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U.S.
Links Iraq To Al-Qaeda As Reason to Attack
By
Steve Smith, IOL Correspondent
WASHINGTON,
March 19 (IslamOnline) - The regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq has
made contacts with al-Qaeda group of Osama bin Laden and they may be
organizing further violent assaults together, the head of the CIA
told the U.S. Senate Tuesday.
"Baghdad
has a long history of supporting terrorism," said George Tenet,
director of the Central Intelligence Agency adding that intentional
work between Baghdad and Osama bin Laden were possible." It has
also had contacts with al-Qaeda," he said in a testimony before
the Senate's Armed Services Committee carried live on radio.
There
was no hard evidence to support the allegation but Tenet said he'd
present more details in a closed session of the Senate. It is not
clear why the revelation came out now but the U.S. has been trying
to build up a case against Iraq after the international community
gave a lukewarm reception to possible military strikes against Iraq
by the U.S.
The
new statements also come as the U.S. Vice-President, Dick Cheney,
wraps up an international tour aimed at drumming up backing for a
potential attack against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, and as
Iraqi officials try to shore up support in the region.
The
U.S. says it has a policy of regime change in Iraq. The U.S.
promotes the idea that Iraq has been a danger and a threat to its
neighbors, "to the peace of the region, and beyond."
There
have been many thoughts expressed inside and outside the
administration and in the U.S. press about how a removal of Hussein
might come about.
"What
has not been contentious anywhere in the administration is that
regime change is a desirable end, and that there are people within
Iraq and outside of Iraq who are Iraqis who would be glad to be rid
of the Saddam
Hussein
regime, and what it has meant for them, including people from the
Kurdish areas in the north, people from the Shi'a area in the South,
and Sunnis from throughout the country," a senior
administration official told the foreign press in Washington last
week.
Co-operation
between Iraq and al-Qaeda had formerly been thought doubtful because
of their different philosophies.
"Their
ties may be limited by divergent ideologies, but the two sides'
mutual antipathies toward the United States and the Saudi royal
family suggests that tactical co-operation between them is
possible," Tenet said.
Observers
are concerned that opponents of Saddam Hussein who want to see a
U.S. military action against the Iraqi leader could be the sources
for the alleged links.
Tenet's
comment would give further ammunition to right-wing writers here and
is likely to be as providing further rationale for the expected U.S.
strike.
Tenet
also maintained that Baghdad was going ahead with its program to
produce weapons of mass destruction. Administration officials
contend Saddam was a problem well before Sept. 11 because he has
been attempting to develop these weapons.
The
administration also now says that Iraq may be holding a U.S. ranking
officer from the Gulf War and that the American pilot presumed dead
after his plane was shot down over Iraq may be alive and in
captivity in the country.
Michael
Speicher's F-18 fighter jet was downed in a fireball over Iraq on 17
January 1991 - the first week of the Gulf War.
There
were reports in the press here indicating that Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein's son Uday had visited him along with senior Iraqi
intelligence officials.
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