Hijack suspect met Iraqi intelligence, say US sources

19 Sep, 2001 06:02 AM3 mins to read

WASHINGTON - Mohamed Atta, suspected of hijacking the first plane that struck the World Trade Center last week, had met earlier this year with an Iraqi intelligence official in Europe, according to US sources.

But one US official said there was no clear evidence any country backed the plot and attack which left the World Trade Center in rubble and the Pentagon damaged, with nearly 6,000 people dead or missing, and prompted President Bush to declare a war on terrorism.

"There's lots of little bits and threads and hints and nuggets out there, however is there some compelling evidence of state sponsorship? Not at this time. Are we looking at that? Sure among a thousand different things," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Atta, a 33-year-old Egyptian, had studied at an engineering school in Hamburg, Germany, and took flying lessons in Florida. He was on board the first plane that destroyed the twin towers in New York on September 11.

Recent intelligence information received by the United States showed Atta had met with a representative of Iraqi intelligence this year, sources told Reuters.

The sources said the meeting took place in Europe but did not divulge the exact location, nor who the Iraqi intelligence official was, other than it was not the head of the intelligence services.

It was unclear what Atta and the Iraqi official discussed at the meeting and whether there was any connection to the attacks on New York and the Pentagon near Washington.

"We don't know that it is (connected), there's no evidence that it was, it's something that needs to be looked into further," one US government source said.

Some intelligence experts, including former CIA Director James Woolsey, have suggested the United States look more deeply into whether there was Iraqi involvement in the attack.

The Iraqi intelligence structure is complex with various branches in which President Saddam Hussein's sons, relatives, and clan members are involved, said Anthony Cordesman, a senior fellow at The Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Atta was part of a loose network of militants so it would not be unusual for him to have met with an Iraqi intelligence representative, said Cordesman, a Middle East expert who formerly worked at the US State and Defence Departments.

Cordesman also cautioned that some in Washington were trying to emphasise potential Iraqi involvement to further their own agendas for lashing out at Saddam's government.

"The set of hidden agendas in Washington is such, so that it makes speculation particularly dangerous," he said. Some might try to use the Atta-Iraqi connection "as a way of broadening what we're doing (in response to the attack), to include Saddam Hussein," Cordesman said.

Woolsey has said the high degree of coordination involved in the attacks suggested another country may have backed it.

"There is a reasonable chance and indeed there are ways to find out whether Iraqi intelligence was involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing," Woolsey said.

- REUTERS

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