"9/11 commission discounts Saddam-Bin Laden link"

Agencies
www.guardian.co.uk

The commission investigating the attacks on America of September 11 2001 has found "no credible evidence" of a relevant link between Iraq and al-Qaida, contradicting President George Bush's assertion that such a connection justified the toppling of Saddam Hussein.
In a report released today, the commission found that Osama bin Laden considered cooperating with Saddam even though he opposed the Iraqi leader's secular regime. A senior Iraqi intelligence official reportedly met with Bin Laden in 1994 in Sudan, the panel found, and Bin Laden "is said to have requested space to establish training camps, as well as assistance in procuring weapons, but Iraq apparently never responded".

"There have been reports that contacts between Iraq and al-Qaida also occurred after Bin Laden had returned to Afghanistan, but they do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship," the report said. "Two senior Bin Laden associates have adamantly denied that any ties existed between al-Qaida and Iraq," the report says.

As recently as Monday, the US vice-president, Dick Cheney, asserted that Saddam had "long-established ties" with the terrorist network. Full Article

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