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9/11: panel does not find Baghdad links

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, JUNE 16. The National Commission looking into the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 has said that there is "no credible evidence" of a link between Iraq and the Al-Qaeda in attacks against the United States. It has maintained that the Al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, explored the possibility of cooperation with the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official reportedly met Osama in Sudan in 1994 when the Al-Qaeda leader `requested space' for training camps and assistance in getting weapons. "...but Iraq apparently never responded."

The report which is based on research and interview by staff members of the Commission has been released at the start of the final two-day hearings on the development of the September 11, 2001 plot and in the emergency response of the Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. air defences.

"There have been reports that contacts between Iraq and Al-Qaeda also occurred after (Osama) bin Laden returned to Afghanistan but they do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship," the report said.

The findings would seem to contradict the long-held assertion of the Bush administration — repeated by the Vice-President, Dick Cheney, this Monday — that Mr. Hussein had "long established" ties with the Al-Qaeda.

In making the `case' for the war against Iraq, the Bush administration had frequently talked of this link but stopped short of directly accusing Baghdad of being behind the 9/11 attacks.

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