Question:

Now that Baghdad is an occupied city, which two witnesses residing there might have information relevant to the FBI's (and National Commission on Terrorism's) investigations into the planning of the attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993 and 2001?

Answer:

The are two obvious witnesses:

1) Abdul Rahman Yasin, the fugitive indicted for mixing the chemicals used in the truck bomb detonated in the 1993 attempt to destroy the World Trade Center on the second anniversary of America's defeat of Iraq in the Gulf War.

Although an American citizen, Yasin grew up in Baghdad, made frequent telephone calls under an alias during the preparations for the attack, and escaped to Baghdad via Jordan following the attack. In Bagdad, he received sanctuary. He was interviewed by CBS under Iraqi Control at an installation near Baghdad on May 23,2002.

Since there is a $25 million reward for his capture, and no Saddam regime to protect him any longer, the FBI should be able to locate him. He could be questioned about his relationship with Iraq's intelligence service, his recruitment into the plot to destroy the World Trade Center, his escape route and the debriefing and handling of him by the Iraq security services between 1993 and 2003.

2) Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani, the former Iraq Consul in Prague, who was expelled from the Czech Republic on April 22, 2001, and returned to Baghdad. The Czech counterintelligence service (BIS) maintains that al- Ani met with Mohammed Atta, the 9-11 conspirator in April 2001. Al-Ani should be questioned on the events leading to his expulsion. For a start, it should be determined: Who al-Ani met with in April 2001? If it was Atta (or someone using Atta's identity), how was the meeting arranged in advance? Had he met with Atta before (Atta had been in Prague in June 2000)? If so, had al-Ani established any communication modes for other contacts? Was he operating under a false flag or did he make known to Atta his true identity? Was al-Ani acting in the capacity of a case officer? If so, what were his reporting channels? What subjects were discussed? Did he provide Atta with any documents, money or other items? If the person he met was not Atta, who was he? Did he use documents that would lead Czech intelligence to misidentify him as Atta?


This is a totally commerce-free site. No charges, no advertising.
The webmistress June Eng can be reached at june@jooon.com