3) Distorted Intelligence?

By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball

Newsweek
Secret German records cast doubt on the Saddam-AI Qaeda connection. Plus, why Qatar is
footing the legal bills for an 'enemy combatant'

June 25 — Hundreds of pages of confidential German law-enforcement records raise new

questions about the Bush administration's core evidence purporting to show solid links between
Osama bin Laden's terror network and Saddam Hussein's regime.

THE VOLUMINOUS GERMAN records, obtained by NEWSWEEK, seem to undercut highly

touted administration claims that Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi, a hardened Jordanian terrorist who
once received medical treatment in Baghdad, was a key player in Al Qaeda.
In fact, the secret German records—compiled during interrogations with a captured Zarqawi
associate—suggest that theshadowy-Z-arqawj headed his own terrorist group, called Al Tawhid,
with its own goals and mayeven have been a jealqus rival of Al Qaeda.
The captured associate^Shadi Abdallah, whqjis now on trial in Germany, told his
interrogators last year that ZafTjassi^tjT^wjd-efganization was one of several Islamist groups
that acted "in opposition" to bin Laden's Al Qaeda. At one point, Abdallah described how Zarqawi
even vetoed the idea of splitting charity funds collected in Germany between Al Tawhid and Al
Qaeda.
While the internal machinations between Al Tawhid and Al Qaeda may seem obscure, they
cut to the heart of one of the most politically sensitive issues in Washington at the moment:
whether the Bush White House exaggerated and distorted U.S. intelligence to justify the war on
Iraq.
Much of the debate revolves around claims that Saddam had large stockpiles of chemical
and biological weapons—stockpiles that so far have not been found. But an equally fierce debate
has been taking place behind the scenes about the handling of sketchy, and at times,
contradictory evidence relating to Saddam's supposed connections with Al Qaeda. Zarqawi was
at the center of those claims. In a Cincinnati speech delivered Oct. 7, on the eve of a
congressional vote authorizing him to wage war on Iraq, President Bush asserted that "Iraq and
Al Qaeda have had high-level contacts that go back a decade." His chief example was that "one
very senior Al Qaeda leader" had "received medical treatment in Baghdad"—an obvious
reference to Zarqawi, who had his leg amputated there in 2002.
Zarqawi received even more prominence in secretary of State Colin Powell's Feb. 5
presentation to the United Nations Security Council. In that address, Powell described Zarqawi as
"an associate and collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda lieutenants." During his
stay in Baghdad, Powell claimed that "nearly two dozen...al Qaeda affiliates" converged on the
Iraqi capital and "established a base of operations there."
But the German interrogations of Shadi Abdallah present a more complex and somewhat
different picture of Zarqawi's role in international terrorism. According to Abdullah, Zarqawi's Al
Tawhid group focuses on installing an Islamic regime in Jordan and killing Jews. And although Al
Tawhid maintained its own training camp near Herat, Afghanistan, Zarqawi competed with bin
Laden for trainees and members, Abdallah claimed.
A Jordanian native who migrated to Europe in the mid 1990s and became involved in militant
Islamic activities in an effort to escape personal problems stemming from his acknowledged drug
use and homosexuality. Shadi Abdallah is now on trial in Duesseldorf, Germany on charges of
plotting with Zarqawi and other members of an alleged Al Tawhid cell in Germany to attack
Jewish or Israeli targets inside Germany. Abdallah could get ten years if convicted on the
charges, but is believed to have become a key German government informant and witness
against other Al Tawhid operatives who will be tried later.
Transcripts of Abdallah's interrogations over several months last year by investigators from
Germany's Federal Criminal Police are perhaps the most important hard evidence collected by
5) Saudi Arabia Arrests a Suspect in the Riyadh Bombings
By DOUGLAS JEHL
New York Times

WASHINGTON, June 26 — Saudi Arabia has arrested a senior figure in Al Qaeda who is
believed to have played a crucial role in planning and carrying out the May bombings in Riyadh
that killed 34 people, including 8 Americans. The same man was thought to be planning further
operations against American targets^ senipr_Amer|cani and Saudj .government officials said today.

The arrest of the suspectfAli Abd al-Rahman al-Faqasi al-Ghamdi,aJ^> known as Abu Bakr al-
Azdi, was described by thVofficials as a major step. He was_p©fhdps the most senior Qaeda
official in Saudi Arabia, the olflctalb bdid, and had ctOgeTiriks to other Qaeda leaders, including
Saif al-Adel, a fugitive who is regarded as Al Qaeda's security chief.

Mr. Ghamdi had been named by Saudi officials as the prime suspect in the May bombings. His
name and picture were also included among those of the 19 men sought in connection with an
arms cache that was seized in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, several days before the attack.

A senior Saudi official said tonight that Mr. Ghamdi surrendered this morning to the Saudi
authorities in Jidda, a port city on the Red Sea. The official described Mr. Ghamdi as "one of Al
Qaeda's top operatives in Saudi Arabia" and said he had been the subject of an intense manhunt
for weeks.

"This is a significant development," the senior Saudi official said.

The American officials did not disclose the details of future operations that Mr. Ghamdi was
thought to have been planning but said they were to have taken place both inside and outside of
Saudi Arabia.

At least 11 suspects were arrested last month in connection with the bombings on May 12 of
three housing compounds in Riyadh, according to Saudi officials. Some Saudi newspapers had
reported that those arrested at that time included Mr. Ghamdi. But today's accounts by the
American officials were the most authoritative indication that Mr. Ghamdi was now in custody.

Some of the Americans who died in the attacks worked for defense firms that were part of a
United States military program that provides training to the Saudi National Guard, and the United
States Embassy in Riyadh has since warned that more attacks on American targets in the
kingdom could be coming.

Prince Nayef, the Saudi interior minister, would not confirm last month whether Mr. Ghamdi had
been arrested, but he said a full report would be released whenever the investigation was
concluded.

An American government official described Mr. Ghamdi as being 30 years old and said he had
risen swiftly in the Qaeda ranks in the last year. He had fled Afghanistan's Tora Bora region in the
late fall of 2001, said the official, just before American bombing attacks there began.

A Saudi newspaper, Al Watan, has reported that Mr. Ghamdi dropped out of college to join the
mujahedeen, or holy warriors, and had made several trips to Afghanistan.

A letter circulating on the Internet that has been attributed to Mr. Ghamdi exhorts the faithful to
join the holy war against the West because the struggle had not reached its peak. But an elder in
his family, 13 of whose members have been accused of taking part in terrorist attacks, has denied
to the Beirut-based Arabic daily Al Hayat that the letter was written by Mr. Ghamdi.
CNN.com - Bush might announce end to Iraqi combat, sources say - Apr. 25, 2003 Page 1 of 4

d^PRINTTHIS
iwO 111. Powered by

Bush might announce end to Iraqi combat,

sources say
First American ground forces prepare to go home
WASHINGTON (CNN) -President Bush might declare an end to combat in Iraq next week, senior White
House officials told CNN on Friday. But the president will not declare the war over, the officials said.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Friday that it is possible that an end will never be declared.

"I would guess there will be an end," Rumsfeld said. "Can I tell you for sure? No.... This isn't World
War I or World War II, that starts and then ends. Take Afghanistan. We've moved from major
military activities to a point where at the present time, the vast majority of the country is in a
stabilization security mode."

An announcement from Bush could come during his visit Thursday and Friday to the aircraft carrier
USS Abraham Lincoln, returning from the Persian Gulf region.

Although fighting has wound down throughout Iraq, Pentagon officials said Friday that there are still
"pockets" of resistance.

"This morning, a 20- to 30-man Iraqi paramilitary force attacked a coalition patrol northwest of
Mosul," said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "Coalition forces killed
several of the attackers and destroyed two of the so-called technical vehicles, the trucks with the
machine guns on them."

Also, he said, "a two-man enemy paramilitary element was engaged in south Baghdad; one was
killed, one was captured."

Rumsfeld pointed to the continued fighting when he was asked if the United States will choose not to
declare a formal end to the war in order to avoid the responsibilities the Geneva Conventions impose
on a postwar occupying power.

"There's not an attempt to avoid anything except getting more people killed," he replied, "and an
attempt to try to get that country and those people in a process that'll produce a free Iraqi
government."

http://cnn.worldnews.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&expire=-1 &urlID=611151... 7/14/03

Terror Suspect Flown Out of Pakistan Page 1 of 3

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WAR ON TERROR Monday, July 14, 2003 Print This | Email This Find
IRAQ UPDATE Asbe
Search News Why
That
By A
J SEBi
Terror Suspect Flown Out of Pakistan
News Front Page
Com
By RIAZ KHAN Associated Press Writer Colui
Civil Rights Gros
Admi
Crime PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - A suspected longtime aide to Osama bin Dec!;
Environment Laden has been handed over to American authorities and flown out of Title
Immigration Pakistan, uPaldstafli official said Monday.
AND
Labor " ) Defe
Personal Injury Adil Al-Jazeeri was Blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back Secu
while he was takenio an American plane in Peshawar late Sunday in The I
Politics
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Supreme Court Find
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The official said he believed the al-Qaida suspect was flown to Bagram,
an American forces base in neighboring Afghanistan.
1835
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Pakistan officials believe Al-Jazeeri, arrested in Pakistan last month, is a
International ranking member of bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network. 1785
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Entertainment 1735

Sports
] "He was interrogated here. He is among the important people of al-
/ Qaida. Useful information can be obtained from him during further 1685
Book Reviews / investigation," the official said. Dat;

Weather
News Wires Al-Jazeeri, an Algerian national, was arrested in the upscale residential
Mod
Associated Press
district of Hayatabad in Peshawar, which bordersAfghanistan.
e-Fili
Court TV
Another al-Qaida suspect, Abu Naseem of Tunisia, ajso was arrested The I
CSMonitor
near Peshawar the same dav-Al-Jazeeri was caught: By A
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Neither Al-Jazeeri nor Abu Naseem appear on the American FBI's Most
Special Coverage Wanted Terrorists list.
Featured Docs Feat

The Spin Room Nearly 500 al-Qaida suspects have been arrested in Pakistan and most of
them have been handed over to the United States.
Message Boards Opp.
ForF
Pakistan is a key U.S. ally in the war against terrorism. [PDF

Those captured include senior al-Qaida suspects, such as Khalid Shaikh

http://news.fmdlaw.com/ap_stories/i/1104/7-14-2003/20030714054502_02.html 7/14/03
Suspected al-Qaida Members Arrested Page 1 of 3

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WAR ON TERROR Wednesday, June 18, 2003 Print This | Email This Find
IRAQ UPDATE
Associated Supr
Search News Press Amei
Rulin
Libra
Suspected al-Qaida Members Arrested Onlir
ByJl
News Front Page
By RIAZ KHAN Associated Press Writer
Business Corn
Civil Rights Colui
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Two suspected al-Qaida members — one Sebc
Crime from Algeria and the other from Saudi Arabia — were arrested The i
Environment Wednesday in northwestern Pakistan, intelligence sources said. Civil
Immigration
AND
Labor The one captive, identified as Adil Al-Jazeeri, said to have been a Ram
Personal Injury longtime companion of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, was Ram
arrested at a public swimming pool in the affluent Hayatabad Dowi
Politics Hola
Product Liability neighborhood of Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Insur
Supreme Court Province.
Find
Tech & IP
The second man, identified as Abu Naseem, a Saudi Arabian national,
was arrested soon afterward outside the Katcha Ghauri Afghan refugee
Commentary
camp on the western edge of Peshawar, the intelligence sources said on 1705
International customary condition of anonymity.
1655
Entertainment
Sports
The raids were conducted by Pakistani security officials. It wasn't 1605
immediately clear if the two men were in Pakistani custody or handed
Book Reviews 1555
over to U.S. officials.
Dat;
Weather
News Wires Sources said the two men were picked up after the interrogation of three
Associated Press
Afghans, who were arrested a day earlier outside a bank in Peshawar. Mod
Court TV
The three men led them to al-Jazeeri.
E-Fili
CSMonltor Cour
Neither al-Jazeeri nor Abu Naseem appear on the American FBI's Most ByP
Wanted Terrorists list.

Special Coverage Pakistan has been a key ally of the U.S.-led war on terror and has Feat
Featured Docs arrested nearly 500 suspected al-Qaida members, most of whom have
The Spin Room
been handed over to the United States.
Dot.(
Message Boards Agaii
2003-06-18 14:59:07 GMT Disrr
[PDF
Copyright 2003
The Associated Press All Rights Reserved
The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast,

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Mail:: INBOX: Press Clips for July 9, 2003 Page 34 of 35

I Al-Qaeda Seeks Canadian Operatives; To get around tighter U.S. security, Osama Bin Laden is
trying to recruit disaffected Muslims north of the border

By ELAINE SHANNON

TIME Magazine

It stands to reason that Canadians who grew up 200 miles from Detroit are a better bet to navigate America's
anti-terror tripwires than, say, native-born Kuwaitis or Yemenis. That's why the FBI and CIA were so concerned
about Abdulrahman Mansour Jabarah, 24, an al-Qaeda suspect killed on July 3 by Saudi authorities in a firelight
near the Jordanian border. Jabarah is the older brother of Mohammed "Sammy" Jabarah, who is currently in
U.S custody and has, according to U.S. officials, admitted involvement in a series of al-Qaeda plots in Southeast
Asia. What marks the Jabarah brothers as somewhat unique among al-Qaeda operatives is their background as
Canadians — their Iraqi father and Kuwaiti mother had emigrated to St. Catherines, Ontario, about 200 miles
north of Detroit, in 1994. The boys are believed to have traveled to Pakistan and joined Al Qaeda in the late
1990s, and despite his relative youth, one U.S. official describes the brother killed last week as "a nasty, nasty
man."

The FBI believes that al-Qaeda recruiters are aggressively enrolling youths like the Jabarahs, with U.S.,
Canadian or Western European passports and good command of the English language and the North American
interior. While the network had always tried to recruit people with U.S. and other Western passports, FBI
counter-terrorism chief Larry Mefford recently revealed that al-Qaeda was "refocusing its efforts" to sign on
disaffected Americans, green-card holders and Muslims who had spent time in the U.S. as students or visitors
who had a good command of English and a working knowledge of American society and culture. This effort
comes in response to the Bush administration's tightening up the supply of visas available to would-be visitors
from nations such as Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, Pakistan, Egypt and Southeast Asian countries where al-
Qaeda has a strong presence. Recruits with greater access to and knowledge of the U.S. have a better chance
of navigating some of the traps set by U.S. and Canadian authorities to catch terrorists coming from abroad.

But some of the other Qaeda operatives killed or captured by the Saudis last week were bigger fish than the
Jabarahs, and their demise could hobble some current terror plots. U.S. officials believe some may have even
been plotting attacks on the American mainland.

Turki Nasser al-Dandani, the commander of the terror cell that mounted the May 12 suicide truck bombings, was
cornered by Saudi police July 3 in the town of Sowair, near the border with Jordan.- He blew himself up with a
hand grenade rather than being taken alive. U.S. intelligence reports describe him as head of Persian Gulf
operations for al-Qaeda, responsible for land and maritime attacks on U.S. and Western interests throughout the
region. His knowledge of al-Qaeda plans could extend to schemes in Asia, Europe and the U.S., officials say.

Al-Dandani had fought against U.S. forces inside Afghanistan until the fall of the Taliban. He was close to Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed, the organizer of the 9/11 attacks currently in U.S. custody. After his return to Saudi Arabia,
officials say, al-Dandani had worked under senior Qaeda commanders Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Walid Ba
'Attash, both Saudis, who had planned the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. Al-Dandani took
over the Persian Gulf command after al-Nashiri and Ba 'Attash were captured in separate incidents, say U.S.
officials.

But the highest ranking Al Qaeda figure taken down in the Saudi offensive is Ali Abd al-Rahman al-Faqasi al-
Ghamdi, aka "Abu Bakr," al-Qaeda field commander for Saudi Arabia and al-Dandani's boss. Al-Ghamdi
surrendered June 26 in exchange for his wife's freedom.

IsTofficials are hopingfor an intelligence windfall if al-Ghamdi talks^He had trained at Bin Laden's al-Farouq
~ and fought with the al-Uaeda leader at I ora Bora. EScapingffne U.S. bombardment, he returned to his
native Saudi Arabia and reported to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, plotting "second wave" attacks on Americans
and their allies until Mohammed's arrest in Pakistan last March. As more and more al-Qaeda field leaders were
rounded up, al-Ghamdi rose in the ranks, safely hiding in Saudi Arabia until the May 12 attacks galvanized the

http://kinesis.swishmail.com/webmail/imp/message.php ?index=524 7/9/03