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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Saddam Fedayeen officer linked to al-Qaeda may result from name confusion |
| 2004-06-22 |
| An allegation that a high-ranking al Qaeda member was an officer in Saddam Hussein’s private militia may have resulted from confusion over Iraqi names, a senior administration official said yesterday. Former Navy secretary John Lehman, a Republican member of the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, said Sunday that documents found in Iraq "indicate that there is at least one officer of Saddam’s Fedayeen, a lieutenant colonel, who was a very prominent member of al Qaeda." Although he said the identity "still has to be confirmed," Lehman introduced the information on NBC’s "Meet the Press" to counter a commission staff report that said there were contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda but no "collaborative relationship." Yesterday, the senior administration official said Lehman had probably confused two people who have similar-sounding names. One of them is Ahmad Hikmat Shakir Azzawi, identified as an al Qaeda "fixer" in Malaysia. Officials say he served as an airport greeter for al Qaeda in January 2000 in Kuala Lumpur, at a gathering for members who were to be involved in the attacks on the USS Cole, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Iraqi military documents, found last year, listed a similar name, Lt. Col. Hikmat Shakir Ahmad, on a roster of Hussein’s militia, Saddam’s Fedayeen. "By most reckoning that would be someone else" other than the airport greeter, said the administration official, who would speak only anonymously because of the matter’s sensitivity. He added that the identification issue is still being studied but "it doesn’t look like a match to most analysts." In an interview yesterday, Lehman said it is still possible the man in Kuala Lumpur was affiliated with Hussein, even if he isn’t the man on the Fedayeen roster. "It’s one more instance where this is an intriguing possibility that needs to be run to ground," Lehman said. "The most intriguing part of it is not whether or not he was in the Fedayeen, but whether or not the guy who attended Kuala Lumpur had any connections to Iraqi intelligence. . . . We don’t know." Allegations that Ahmad Hikmat Shakir Azzawi was under Iraqi intelligence control were raised last year in an article in the Weekly Standard by Stephen F. Hayes, and later discounted by U.S. intelligence officials. No such tie was indicated in the commission report. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #5 Allegations that Ahmad Hikmat Shakir Azzawi was under Iraqi intelligence control were raised last year in an article in the Weekly Standard by Stephen F. Hayes, and later discounted by U.S. intelligence officials. I don't think the MSM is entirely to blame for not pursuing links between Iraqi intelligence officers and attacks on the USS Cole, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The CIA/FBI has consistently denied any link and according to Jayna Davis, author of "The Third Terrorist", have been purposely obstructive to any investigator trying to uncover such links. I'll bet anything the reason the US does not want the MSM to pursue this story, and alluded to by Jayna Davis in a recent radio interview, has a great deal to do with the fact that the Iraqi intelligence officers in the US were brought here as a result of the asylum given to them after Gulf War I. George Bush Sr. agreed to the asylum plan and Clinton implemented the agreement. So you have 2 Presients innocently providing a safe haven to terrorists at taxpayers expense, no less. The American public would be furious, if this story came out. That's my theory for what it's worth. |
| Posted by: rex 2004-06-22 2:05:19 PM |
| #4 Yup. I don't know why the anthrax stuff is conveniently forgotten by the MSM. |
| Posted by: someone 2004-06-22 1:45:02 PM |
| #3 Keep in mind that Al-Qaeda needed Iraq for the latter's ability to provide chemical and biological weapons. Al-Qaeda did not need Iraq's help for the 9/11 attack. I think that Iraq's apparent involvement in this Malaysia meeting and Iraq's meetings with Atta in Prague are related to a parallel plot to prepare a later chemical or biological attack on the USA. Iraq certainly could have been involved in this and yet be entirely ignorant about the 9/11 attack. When Atta was in the USA he, it seems, spent some of his time doing basic research about crop dusters. We know for certain that Massoui researched crop dusters. It seems that at least one of Atta's fellow jackers was injured by anthrax while in the USA. Al-Qaeda's main expert on anthrax lived in Malaysia. Put this altogether, and Iraq fits right in -- even if Iraq does not fit directly into the 9/11 attack. . |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-06-22 1:42:49 PM |
| #2 It's so "obvious" that the WaPo doesn't feel that there's a need to follow-up on this potential connection. Any photographs in Lt. Col. Hikmat Shakir Ahmad's file that we can compare with Ahmad Hikmat Shakir Azzawi's Malaysia file? |
| Posted by: danking70 2004-06-22 1:06:16 PM |
| #1 Another nameless "senior administration official". Uh huh. |
| Posted by: someone 2004-06-22 12:45:01 AM |