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'Washington Post' Reports Investigators Determined Anthrax Mailed to Capitol Hill Identical to Those Produced in U.S. Bioweapons Program; Newspaper Reports Raising Questions Meeting Between Atta and Man Thought to be Iraqi Agent

Aired December 17, 2001 - 07:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to move on to an update now on anthrax. Could the deadly form of anthrax mailed to U.S. Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy have originated in a U.S. Army lab? Well the "Washington Post" reported on Sunday that investigators have determined that the anthrax spores mailed to Capitol Hill were identical to those produced in a U.S. bioweapons research program. The CIA, which ran one of those labs, adamantly denied the story.

CNN national correspondent Eileen O'Connor joins us now from Washington with an update.

Good morning, Eileen.

EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Well, as you said, the CIA says that they are not the source of the anthrax in those letters to Senator Daschle and also to Senator Leahy.

Now the cleanup on Capitol Hill continues in the Hart Senate Office Building there. They say that because it was such a highly milled form of anthrax that cleanup is much more difficult than they originally thought.

Now the CIA and also an Army lab here at Fort Detrick say that while they did admit that they had some programs -- that they said that they had some anthrax produced for those programs, they were programs designed to study ways to counteract the use of anthrax. They all say that the anthrax they used has been accounted for and that was measured, and any of the anthrax used, they have made sure that it was all accounted for.

But still, the FBI is investigating at least the source of the Army anthrax, we know. This is at the Dugway Proving Grounds out in Utah. And the "Washington Post" reports that they are also investigating a contractor that the CIA used for its supply of anthrax. But the CIA says that it did not use the form that was used in the Daschle letters and the Leahy letter. Ad they say that they again do not believe that even anyone associated with their program was associated with those letters - Paula. ZAHN: Eileen, one of the stories that you addressed about a month ago was the issue of a meeting that supposedly took place between Mohamed Atta and a high ranking Iraqi intelligence official. The "Washington Post" had sort of a different take on this meeting over the weekend. Bring us up to date on what we know about what happened or didn't happen.

O'CONNOR: Well there are several newspaper reports now that are raising questions about that meeting between Mohamed Atta and a man that was thought to be an Iraqi agent associated with the security services there. Osama bin Laden said on that videotape, you know released last week, that Atta, who is an Egyptian, was the ringleader of the hijackers here in the United States, something that the FBI and other investigators always thought because of his movements around and his associations and a major meeting that he had out in Las Vegas before the hijacking.

Now CNN has reported that Atta met with a man officials believe to be a senior agent with the Iraqi security services in Prague within the last year, though no one knew the exact subject of the meeting. Now some Czech officials who originally confirmed that then threw some doubt on the story, including the prime minister there, saying it could be a case of mistaken identity. The "New York Times" and "The Post," as you say, quoting Czech officials saying that both Atta and the Iraqi agent may have been different people.

Now this would throw doubt, again, on Iraq's involvement in any of the events of September 11 despite what critics of Saddam Hussein have been saying - Paula.

ZAHN: All right. Eileen O'Connor, thanks for that.

Now for his perspective on the possible Iraq-Mohamed Atta connection, let's turn to Richard Butler, former U.N. chief weapons inspector, now with the Council on Foreign Relations and our ambassador in residence - good morning.

RICHARD BUTLER, FORMER U.N. CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: Will you help us with this story? You sat here the day...

BUTLER: That's right.

ZAHN: ... we hosted the prime minister of the Czech Republic.

BUTLER: That's right, on CNN.

ZAHN: And you remember what he told us?

BUTLER: He told us that a meeting had taken place in Prague between Mohamed Atta and an Iraqi diplomat, his name is Ani (ph), although he changes his name constantly.

ZAHN: OK. BUTLER: And that the Czech government had subsequently expelled Ani from Prague using the conventional diplomatic terminology saying that he had conducted activities incompatible with his status. In other words, he was spying and they threw him out.

ZAHN: OK.

BUTLER: OK. And those are, I think, established facts. The story - I'm amazed at this, Paula, -- the story about this story is why is it being manipulated now in this way. What are the facts? This...

ZAHN: Well who's manipulating it?

BUTLER: Well, I don't know. It seems to be maybe some people in Washington, maybe some people in Prague or a combination of both.

ZAHN: For what purpose?

BUTLER: Well, I assume if they are trying to walk back from what are some established facts, it is because they do not want pressure to be mounted on the issue of an attack upon Iraq. If they decide to deal with the Iraq issue, which I gather you'll be talking about later in this program, if they decide to deal with that, they want to do it at a time and place of the administration's choosing.

But just before we leave this story, there are facts here. This man, Ani, there is no question is a senior Iraqi intelligence operative, a so-called spymaster. Paula, he's back in Baghdad now driving around in a BMW and eating at the best restaurants. You know I've been there, I know that place. This guy's in good shape. You don't get a BMW and have a lifestyle like that unless you're a fairly senior person. Now that's point one.

He was thrown out, that's point two. He did have a meeting with Atta. Atta flew in from Florida, met him and flew back to Florida and continued planning the World Trade Center events. Why people are trying to walk back from this now is itself a fascinating story.

ZAHN: All right, but what you're essentially saying is that someone within the U.S. government or the Czech Republic is lying to manipulate this story?

BUTLER: No, they're muddying the waters. It's a standard technique. They're saying maybe we didn't have all the facts, maybe this guy with the same name who looked a bit like the other guy wasn't really - I'm not making this up, you read it in the newspaper.

ZAHN: Right, right, oh, of course.

BUTLER: I mean it's kind of you know Shakespeare didn't write Julius Caesar, right? Well who did, a guy of the same name. This is the kind of thing they're saying. I mean it's really weird.

ZAHN: And we're going to explore it.

BUTLER: And we've got to know why, you know.

ZAHN: Yes, we're going to explore this a little bit later on with Zema Hersh (ph) who has a new piece out in "New Yorker" magazine where he talks about a plan that is widely being debated about Washington...

BUTLER: Right.

ZAHN: ... if the United States and its allies decide to go into Iraq.

Let's move on to the issue of Osama bin Laden and the reports also...

BUTLER: Right.

ZAHN: ... that are very confusing this morning about where he is.

BUTLER: The noose is tightening. He -- they say he's been seen on Saturday. We've been listening to some of his radio transmissions and it seems to be that he's there, but we can't find him. We've been on that mountainside now for seven or eight days using all manner of weaponry and we don't seem to be able to find him. One of the things that disturbs me is reports that the Afghan side has been doing some deals with the Taliban fighters and maybe with some of the al Qaeda fighters. We'll let...

ZAHN: Some deals? A number of them, right,...

BUTLER: We'll let...

ZAHN: ... at Mazar-e-Sharif and...

BUTLER: Yes, we'll let you go, you give us some territory, you give us back that territory, you vacate that place and give it to us and we'll let you go back into Afghan society. I put it to you, not one member of Mullah Omar's government has been brought in, nor Mullah Omar, let alone Osama bin Laden. I hope that some deals aren't being contemplated. We need to finish off the al Qaeda leadership; we need Osama bin Laden.

ZAHN: Well the question remains, if these deals really have happened, how this transitional government will...

BUTLER: Well,...

ZAHN: ... absorb these former Taliban leaders...

BUTLER: Indeed.

ZAHN: ... if they have sort of blended into the countryside and...

BUTLER: Indeed.

ZAHN: ... taken in by sympathetic communities.

BUTLER: It's a good day, the embassy is there. The embassy is open and they'll be able to keep a very close watch on all this kind of things and, of course, show America's commitment to a new Afghanistan.

ZAHN: Ambassador Richard Butler, good to travel so much territory with you this morning.

BUTLER: OK, good to see you.

ZAHN: See you tomorrow morning. Thanks so much.

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