The Hindu : International : Al-Qaeda had only limited ties with Iraq: 9/11 panel

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Thursday, Jul 08, 2004

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International

Al-Qaeda had only limited ties with Iraq: 9/11 panel

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, JULY 7. The National Commission looking into the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 is firmly standing by its assertion that the Al-Qaeda had only limited ties with Iraq before the terror hits on America. The panel has further upped the ante by challenging the U.S. Vice-President, Dick Cheney, that if he had additional information on the subject, that should be passed on to the Commission.

In an interview, the Vice-President had suggested that there `probably' was information on Iraq's links to terrorists that Commission members were not aware of in the course of their investigation. The Commission issued a one sentence statement disputing this account.

"After examining available transcripts of the Vice-President's public remarks, the 9/11 Commission believes it has access to the same information that the Vice-President has seen regarding contacts between the Al-Qaeda and Iraq prior to the 9/11 attacks," the Commission said.

And the panel's Democratic Vice-Chairman, Lee Hamilton, said that Mr. Cheney had been asked if he had information that the panel did not have. "Obviously, if there is some information, we need it," Mr. Hamilton said. Mr. Cheney's office has denied that the Commission had asked for additional information. One of the things stressed by some Commissioners is that the panel and Mr. Cheney had access to the same intelligence material.

"Our position is firm, unchanged and committed to our previous finding," said the Democratic Commissioner, Timothy Roemer. "We have not discovered collaboration-cooperation between the Al-Qaeda and Iraq in general terrorist activities across the world, against the United States," he said.

The Al-Qaeda-Iraq linkage was one of the justifications used by the U.S. President, George W. Bush, to embark on the war against Saddam Hussein last year, something that has been falling apart in the face of solid intelligence material and persistent investigations. In a preliminary report issued by the 9/11 panel, it was argued that while there had been `contacts' between Iraq and the Al-Qaeda, these did not constitute any "collaborative relationship."

The National Commission is winding up its investigation and getting ready for the presentation of its report by July 26. It is said that the panel has already submitted substantial portions of its work to the White House for review and is meeting this week to formulate recommendations on how to prevent future attacks.

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