Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
Interview With Harvey Kushner
Aired December 14, 2002 - 17:04 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: How do those arrests impact the ongoing war on terror? For more on that, we turn to terrorism expert Harvey Kushner, who has written a book entitled "Encyclopedia of Terrorism." Harvey Kushner joins us now from New York. Good to see you.
HARVEY KUSHNER, TERRORISM EXPERT: Pleasure.
WHITFIELD: Well, what kind of impact, if any, do you expect this to make on the ongoing war on terrorism?
KUSHNER: This could have a tremendous impact. If we could get to Zakawi, who was a leader, as you just said, in Europe and has some nuclear and even biological and chemical training, this would be a big find. If we could squeeze these two individuals, the Jordanian and the Libyan, and get some information to lead to him, we could even possibly make the link between Iraq and al Qaeda, because it's been reported, as it was just said, that he was for medical treatment, Zakawi, in Iraq.
WHITFIELD: Isn't that usually the obstacle, though, trying to get any information out of suspects of this nature, although they've already admitted that they are members of al Qaeda, do you suppose that they would be talking, giving up any more details than they already have?
KUSHNER: Well, you know, al Qaeda people are trained not to talk. They are very astute at this. And oftentimes, the information they have is old. But this is a new case. This was kept quiet for some time. We had no hint about this. So this is significant. They might still have some fresh information.
Also, it leads us to believe that there's very active al Qaeda cells in operation inside of Jordan, which is quite serious, because Jordan is somewhat the crossroads to the Palestinian-Israeli issue, as well as to Europe. So this could be significant in the days ahead.
WHITFIELD: The admission of the involvement of the murder of the U.S. diplomat, the explosion, or the attack, rather, in Kenya, are you seeing a real pattern in these recent attacks that are being linked to al Qaeda?
KUSHNER: Oh, absolutely. The tape that was released a couple of weeks ago, which we still don't know if it's Osama bin Laden's voice, talks about this particular assassination. So there is a linkage. There's a clear linkage, and especially being caught here in Jordan is significant. This takes us back to right before the millennium celebration in which Zakawi, probably the mastermind of this attack, was indicted in absentia.
So this shows that al Qaeda has a link that goes back years, and it sort of ties us between these latest events, the one in Kenya and this one here in Jordan.
WHITFIELD: And that these two suspects were taking their direct orders from a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, does this in any way give any indication about what kind of control or power that Osama bin Laden still has of the group, or is another message being sent that this lieutenant is generally being the direct link between the attacks and these suspects?
KUSHNER: Well, we don't exactly know, but one thing I think I do know is that Zakawi is an important figure, and it shows that al Qaeda has a structure that runs deep, and it's not just the pinnacle, Osama bin Laden, who might be calling the shots. It might be other individuals.
This is not necessarily good news for the United States and our allies.
WHITFIELD: All right, Harvey Kushner, thanks very much and good to see you.
KUSHNER: Pleasure.
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 December 14, 2002 - 17:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: How do those arrests impact the ongoing war on terror? For more on that, we turn to terrorism expert Harvey Kushner, who has written a book entitled "Encyclopedia of Terrorism." Harvey Kushner joins us now from New York. Good to see you.
HARVEY KUSHNER, TERRORISM EXPERT: Pleasure.
WHITFIELD: Well, what kind of impact, if any, do you expect this to make on the ongoing war on terrorism?
KUSHNER: This could have a tremendous impact. If we could get to Zakawi, who was a leader, as you just said, in Europe and has some nuclear and even biological and chemical training, this would be a big find. If we could squeeze these two individuals, the Jordanian and the Libyan, and get some information to lead to him, we could even possibly make the link between Iraq and al Qaeda, because it's been reported, as it was just said, that he was for medical treatment, Zakawi, in Iraq.
WHITFIELD: Isn't that usually the obstacle, though, trying to get any information out of suspects of this nature, although they've already admitted that they are members of al Qaeda, do you suppose that they would be talking, giving up any more details than they already have?
KUSHNER: Well, you know, al Qaeda people are trained not to talk. They are very astute at this. And oftentimes, the information they have is old. But this is a new case. This was kept quiet for some time. We had no hint about this. So this is significant. They might still have some fresh information.
Also, it leads us to believe that there's very active al Qaeda cells in operation inside of Jordan, which is quite serious, because Jordan is somewhat the crossroads to the Palestinian-Israeli issue, as well as to Europe. So this could be significant in the days ahead.
WHITFIELD: The admission of the involvement of the murder of the U.S. diplomat, the explosion, or the attack, rather, in Kenya, are you seeing a real pattern in these recent attacks that are being linked to al Qaeda?
KUSHNER: Oh, absolutely. The tape that was released a couple of weeks ago, which we still don't know if it's Osama bin Laden's voice, talks about this particular assassination. So there is a linkage. There's a clear linkage, and especially being caught here in Jordan is significant. This takes us back to right before the millennium celebration in which Zakawi, probably the mastermind of this attack, was indicted in absentia.
So this shows that al Qaeda has a link that goes back years, and it sort of ties us between these latest events, the one in Kenya and this one here in Jordan.
WHITFIELD: And that these two suspects were taking their direct orders from a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, does this in any way give any indication about what kind of control or power that Osama bin Laden still has of the group, or is another message being sent that this lieutenant is generally being the direct link between the attacks and these suspects?
KUSHNER: Well, we don't exactly know, but one thing I think I do know is that Zakawi is an important figure, and it shows that al Qaeda has a structure that runs deep, and it's not just the pinnacle, Osama bin Laden, who might be calling the shots. It might be other individuals.
This is not necessarily good news for the United States and our allies.
WHITFIELD: All right, Harvey Kushner, thanks very much and good to see you.
KUSHNER: Pleasure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
