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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bid Buster who wrote (289103)	6/17/2004 9:48:43 AM
From: zonder	Respond to of 436258

Oops. LOL... US 9/11 panel sees no Iraq al-Qaeda link By Thomas Catán in Washington Financial Times Published: June 16 2004 17:14 Last Updated: June 17 2004 0:14 The blue-ribbon commission investigating the September 11 attacks said on Wednesday that Iraq had no history of collaborating with the al-Qaeda terrorist network - undermining one of the main arguments used by the Bush administration to justify the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime. A report by a bi-partisan panel found "no credible evidence" linking Iraq to the planning or financing of the assault. Although Osama bin Laden made overtures to Iraq in 1994, apparently requesting space for training camps and help in obtaining weapons, Iraq "apparently never responded". "There have been reports that contacts between Iraq and al-Qaeda also occurred after bin Laden had returned to Afghanistan, but they do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship," the report said. "Two senior bin Laden associates have adamantly denied that any ties existed between al-Qaeda and Iraq." One of the key allegations linking the two was intelligence that Mohammed Atta, leader of the September 11 hijackers, met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague five months before the attacks. The commission said that after reviewing the evidence collected by US and Czech authorities, "we do not believe that such a meeting occurred". Mr Atta appears to have been in Florida at the time. The commission's final report, due out next month, is widely expected to criticise law enforcement agencies' failure to detect the September 11 plot, and the response to the attacks. The commission also said al-Qaeda remained determined to attack the US, using chemical, biological or radiological weapons to inflict mass casualties. President George W. Bush's administration has consistently argued that Baghdad co-operated with al-Qaeda. Colin Powell, secretary of state, cited a "sinister nexus between Iraq and the al-Qaeda terrorist network" in his presentation before the UN Security Council in February 2003. Vice-president Dick Cheney repeated the assertion on Monday. He said in a speech in Florida: "[Hussein] had long-established ties with al-Qaeda." Mr Cheney referred to the alleged Atta meeting in Prague as recently as last autumn. The White House on Wednesday insisted that the commission findings did not undermine its arguments. "Just because al-Qaeda and Iraq may not have collaborated in a specific attack on 9/11 does not mean that there's not a relationship or past relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda," said Dan Bartlett, director of communications. The administration has stopped short of saying the Iraqi regime was instrumental in September 11. However, critics have accused the government of deliberately leaving a false impression in the minds of Americans. Opinion polls in the year before the Iraq war showed that more than 50 per cent of Americans believed Mr Hussein was behind September 11. John Kerry, Democratic presidential candidate, on Wednesday told Michigan National Public Radio: "The administration misled America." news.ft.com