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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A42094-2002Aug20?language=printer
Al Qaeda Presence in Iraq Reported
(Washington Post) - At least a handful of ranking members of al Qaeda have taken refuge in Iraq, according to U.S. intelligence officials. "There are some names you'd recognize," one defense official said. The "second- and third-tier" al Qaeda operatives in Iraq are considered responsible for managing much of the terrorist group's activities and may possibly still be in a position to plan future attacks against the United States, officials said. As additional evidence of Saddam Hussein's links to terrorism, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer noted that Abu Nidal had been living in Baghdad for the past four years. "The fact that only Iraq would give safe haven to Abu Nidal demonstrates the Iraqi regime's complicity with global terror," Fleischer said.