Lord Valve
July 15th 03, 08:01 AM
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=8887
Bin Laden and Iraq
By Anonymous
FrontPageMagazine.com | July 14, 2003
I decided to look back to 1999 to see what links there may have been
between
Saddam and OBL. I found hundreds of articles. Here are condensed summaries
of some of the more relevant ones. I wonder why no one is talking about
these articles and links today.
- - - - -
The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland), December 28, 1999.
Iraq tempts bin Laden to attack West
Exclusive. By: Ian Bruce, Geopolitics Editor.
THE world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden, has been offered sanctuary in
Iraq if his worldwide terrorist network succeeds in carrying out a campaign
of high-profile attacks on the West ...
Now we are also facing the prospect of an unholy alliance between bin Laden
and Saddam. The implications are terrifying.
"We might be looking at the most wanted man on the FBI's target list
gaining
access to chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons courtesy of Iraq's
clandestine research programmes."
The U.S. intelligence community has been squeezing bin Laden's finances
steadily for several years. His personal fortune of anything up to £500m
has
been whittled down to single figures ...
- - - - -
U.S. Newswire, December 23, 1999.
Terrorism Expert Reveals Why Osama bin Laden has Declared War On America;
Available for Comment in Light of Predicted Attacks.
.... (author Yossef) Bodansky also reveals the relationship between bin
Laden
and Saddam Hussein and how the U.S. bombing of Iraq is "strengthening the
hands of militant Islamists eager to translate their rage into violence and
terrorism." ....
- - - - -
The Observer. December 19, 1999.
Sanctions reviewed in West as Saddam wields sword of Islam
The Iraqi dictator has rejected a UN deal to lift sanctions. The Western
blockade, far from toppling the regime, has bolstered it. He's ditched the
sunglasses and taken up the Koran to harness the fervour of
fundamentalists.
By: Jason Burke, in Baghdad
.... This time last year the U.S. claimed that another delegation had met
Osama bin Laden, the alleged terrorist mastermind and tried to woo him to
Iraq.
Senior officials claim that the Islamisation programme is an attempt to
defuse the threat of Islamic militancy rather than encourage it ...
- - - - -
United Press International. November 3, 1999, Wednesday, BC cycle.
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government has tried to prevent accused terror
suspect Osama bin Laden from fleeing Afghanistan to either Iraq or
Chechnya,
Michael Sheehan, head of counter-terrorism at the State Department, told a
Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee ...
- - - - -
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio). October 31, 1999. Sunday 1 STAR EDITION.
BIN LADEN SPOTTED AFTER OFFER TO LEAVE
By: From Beacon Journal wire services
DATELINE: JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN:
.... The Taliban has since made it known through official channels that the
likely destination is Iraq.
A Clinton administration official said bin Laden's request "falls far
short" of the UN resolution that the Taliban deliver him for trial....
- - - - -
The Kansas City Star. March 2, 1999, Tuesday.
International terrorism, a conflict without boundaries
By Rich Hood
.... He (bin Laden) has a private fortune ranging from $250 million to $500
million and is said to be cultivating a new alliance with Iraq's Saddam
Hussein, who has biological and chemical weapons bin Laden would not
hesitate to use. An alliance between bin Laden and Saddam Hussein could be
deadly. Both men are united in their hatred for the United States and any
country friendly to the United States....
- - - - -
Los Angeles Times. February 23, 1999, Tuesday, Home Edition.
SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 6; Letters Desk.
HEADLINE: OSAMA BIN LADEN
Where is Osama bin Laden (Feb. 14)? That should be the U.S.'s main
priority.
If as rumored he and Saddam Hussein are joining forces, it could pose a
threat making Hitler and Mussolini seem like a sideshow....
- - - - -
National Public Radio (NPR)
MORNING EDITION (10:00 AM on ET)
February 18, 1999.
THOUGH AFGHANISTAN HAS PROVIDED OSAMA BIN LADEN WITH SANCTUARY, IT IS
UNCLEAR WHERE HE IS NOW.
ANCHORS: BOB EDWARDS
REPORTERS: MIKE SHUSTER
.... There have also been reports in recent months that bin Laden might have
been considering moving his operations to Iraq. Intelligence agencies in
several nations are looking into that. According to Vincent Cannistraro, a
former chief of CIA counterterrorism operations, a senior Iraqi
intelligence
official, Farouk Hijazi(ph), sought out bin Laden in December and invited
him to come to Iraq.
Mr. VINCENT CANNISTRARO (Former Chief of CIA Counterterrorism Operations):
Farouk Hijazi, who was the Iraqi ambassador in Turkey ... known through
sources in Afghanistan, members of Osama's entourage let it be known that
the meeting had taken place.
SHUSTER: Iraq's contacts with bin Laden go back some years, to at least
1994, when, according to one U.S. government source, Hijazi met him when
bin
Laden lived in Sudan. According to Cannistraro, Iraq invited bin Laden to
live in Baghdad to be nearer to potential targets of terrorist attack in
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. There is a wide gap between bin Laden's
fundamentalism and Saddam Hussein's secular dictatorship. But some experts
believe bin Laden might be tempted to live in Iraq because of his reported
desire to obtain chemical or biological weapons. CIA director George Tenet
referred to that in recent testimony....
- - - - -
Agence France Presse. February 17, 1999.
Saddam plans to use bin Laden against Kuwait, Saudi: opposition
Iraq's President Saddam Hussein plans to use alleged terrorist Osama bin
Laden's network to carry out his threats against Kuwait and Saudi Arabia,
an
Iraqi opposition figure charged on Wednesday.
"If the ... Jaber, a member of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution
in
Iraq (SCIRI), said Iraq had "offered to shelter bin Laden under the
precondition that he carry out strikes on targets in neighbouring
countries."
.... Islamic fundamentalist bin Laden, who has gone missing from his base in
Afghanistan, would never seek refuge in secular Iraq on ideological
grounds.
"I think bin Laden would keep quiet or fight to the death rather than seek
asylum in Iraq," the London-based dissident, who asked not to be named,
told
AFP last week.....
- - - - -
Deutsche Presse-Agentur. February 17, 1999, Wednesday, BC Cycle
Opposition group says bin Laden in Iraq
DATELINE: Kuwait City
An Iraqi opposition group claimed in a published report Wednesday that
Islamic militant Osama bin Laden is in Iraq from where he plans to launch a
campaign of terrorism against Baghdad's Gulf neighbours.
The claim was made by Bayan Jabor, spokesman for the Teheran-based Supreme
Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).
Bin Laden "recently settled in Iraq at the invitation of Saddam Hussein in
exchange for directing strikes against targets in neighbouring countries,"
Jabor told the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai al- Aam ... Taleban leaders in
Afghanistan, where he had been living, said they lost track of him. Media
reports have speculated he sought refuge in Chechnya, Somalia, Iraq, or
with
a non-Taliban group in Afghanistan.
Jabor, who was interviewed in Damascus, Syria, said Iraq began extending
invitations to bin Laden six months ago, shortly after the United States
bombed his suspected terrorist training camps in Afghanistan after linking
him with the August 7 bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and in
Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania.
The United States indicted Bin Laden for the embassy bombings and has
offered a five million dollar reward for information leading to his
capture.
Bin Laden's disappearance has coincided with stepped up threats by Iraq
against neighbours Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Turkey for allowing the United
States and Britain to use their air bases to carry out air patrols over two
"no-fly" zones over northern and southern Iraq ....
- - - - -
Associated Press Worldstream. February 14, 1999.
Taliban leader says whereabouts of bin Laden unknown
.... Analysts say bin Laden's options for asylum are limited.
Iraq was considered a possible destination because bin Laden had received
an
invitation from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein last month. And Somalia was
a
third possible destination because of its anarchy and violent anti-U.S.
history ....
- - - - -
San Jose Mercury News (California). February 14, 1999 Sunday MORNING FINAL
EDITION
U.S. WORRIED ABOUT IRAQI, BIN LADEN TIES TERRORIST COULD GAIN EVEN
DEADLIER WEAPONS
U.S. intelligence officials are worried that a burgeoning alliance between
terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein could
make the fugitive Saudi's loose-knit organization much more dangerous ...
In addition, the officials said, Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal is now in
Iraq, as is a renowned Palestinian bomb designer, and both could make their
expertise available to bin Laden.
"It's clear the Iraqis would like to have bin Laden in Iraq," said Vincent
Cannistraro, a former head of counterterrorism operations at the Central
Intelligence Agency ...
Saddam has even offered asylum to bin Laden, who has expressed support for
Iraq.
.... (in) late December, when bin Laden met a senior Iraqi intelligence
official near Qandahar, Afghanistan, there has been increasing evidence
that
bin Laden and Iraq may have begun cooperating in planning attacks against
American and British targets around the world.
Bin Laden, who strikes in the name of Islam, and Saddam, one of the most
secular rulers in the Arab world, have little in common except their hatred
of the United States ...
More worrisome, the American officials said, are indications that there may
be contacts between bin Laden's organization and Iraq's Special Security
Organization (SSO), run by Saddam's son Qusay. Both the SSO and the
Mukhabarat were involved in a failed 1993 plot to assassinate former
President George Bush ...
"The idea that the same people who are hiding Saddam's biological weapons
may be meeting with Osama bin Laden is not a happy one," said one American
official....
- - - - -
Associated Press Worldstream. February 13, 1999; Saturday 14:32 Eastern
Time
Bin Laden said to have left Afghanistan, whereabouts unknown
.... It is very unlikely bin Laden could remain in Afghanistan without
Taliban officials knowing his whereabouts.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has offered asylum to bin Laden, who has
expressed support for Iraq.
U.S. officials believe bin Laden masterminded the Aug. 7 bombings of its
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania ...
Bin Laden urged devout Muslims to attack U.S. and British interests in
retaliation for their joint assault on Iraq.
U.S. officials demanded that the Taliban hand over bin Laden, who has been
indicted in a U.S. court on murder charges in connection with the bombings.
But the Taliban had refused.
- - - - -
The Bulletin's Frontrunner. January 4, 1999, Monday.
Defiant Saddam Looks To Provoke U.S.
.... Time also reported, "For now, the White House will respond to each
provocation by counterattacking the offending battery."
Saddam Reaching Out To bin Laden.
Newsweek (1/11, Contreras) reported, "U.S. sources say (Saddam) is reaching
out to Islamic terrorists, including some who may be linked to Osama bin
Laden." ...
(Osama bin Laden was) calling for all-out war on Americans, using as his
main pretext Washington's role in bombing and boycotting Iraq." In a
Newsweek interview, bin Laden said that "'any American who pays taxes to
his
government," is a legitimate target." Newsweek reported, "The idea of an
alliance between Iraq and bin Laden is alarming to the West," although
"Saddam may think he's too good for such an association." However, "Now
that
the United States has made his removal from office a national objective....
- - - - -
The White House Bulletin. Copyright 1999. Bulletin Broadfaxing Network,
Inc.
In a Newsweek interview, bin Laden said that "'any American who pays taxes
to his government," is a legitimate target." Newsweek reported, "The idea
of
an alliance between Iraq and bin Laden is alarming to the West," although
"Saddam may think he's too good for such an association." However, "Now
that
the United States has made his removal from office a national objective,
he....
- - - - -
United Press International. January 3, 1999, Sunday, BC cycle.
UPI Focus: Bin Laden 'instigated' embassy bombings
.... (The Taliban) government in Afghanistan says the Saudi does not have
the
money to finance projects in the country. Newsweek also reported that Iraqi
leader Saddam Hussein has been making new overtures to bin Laden in an
attempt to rebuild his intelligence network and to create his own terror
network....
Bin Laden and Iraq
By Anonymous
FrontPageMagazine.com | July 14, 2003
I decided to look back to 1999 to see what links there may have been
between
Saddam and OBL. I found hundreds of articles. Here are condensed summaries
of some of the more relevant ones. I wonder why no one is talking about
these articles and links today.
- - - - -
The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland), December 28, 1999.
Iraq tempts bin Laden to attack West
Exclusive. By: Ian Bruce, Geopolitics Editor.
THE world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden, has been offered sanctuary in
Iraq if his worldwide terrorist network succeeds in carrying out a campaign
of high-profile attacks on the West ...
Now we are also facing the prospect of an unholy alliance between bin Laden
and Saddam. The implications are terrifying.
"We might be looking at the most wanted man on the FBI's target list
gaining
access to chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons courtesy of Iraq's
clandestine research programmes."
The U.S. intelligence community has been squeezing bin Laden's finances
steadily for several years. His personal fortune of anything up to £500m
has
been whittled down to single figures ...
- - - - -
U.S. Newswire, December 23, 1999.
Terrorism Expert Reveals Why Osama bin Laden has Declared War On America;
Available for Comment in Light of Predicted Attacks.
.... (author Yossef) Bodansky also reveals the relationship between bin
Laden
and Saddam Hussein and how the U.S. bombing of Iraq is "strengthening the
hands of militant Islamists eager to translate their rage into violence and
terrorism." ....
- - - - -
The Observer. December 19, 1999.
Sanctions reviewed in West as Saddam wields sword of Islam
The Iraqi dictator has rejected a UN deal to lift sanctions. The Western
blockade, far from toppling the regime, has bolstered it. He's ditched the
sunglasses and taken up the Koran to harness the fervour of
fundamentalists.
By: Jason Burke, in Baghdad
.... This time last year the U.S. claimed that another delegation had met
Osama bin Laden, the alleged terrorist mastermind and tried to woo him to
Iraq.
Senior officials claim that the Islamisation programme is an attempt to
defuse the threat of Islamic militancy rather than encourage it ...
- - - - -
United Press International. November 3, 1999, Wednesday, BC cycle.
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government has tried to prevent accused terror
suspect Osama bin Laden from fleeing Afghanistan to either Iraq or
Chechnya,
Michael Sheehan, head of counter-terrorism at the State Department, told a
Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee ...
- - - - -
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio). October 31, 1999. Sunday 1 STAR EDITION.
BIN LADEN SPOTTED AFTER OFFER TO LEAVE
By: From Beacon Journal wire services
DATELINE: JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN:
.... The Taliban has since made it known through official channels that the
likely destination is Iraq.
A Clinton administration official said bin Laden's request "falls far
short" of the UN resolution that the Taliban deliver him for trial....
- - - - -
The Kansas City Star. March 2, 1999, Tuesday.
International terrorism, a conflict without boundaries
By Rich Hood
.... He (bin Laden) has a private fortune ranging from $250 million to $500
million and is said to be cultivating a new alliance with Iraq's Saddam
Hussein, who has biological and chemical weapons bin Laden would not
hesitate to use. An alliance between bin Laden and Saddam Hussein could be
deadly. Both men are united in their hatred for the United States and any
country friendly to the United States....
- - - - -
Los Angeles Times. February 23, 1999, Tuesday, Home Edition.
SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 6; Letters Desk.
HEADLINE: OSAMA BIN LADEN
Where is Osama bin Laden (Feb. 14)? That should be the U.S.'s main
priority.
If as rumored he and Saddam Hussein are joining forces, it could pose a
threat making Hitler and Mussolini seem like a sideshow....
- - - - -
National Public Radio (NPR)
MORNING EDITION (10:00 AM on ET)
February 18, 1999.
THOUGH AFGHANISTAN HAS PROVIDED OSAMA BIN LADEN WITH SANCTUARY, IT IS
UNCLEAR WHERE HE IS NOW.
ANCHORS: BOB EDWARDS
REPORTERS: MIKE SHUSTER
.... There have also been reports in recent months that bin Laden might have
been considering moving his operations to Iraq. Intelligence agencies in
several nations are looking into that. According to Vincent Cannistraro, a
former chief of CIA counterterrorism operations, a senior Iraqi
intelligence
official, Farouk Hijazi(ph), sought out bin Laden in December and invited
him to come to Iraq.
Mr. VINCENT CANNISTRARO (Former Chief of CIA Counterterrorism Operations):
Farouk Hijazi, who was the Iraqi ambassador in Turkey ... known through
sources in Afghanistan, members of Osama's entourage let it be known that
the meeting had taken place.
SHUSTER: Iraq's contacts with bin Laden go back some years, to at least
1994, when, according to one U.S. government source, Hijazi met him when
bin
Laden lived in Sudan. According to Cannistraro, Iraq invited bin Laden to
live in Baghdad to be nearer to potential targets of terrorist attack in
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. There is a wide gap between bin Laden's
fundamentalism and Saddam Hussein's secular dictatorship. But some experts
believe bin Laden might be tempted to live in Iraq because of his reported
desire to obtain chemical or biological weapons. CIA director George Tenet
referred to that in recent testimony....
- - - - -
Agence France Presse. February 17, 1999.
Saddam plans to use bin Laden against Kuwait, Saudi: opposition
Iraq's President Saddam Hussein plans to use alleged terrorist Osama bin
Laden's network to carry out his threats against Kuwait and Saudi Arabia,
an
Iraqi opposition figure charged on Wednesday.
"If the ... Jaber, a member of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution
in
Iraq (SCIRI), said Iraq had "offered to shelter bin Laden under the
precondition that he carry out strikes on targets in neighbouring
countries."
.... Islamic fundamentalist bin Laden, who has gone missing from his base in
Afghanistan, would never seek refuge in secular Iraq on ideological
grounds.
"I think bin Laden would keep quiet or fight to the death rather than seek
asylum in Iraq," the London-based dissident, who asked not to be named,
told
AFP last week.....
- - - - -
Deutsche Presse-Agentur. February 17, 1999, Wednesday, BC Cycle
Opposition group says bin Laden in Iraq
DATELINE: Kuwait City
An Iraqi opposition group claimed in a published report Wednesday that
Islamic militant Osama bin Laden is in Iraq from where he plans to launch a
campaign of terrorism against Baghdad's Gulf neighbours.
The claim was made by Bayan Jabor, spokesman for the Teheran-based Supreme
Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).
Bin Laden "recently settled in Iraq at the invitation of Saddam Hussein in
exchange for directing strikes against targets in neighbouring countries,"
Jabor told the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai al- Aam ... Taleban leaders in
Afghanistan, where he had been living, said they lost track of him. Media
reports have speculated he sought refuge in Chechnya, Somalia, Iraq, or
with
a non-Taliban group in Afghanistan.
Jabor, who was interviewed in Damascus, Syria, said Iraq began extending
invitations to bin Laden six months ago, shortly after the United States
bombed his suspected terrorist training camps in Afghanistan after linking
him with the August 7 bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and in
Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania.
The United States indicted Bin Laden for the embassy bombings and has
offered a five million dollar reward for information leading to his
capture.
Bin Laden's disappearance has coincided with stepped up threats by Iraq
against neighbours Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Turkey for allowing the United
States and Britain to use their air bases to carry out air patrols over two
"no-fly" zones over northern and southern Iraq ....
- - - - -
Associated Press Worldstream. February 14, 1999.
Taliban leader says whereabouts of bin Laden unknown
.... Analysts say bin Laden's options for asylum are limited.
Iraq was considered a possible destination because bin Laden had received
an
invitation from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein last month. And Somalia was
a
third possible destination because of its anarchy and violent anti-U.S.
history ....
- - - - -
San Jose Mercury News (California). February 14, 1999 Sunday MORNING FINAL
EDITION
U.S. WORRIED ABOUT IRAQI, BIN LADEN TIES TERRORIST COULD GAIN EVEN
DEADLIER WEAPONS
U.S. intelligence officials are worried that a burgeoning alliance between
terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein could
make the fugitive Saudi's loose-knit organization much more dangerous ...
In addition, the officials said, Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal is now in
Iraq, as is a renowned Palestinian bomb designer, and both could make their
expertise available to bin Laden.
"It's clear the Iraqis would like to have bin Laden in Iraq," said Vincent
Cannistraro, a former head of counterterrorism operations at the Central
Intelligence Agency ...
Saddam has even offered asylum to bin Laden, who has expressed support for
Iraq.
.... (in) late December, when bin Laden met a senior Iraqi intelligence
official near Qandahar, Afghanistan, there has been increasing evidence
that
bin Laden and Iraq may have begun cooperating in planning attacks against
American and British targets around the world.
Bin Laden, who strikes in the name of Islam, and Saddam, one of the most
secular rulers in the Arab world, have little in common except their hatred
of the United States ...
More worrisome, the American officials said, are indications that there may
be contacts between bin Laden's organization and Iraq's Special Security
Organization (SSO), run by Saddam's son Qusay. Both the SSO and the
Mukhabarat were involved in a failed 1993 plot to assassinate former
President George Bush ...
"The idea that the same people who are hiding Saddam's biological weapons
may be meeting with Osama bin Laden is not a happy one," said one American
official....
- - - - -
Associated Press Worldstream. February 13, 1999; Saturday 14:32 Eastern
Time
Bin Laden said to have left Afghanistan, whereabouts unknown
.... It is very unlikely bin Laden could remain in Afghanistan without
Taliban officials knowing his whereabouts.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has offered asylum to bin Laden, who has
expressed support for Iraq.
U.S. officials believe bin Laden masterminded the Aug. 7 bombings of its
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania ...
Bin Laden urged devout Muslims to attack U.S. and British interests in
retaliation for their joint assault on Iraq.
U.S. officials demanded that the Taliban hand over bin Laden, who has been
indicted in a U.S. court on murder charges in connection with the bombings.
But the Taliban had refused.
- - - - -
The Bulletin's Frontrunner. January 4, 1999, Monday.
Defiant Saddam Looks To Provoke U.S.
.... Time also reported, "For now, the White House will respond to each
provocation by counterattacking the offending battery."
Saddam Reaching Out To bin Laden.
Newsweek (1/11, Contreras) reported, "U.S. sources say (Saddam) is reaching
out to Islamic terrorists, including some who may be linked to Osama bin
Laden." ...
(Osama bin Laden was) calling for all-out war on Americans, using as his
main pretext Washington's role in bombing and boycotting Iraq." In a
Newsweek interview, bin Laden said that "'any American who pays taxes to
his
government," is a legitimate target." Newsweek reported, "The idea of an
alliance between Iraq and bin Laden is alarming to the West," although
"Saddam may think he's too good for such an association." However, "Now
that
the United States has made his removal from office a national objective....
- - - - -
The White House Bulletin. Copyright 1999. Bulletin Broadfaxing Network,
Inc.
In a Newsweek interview, bin Laden said that "'any American who pays taxes
to his government," is a legitimate target." Newsweek reported, "The idea
of
an alliance between Iraq and bin Laden is alarming to the West," although
"Saddam may think he's too good for such an association." However, "Now
that
the United States has made his removal from office a national objective,
he....
- - - - -
United Press International. January 3, 1999, Sunday, BC cycle.
UPI Focus: Bin Laden 'instigated' embassy bombings
.... (The Taliban) government in Afghanistan says the Saudi does not have
the
money to finance projects in the country. Newsweek also reported that Iraqi
leader Saddam Hussein has been making new overtures to bin Laden in an
attempt to rebuild his intelligence network and to create his own terror
network....