National News

Independent commission on 9/11 questions Iraq links to attacks

WASHINGTON (AP) - Rebuffing claims from the U.S. administration, an independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks said June 16 no evidence exists that terrorist network al-Qaeda had strong ties to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Although Osama bin Laden asked for help from Iraq in the mid-1990s, Hussein's government never responded, according to a report by the commission staff based on interviews with government intelligence and law enforcement officials. The report said there is "no credible evidence" that Iraq was involved in the Sept. 11 strikes.

Al-Qaeda is actively trying to replicate the destruction of that day, the report said, though the terrorist network has been weakened by losing its sanctuary in Afghanistan and many leaders to U.S. strikes and arrests.

The terror organization also is trying to obtain a nuclear weapon and is "extremely interested" in chemical, radiological and biological attacks, including the use of anthrax, it said.

"The trend toward attacks intended to cause ever-higher casualties will continue," the report said.

The commission staff said that Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed originally planned for an attack involving 10 aircraft targeting both U.S. coasts. Mohammed proposed that he pilot one of the planes, kill all the male passengers, land the plane at a U.S. airport and make a "speech denouncing U.S. policies in the Middle East before releasing all the women and children," the report said

Bin Laden rejected that plan as too complex, deciding instead on four aircraft piloted by handpicked suicide operatives. The report said the targets were chosen based on symbolism: the Pentagon, which represented the U.S. military; the World Trade Center, a symbol of American economic strength; the Capitol, which was seen as the source of U.S. support for Israel; and the White House. Training for the attacks began in 1999.

Shukan ST: June 25, 2004

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