by the US Central Intelligence Agency. In many cases, America prefers certain prisoners to be questioned by the intelligence services of countries where the rules governing the use of torture or psychological pressure are less strict. In this instance, it appears America led the interrogation, using, in the words of one official, "unspecified psychological pressure" to obtain information.
US officials quoted by The New York Times say the deputy revealed that Zarqawi was operating a cell out of Iraq, that he had been given medical assistance there and that he was planning and conducting attacks across Europe and the Middle East with up to 24 al-Qa'ida fighters. Mr Foley, 62, head of America's Agency for International Development mission, was the first of the cell's targets.
In his address to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Colin Powell, the American Secretary of State, relied heavily on this information when he accused the Iraqi regime of having links with al-Qa'ida. "[The al-Qa'ida cell members] have been operating freely in the capital for more than eight months," he said. "Iraqi officials deny accusations of ties with al-Qa'ida. These denials are simply not credible."
General Powell said the cell also had links to the alleged ricin suspects arrested in London and Manchester. "The network is teaching its operatives how to produce ricin and other poisons ... Zarqawi and his network have plotted terrorist actions against countries including France, Britain, Spain and Italy," the Secretary of State said.
The interrogation of Zarqawi's deputy also revealed other information, details that America has decided not to reveal formally and which underscore the problems the Bush administration faces in conducting its planned military assault against Iraq.
American officials say Zarqawi's deputy also revealed that his superior had been regularly assisted and funded by a member of the Qatari royal family, Abdul Karim al-Thani, who provided passports and $1m (£600,000) in cash.
General Powell declined to reveal this information publicly because Qatar has emerged as an important ally for any American-led operation, allowing the US to set up its main air operations base there. Mr Thani is not a member of the Qatari government and officials from that country have described him as a deeply religious man who has donated large sums to charity.
This is not the first time high-profile Qataris have been linked to al-Qa'ida. Saudi intelligence officials have claimed that after the terror attacks of 11 September, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, believed to have been one of the senior al-Qa'ida planners of the attack on the World Trade Centre, spent two weeks in hiding in Qatar with the help of "prominent patrons".
Although Western operatives have failed to capture Zarqawi, his identification by General Powell may have sealed his fate, because Baghdad has insisted it has no links with al-Qa'ida. One official said: "A half hour after Powell mentioned his name, I'll wager he disappeared or was killed."
7 February 2003
news.independent.co.uk >>
The proof that Saddam worked with bin Laden
By Inigo Gilmore
Iraqi intelligence documents discovered in Baghdad by The Telegraph have provided the first evidence of a direct link between Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'eda terrorist network and Saddam Hussein's regime.
Papers found yesterday in the bombed headquarters of the Mukhabarat, Iraq's intelligence service, reveal that an al-Qa'eda envoy was invited clandestinely to Baghdad in March 1998.
The documents show that the purpose of the meeting was to establish a relationship between Baghdad and al-Qa'eda based on their mutual hatred of America and Saudi Arabia. The meeting apparently went so well that it was extended by a week and ended with arrangements being discussed for bin Laden to visit Baghdad.
The papers will be seized on by Washington as the first proof of what the United States has long alleged - that, despite denials by both sides, Saddam's regime had a close relationship with al-Qa'eda.
The Telegraph found the file on bin Laden inside a folder lying in the rubble of one of the rooms of the destroyed intelligence HQ. There are three pages, stapled together; two are on paper headed with the insignia and lettering of the Mukhabarat.
They show correspondence between Mukhabarat agencies over preparations for the visit of al-Qa'eda's envoy, who travelled to Iraq from Sudan, where bin Laden had been based until 1996. They disclose what Baghdad hopes to achieve from the meeting, which took place less than five months before bin Laden was placed at the top of America's most wanted list following the bombing of two US embassies in east Africa.
Perhaps aware of the sensitivities of the subject matter, Iraqi agents at some point clumsily attempted to mask out all references to bin Laden, using white correcting fluid. The dried fluid was removed to reveal the clearly legible name three times in the documents.
One paper is marked "Top Secret and Urgent". It is signed "MDA", a codename believed to be the director of one of the intelligence sections within the Mukhabarat, and dated February 19, 1998. It refers to the planned trip from Sudan by bin Laden's unnamed envoy and refers to the arrangements for his visit.
A letter with this document says the envoy is a trusted confidant of bin Laden. It adds: "According to the above, we suggest permission to call the Khartoum station [Iraq's intelligence office in Sudan] to facilitate the travel arrangements for the above-mentioned person to Iraq. And that our body carry all the travel and hotel costs inside Iraq to gain the knowledge of the message from bin Laden and to convey to his envoy an oral message from us to bin Laden."
The letter refers to al-Qa'eda's leader as an opponent of the Saudi Arabian regime and says that the message to convey to him through the envoy "would relate to the future of our relationship with him, bin Laden, and to achieve a direct meeting with him."
According to handwritten notes at the bottom of the page, the letter was passed on through another director in the Mukhabarat and on to the deputy director general of the intelligence service.
It recommends that "the deputy director general bring the envoy to Iraq because we may find in this envoy a way to maintain contacts with bin Laden". The deputy director general has signed the document. All of the signatories use codenames.
The other documents then confirm that the envoy travelled from Khartoum to Baghdad in March 1998, staying at al-Mansour Melia, a first-class hotel. It mentions that his visit was extended by a week. In the notes in a margin, a name "Mohammed F. Mohammed Ahmed" is mentioned, but it is not clear whether this is the the envoy or an agent.
Intriguingly, the Iraqis talk about sending back an oral message to bin Laden, perhaps aware of the risk of a written message being intercepted. However, the documents do not mention if any meeting took place between bin Laden and Iraqi officials.
The file contradicts the claims of Baghdad, bin Laden and many critics of the coalition that there was no link between the Iraqi regime and al-Qa'eda. One Western intelligence official contacted last night described the file as "sensational", adding: "Baghdad clearly sought out the meeting. The regime would have wanted it to happen in the capital as it's only there they would feel safe from surveillance by Western intelligence."
Over the past three weeks, The Telegraph has discovered various other intelligence files in the wrecked Mukhabarat building, including documents revealing how Russia passed on to Iraq details of private conversations between Tony Blair and Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, and how Germany held clandestine meetings with the regime.
A Downing Street spokesman said last night: "Since Saddam's fall a series of documents have come to light which will have to be fully assessed by the proper authorities over a period of time. We will certainly want to study these documents as part of that process to see if they shed new light on the relationship between Saddam's regime and al-Qa'eda.
telegraph.co.uk
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