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FBI Investigators to Arrive in Saudi Arabia Tomorrow
Aired May 14, 2003 - 13:03 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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: But first, we'll start with the U.S. frustrations in the aftermath of the attacks in Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities have pledged to work with the U.S. in looking for those responsible, but American investigators sit in Germany. They are yet to get the green light to go to Riyadh.
CNN's Mike Brooks tells us more. What is the deal, Mike?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, right now the sources are telling us that they're still sitting on the ground. There had been some problems apparently. They've worked the problems out, and we just heard from Ari Fleischer at the White House, they're expected to leave early tomorrow morning and arrive in Riyadh some time tomorrow.
So hopefully, they've gotten that worked out. Hopefully, the cooperation now is with the Saudi government. But this assessment team -- this is a team of FBI investigators, U.S. intelligence officials, bomb technicians. Also, evidence response team folks that are going to go to the scene, assess what is going to be needed, and then send back to the United States for more.
Now that remains to be seen, if they're going to be allowed to send more folks from the United States over to work the crime scene, but my sources were telling me there was a lot of frustration with U.S. law enforcement because they wanted to get there a lot sooner to start the task of finding out exactly who is responsible for this deadly blast -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Now, Mike, you've been in Saudi Arabia before for investigations with the FBI. Did it ever take you this long?
BROOKS: No, it never did. In 1996, we went over to Khobar Towers for the bombing there. The officials from the Saudi embassy came right out to Andrews Air Force Base. They brought out the little machine, they took everyone's passport, stamped them. We got on the plane. Fifteen hours later and two mid-air refuels, we were in Dahran, Saudi Arabia.
There have been other FBI and other intelligence officials going back and forth from Saudi over the years, and they have yet to have this kind of a problem. So hopefully, the glitches are all ironed out. Any investigators will be on their way some time early tomorrow -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Mike, final question. Is this going to hinder the investigation at all? BROOKS: Well, the U.S. investigators want to get there as soon as possible to start sifting through the debris, to start the investigations of possible witnesses while everything is fresh in their memory. It may hinder it a little bit -- but I think that once they get there, they'll be able to iron this out with the Saudis, hopefully, and be able to get the investigation underway as soon as possible -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: CNN's Mike Brooks, thanks -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: What about those reports that more Riyadh-style attacks could be in the works? CNN National Security Correspondent David Ensor has been working on that side of the story. He joins us from Washington with more on what he has learned -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, as one official put it to me, bad people are planning bad things in a number of places. Those places include, we are told, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. U.S. officials saying there's evidence that al Qaeda terrorists may be plotting additional attacks in those three areas.
Now, none of this is specific or credible enough to cause the United States to take any action to thwart it, no Americans being asked to leave any particular countries, with the exception of Saudi Arabia, where, of course, the State Department, as we reported yesterday, has ordered nonessential personnel to leave the country.
Still, it is a cause of concern. In the past, when al Qaeda has made a major strike, such as Monday night's attacks in Riyadh, there's been the assumption -- it's usually been true -- that there wouldn't be a major attack for at least a while.
This time, officials are not letting down their guard. They are worried that there could be additional strikes.
Now, as far as those attacks in Riyadh, you have no doubt seen reports, quoting Saudi officials as saying they suspect they know who the ringleader was. They suspect Khalid Muhammad Musalim (ph) Al- Juhani, who is a young Saudi -- this is him, was the ringleader. This tape, of that man, was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan and released by the Justice Department in January of 2002. Now, U.S. officials say they believe he did go back into Saudi Arabia in the not too distant past, and could be a key figure in the attacks of Monday night. But they say that there are a couple of other senior al Qaeda individuals, significant individuals that might also have been the ringleader, so they're not sure yet. They don't have the evidence to back up this Saudi hypothesis, at least not so far -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: David, have they eliminated the possibility that he could be one of the suicide bombers, or is he just a ringleader who is still alive, they think?
ENSOR: Not eliminated, but it seems unlikely. Usually, the organizers are the ones that survive these things. It is possible, though. It has not been eliminated. O'BRIEN: All right. And what about the possibility of an attack on U.S. soil? What sort of chatter is there out there on that?
ENSOR: It's always a possibility, it's always something that U.S. intelligence and law enforcement have their guard up against, and obviously listen with a special interest to any indications of, but the intelligence that I'm hearing about today is about the possibility of attacks, as I said, in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
O'BRIEN: CNN's David Ensor, national security correspondent.
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 May 14, 2003 - 13:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: But first, we'll start with the U.S. frustrations in the aftermath of the attacks in Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities have pledged to work with the U.S. in looking for those responsible, but American investigators sit in Germany. They are yet to get the green light to go to Riyadh.
CNN's Mike Brooks tells us more. What is the deal, Mike?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, right now the sources are telling us that they're still sitting on the ground. There had been some problems apparently. They've worked the problems out, and we just heard from Ari Fleischer at the White House, they're expected to leave early tomorrow morning and arrive in Riyadh some time tomorrow.
So hopefully, they've gotten that worked out. Hopefully, the cooperation now is with the Saudi government. But this assessment team -- this is a team of FBI investigators, U.S. intelligence officials, bomb technicians. Also, evidence response team folks that are going to go to the scene, assess what is going to be needed, and then send back to the United States for more.
Now that remains to be seen, if they're going to be allowed to send more folks from the United States over to work the crime scene, but my sources were telling me there was a lot of frustration with U.S. law enforcement because they wanted to get there a lot sooner to start the task of finding out exactly who is responsible for this deadly blast -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Now, Mike, you've been in Saudi Arabia before for investigations with the FBI. Did it ever take you this long?
BROOKS: No, it never did. In 1996, we went over to Khobar Towers for the bombing there. The officials from the Saudi embassy came right out to Andrews Air Force Base. They brought out the little machine, they took everyone's passport, stamped them. We got on the plane. Fifteen hours later and two mid-air refuels, we were in Dahran, Saudi Arabia.
There have been other FBI and other intelligence officials going back and forth from Saudi over the years, and they have yet to have this kind of a problem. So hopefully, the glitches are all ironed out. Any investigators will be on their way some time early tomorrow -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Mike, final question. Is this going to hinder the investigation at all? BROOKS: Well, the U.S. investigators want to get there as soon as possible to start sifting through the debris, to start the investigations of possible witnesses while everything is fresh in their memory. It may hinder it a little bit -- but I think that once they get there, they'll be able to iron this out with the Saudis, hopefully, and be able to get the investigation underway as soon as possible -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: CNN's Mike Brooks, thanks -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: What about those reports that more Riyadh-style attacks could be in the works? CNN National Security Correspondent David Ensor has been working on that side of the story. He joins us from Washington with more on what he has learned -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, as one official put it to me, bad people are planning bad things in a number of places. Those places include, we are told, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. U.S. officials saying there's evidence that al Qaeda terrorists may be plotting additional attacks in those three areas.
Now, none of this is specific or credible enough to cause the United States to take any action to thwart it, no Americans being asked to leave any particular countries, with the exception of Saudi Arabia, where, of course, the State Department, as we reported yesterday, has ordered nonessential personnel to leave the country.
Still, it is a cause of concern. In the past, when al Qaeda has made a major strike, such as Monday night's attacks in Riyadh, there's been the assumption -- it's usually been true -- that there wouldn't be a major attack for at least a while.
This time, officials are not letting down their guard. They are worried that there could be additional strikes.
Now, as far as those attacks in Riyadh, you have no doubt seen reports, quoting Saudi officials as saying they suspect they know who the ringleader was. They suspect Khalid Muhammad Musalim (ph) Al- Juhani, who is a young Saudi -- this is him, was the ringleader. This tape, of that man, was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan and released by the Justice Department in January of 2002. Now, U.S. officials say they believe he did go back into Saudi Arabia in the not too distant past, and could be a key figure in the attacks of Monday night. But they say that there are a couple of other senior al Qaeda individuals, significant individuals that might also have been the ringleader, so they're not sure yet. They don't have the evidence to back up this Saudi hypothesis, at least not so far -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: David, have they eliminated the possibility that he could be one of the suicide bombers, or is he just a ringleader who is still alive, they think?
ENSOR: Not eliminated, but it seems unlikely. Usually, the organizers are the ones that survive these things. It is possible, though. It has not been eliminated. O'BRIEN: All right. And what about the possibility of an attack on U.S. soil? What sort of chatter is there out there on that?
ENSOR: It's always a possibility, it's always something that U.S. intelligence and law enforcement have their guard up against, and obviously listen with a special interest to any indications of, but the intelligence that I'm hearing about today is about the possibility of attacks, as I said, in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
O'BRIEN: CNN's David Ensor, national security correspondent.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
