(White House, August 8) A senior al Qaeda terrorist, now detained, who had been responsible for al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan, reports that al Qaeda was intent on obtaining WMD assistance from Iraq. According to a credible, high-level al Qaeda source, Osama Bin Laden and deceased al Qaeda leader Muhammad Atif did not believe that al Qaeda labs in Afghanistan were capable of manufacturing chemical and biological weapons, so they turned to Iraq for assistance. Iraq agreed to provide chemical and biological weapons training for two al Qaeda associates starting in December 2000. Senior al Qaeda associate Abu Musab al-Zarqawi came to Baghdad in May 2002 for medical treatment along with approximately two dozen al Qaeda terrorist associates. This group stayed in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq and plotted terrorist attacks around the world. A safe haven in Iraq belonging to Ansar al-Islam -- a terrorist group closely associated with Zarqawi and al Qaeda -- was destroyed during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Abu Musa Zarqawi, the al Qaeda associate with direct links to Iraq, oversaw those responsible for the assassination of USAID officer Laurence Foley in Amman, Jordan last October. Saddam Hussein's Iraq provided material assistance to Palestinian terrorist groups, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, Hamas, and the Palestine Islamic Jihad, according to a State Department report. This included paying the families of Palestinian suicide bombers, according to testimonials from Palestinians and cancelled checks.
2003-08-11 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive