Copyright © 2001 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com

Iraqi Terror Hasn't Hit U.S. in Years, CIA Says

James Risen New York Times Service
Wednesday, February 6, 2002



WASHINGTON The Central Intelligence Agency has no evidence that Iraq has engaged in terrorist operations against the United States in nearly a decade, and the spy agency also is convinced that Saddam Hussein has not provided chemical or biological weapons to Al Qaeda or related terrorist groups, according to several U.S. intelligence officials.

American intelligence officials said they believe the last terrorist operation by Iraq against the United States was a botched attempt to assassinate former President George Bush during his 1993 visit to Kuwait. That plot was disrupted before it could be launched, and U.S. intelligence officials believe Mr. Saddam has been reluctant to use terrorism since then for fear of being detected.

George Tenet, the CIA director, is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about the global threats facing the United States.

During his appearance, his first before Congress since Sept. 11, Mr. Tenet is likely to be asked about a wide range of terrorism-related issues, including Iraq.

[On a related issue, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday that Iraq's overture to the United Nations to resume talks should be limited to the country's refusal to allow the return of UN weapons inspectors, The Associated Press reported from Washington.

["It should be a very short discussion," Mr. Powell said of the UN's announcement Monday that the secretary-general, Kofi Annan, would receive a delegation from Iraq. "The inspectors have to go back."]

Since Sept. 11, there has been widespread speculation about possible Iraqi links to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, based largely on reports of a meeting in Prague between Mohamed Atta, who is believed to have been the leader of the Sept. 11 hijack teams, and an Iraqi intelligence officer. The intelligence reports about that meeting have been the subject of intense analysis and debate within the U.S. intelligence community, and some officials have questioned whether the meeting took place at all.

Now senior U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that the meeting between Mr. Atta and the Iraqi officer, Ahmed Khalil Samir al-Ani, did occur, but they say that they do not know what was discussed and they do not believe the meeting itself is enough evidence to tie Iraq to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Some experts say that, even if Iraq were somehow involved in Sept. 11, Mr. Saddam never would have entrusted such a sensitive matter to a mid-level intelligence officer like Mr. al-Ani.

U.S. intelligence officials said they believed that Iraqi intelligence now focuses most of its resources on helping to evade and violate the trade and economic sanctions that have been imposed on the regime since the Gulf War.

The officials also said that their greatest concern about Iraq is its continuing development of chemical and biological weapons, covert programs that have resumed since UN weapons inspectors left the country in 1998. They said that Mr. Saddam believes weapons of mass destruction would give him greater influence in the region and would deter the United States and its allies from another military attack.

A CIA report released last week noted that Iraq probably is also continuing a low-level program on nuclear weapons research, but its inability to obtain enough material capable of fission is the biggest obstacle to Baghdad's nuclear aspirations.

The major threat to the United States from Iraqi efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction would come instead from Iraq's parallel efforts to develop long-range missiles, which could be tipped with chemical or biological warheads, the CIA believes.

In his State of the Union Address last week, President George W. Bush described Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an "axis of evil" that the United States must confront to maintain global stability.

Mr. Bush also said Iraq "continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror," but the section of his speech devoted to Iraq focused primarily on Baghdad's efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Some U.S. intelligence officials say that the Bush administration does not have enough evidence of Iraqi complicity in terrorism to justify making Iraq the next target in the war on terrorism.

To be sure, there have been signs in recent years that Mr. Saddam might consider terrorism as a tool against the United States in the long-running duel between the two countries over the suspected chemical and biological weapons sites in Iraq.

In 1998, American and Middle Eastern intelligence agencies discovered that Abu Nidal, the Palestinian who was one of the most feared terrorists of the 1970s and early 1980s, had moved from Libya to Baghdad.

Mr. Nidal had been ousted from his previous haven because its leader, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, had decided to cut his ties to terrorists to bring an end to international sanctions.

But Mr. Nidal does not appear to have engaged in any anti-American operations since his arrival in Iraq, and it is possible that he actually has ended his terrorism career, officials said.

Powell Presses for UN's Return

Secretary Powell said UN weapons inspectors should return to Iraq because Mr. Saddam must demonstrate that he is not trying to develop weapons of mass destruction, the Associated Press reported.

Inspectors left Iraq in 1998 and have been barred from returning.

The UN said Monday that Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League who recently visited Baghdad, had told the UN secretary-general, Mr. Annan, that Iraq would resume talks without any special conditions.

Mr. Annan responded that he was prepared to receive a delegation from Iraq.

But the UN gave no indication whether the Iraqi government was willing to discuss the return of the UN's inspectors.

Diplomats at the United Nations told The New York Times that the offer relayed by Mr. Moussa had all the hallmarks of an attempt by Mr. Saddam to build up international opposition to an American attack.

They noted that Mr. Saddam made a similar offer more than a year ago, when sanctions against Iraq were being discussed and his officials came to the UN with stacks of documents purporting to prove that Baghdad was in compliance with UN resolutions.

Mr. Powell, speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that Iraq should not hesitate to admit the inspectors if it were not developing weapons of mass destruction.

But Mr. Moussa, speaking to reporters Tuesday in Washington, said all issues - not just the return of the inspectors - should be on the table.

Mr. Moussa refused to say whether he believed a breakthrough could be reached, but said, "The conditions under which the Iraqi people live also need a fresh look."

Copyright © 2001 The International Herald Tribune