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Link Between al Qaeda and Iraq

Aired September 26, 2002 - 10:12   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go back and dig in some more on the story that we topped our report with this hour. The word coming out of the White House that there is some sort of a link between al Qaeda and Iraq. That link has not been made before; but last night, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice did say that there actually does exist such a link.
Let's check in now with our David Ensor who's in Washington digging up some more on this.

David, what have you learned?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well I'm here at the intelligence hearings, the joint Senate intelligence -- Senate-House intelligence hearings talking to people both on the committee and from the CIA and FBI group that are here for the testimony.

I am told that the evidence that Condoleezza Rice refers to is actually comments made in interrogation by senior al Qaeda individuals. These comments made about two months ago, I'm told, and referring -- if you -- if you could throw up the quote from Condoleezza Rice last night on PBS for a second. You see there she's referring to these detainees saying that Iraq provided some training to al Qaeda in chemical weapons development.

Officials now telling me that that training that they are alleging occurred went on two years ago. These detainees are not in Guantanamo, I'm told. They're more senior than that. This could be I suppose Abu Zubaydah or Binalshibh, we're not sure. Officials not willing to comment on who's actually involved.

Some Democrats on this joint committee are saying that they know about this intelligence and in their view it's more a matter of massaging old information and information that they don't regard as sort of confirmed. A senior U.S. official said the same. He said that this is -- this is circumstantial evidence of some kind of relationship but certainly not proof.

HARRIS: So there really has not been any corroboration of that because, as we know, we've been hearing it from time to time things being said by these detainees in Guantanamo Bay. And many of the things that have been coming out of there have not necessarily been things that have been helpful or necessarily true.

ENSOR: Well that's right and also the other detainees, who are held elsewhere in the world. This information, I gather, did not come from Guantanamo. But that's right, everything has to be checked and cross-checked. The CIA is in fact holding a couple of key prisoners. They don't take their -- these prisoner's word for anything, everything has to be checked out with other intelligence. And that's the problem here, there isn't a check out, there isn't corroborative evidence yet.

HARRIS: Got you. Got you.

Now who's testifying today before the committee?

ENSOR: We're going to hear from Cofer Black, who, until recently, was the head of the Counterterrorism Center at the CIA from 1999 until just a couple of months ago, and from Dale Watson who is the outgoing head at the FBI of counterterrorism work. So these are two key people.

We'll probably hear a lot about the question of what the CIA and FBI told each other and when they told them on those two hijackers. You'll recall that there was evidence that's emerged now, there was some evidence about prior to 9/11, Alhazmi and Almihdhar, these are the two men who lived in San Diego for a while and were among the 19 hijackers that flew one of the planes into a target on September 11.

HARRIS: David Ensor reporting live for us from Washington. Thanks, David, we'll check back with you later on.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired September 26, 2002 - 10:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go back and dig in some more on the story that we topped our report with this hour. The word coming out of the White House that there is some sort of a link between al Qaeda and Iraq. That link has not been made before; but last night, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice did say that there actually does exist such a link.
Let's check in now with our David Ensor who's in Washington digging up some more on this.

David, what have you learned?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well I'm here at the intelligence hearings, the joint Senate intelligence -- Senate-House intelligence hearings talking to people both on the committee and from the CIA and FBI group that are here for the testimony.

I am told that the evidence that Condoleezza Rice refers to is actually comments made in interrogation by senior al Qaeda individuals. These comments made about two months ago, I'm told, and referring -- if you -- if you could throw up the quote from Condoleezza Rice last night on PBS for a second. You see there she's referring to these detainees saying that Iraq provided some training to al Qaeda in chemical weapons development.

Officials now telling me that that training that they are alleging occurred went on two years ago. These detainees are not in Guantanamo, I'm told. They're more senior than that. This could be I suppose Abu Zubaydah or Binalshibh, we're not sure. Officials not willing to comment on who's actually involved.

Some Democrats on this joint committee are saying that they know about this intelligence and in their view it's more a matter of massaging old information and information that they don't regard as sort of confirmed. A senior U.S. official said the same. He said that this is -- this is circumstantial evidence of some kind of relationship but certainly not proof.

HARRIS: So there really has not been any corroboration of that because, as we know, we've been hearing it from time to time things being said by these detainees in Guantanamo Bay. And many of the things that have been coming out of there have not necessarily been things that have been helpful or necessarily true.

ENSOR: Well that's right and also the other detainees, who are held elsewhere in the world. This information, I gather, did not come from Guantanamo. But that's right, everything has to be checked and cross-checked. The CIA is in fact holding a couple of key prisoners. They don't take their -- these prisoner's word for anything, everything has to be checked out with other intelligence. And that's the problem here, there isn't a check out, there isn't corroborative evidence yet.

HARRIS: Got you. Got you.

Now who's testifying today before the committee?

ENSOR: We're going to hear from Cofer Black, who, until recently, was the head of the Counterterrorism Center at the CIA from 1999 until just a couple of months ago, and from Dale Watson who is the outgoing head at the FBI of counterterrorism work. So these are two key people.

We'll probably hear a lot about the question of what the CIA and FBI told each other and when they told them on those two hijackers. You'll recall that there was evidence that's emerged now, there was some evidence about prior to 9/11, Alhazmi and Almihdhar, these are the two men who lived in San Diego for a while and were among the 19 hijackers that flew one of the planes into a target on September 11.

HARRIS: David Ensor reporting live for us from Washington. Thanks, David, we'll check back with you later on.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com