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Al Jazeera Correspondent Tayseer Allouni Jailed
Aired October 03, 2003 - 13:30 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the war on terror and a reporter who's now become part of the story. A correspondent with the Arab television network Al Jazeera is still in Madrid jail. He was accused last month of belonging to the Al Qaeda terror network.
CNN's Al Goodman has been following this story. He's come all the way from Spain to Atlanta, just to be with us to talk about this case.
Good to see you, Al.
Well, let's talk about Tayseer Allouni and how much trouble he's in right now.
AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, these are very serious charges. He's under indictment for being a member of the Spanish branch of Al Qaeda. Now the court documents, which CNN has had access to, in there, you see no indication he's linked to the 9/11 attacks or any killings or kidnappings by Al Qaeda.
But the judge is saying he was a key member of this logistics group, providing the key logistics so that other terrorists can go out and carry out these attacks, specifically that he moved money from certain Al Qaeda operatives to other ones, that he provided housing, fake documents, even recruited people to be sent off to terrorist training camps.
PHILLIPS: All right now, I remember before the war started, during the war, there was so much talk about Al Jazeera and how do they get these tapes, and is this a biased network? Let's talk about this. And is this an indictment on Al Jazeera, or is this two separate things here? He did get the last interview with Osama bin Laden, right?
GOODMAN: Indeed he did, shortly after the 9/11 attacks. CNN has run portions of that interview, because CNN was invited beforehand to submit written questions, which were used in that interview.
Now there are different things that you're seeing in the court documents. On the one hand, the judge is saying that Tayseer Allouni did these things outside of his role as a journalist, but taking advantage of his role as a journalist because he was able to get out and see people.
But then in the indictment, it's very clear, the judge repeating, this is not against Al Jazeera, this is not an indictment of journalists in journal, it's about Tayseer Allouni and these alleged terrorist activities.
PHILLIPS: And you had even told me that this man, even before he became an employee of Al Jazeera, was being wiretapped, was being watched closely because of his contacts. Do you think his plan to become a journalist for Al Jazeera was a way to have this PR campaign for Al Qaeda?
GOODMAN: OK, that is a key question. The court documents do not address that. There was a story in a major Barcelona newspaper last week, "Lavan Guardia (ph)," citing U.S. and Spanish intelligence authorities, saying that he really was to be the principal PR man, if you will, for Al Qaeda in Europe and the United States. We have tried to get confirmation of that. We've had a round no comment on that. So that's to be decided.
PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, interesting back ground on this Judge Parsons (ph), he's the one handling this case. He's got quite a track record of going after terrorist organizations.
GOODMAN: Indeed, he does. He cut his teeth trying -- going after the armed outlawed Basque ETTA (ph) organization, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States. He's put a lot of those people in jail, studied how they do financing, how they get their gun, et cetera, et cetera, to carry out their attacks. They've been fighting for Basque independence, have killed about 800 people. Judge Parsons jumped into the international stage with a 1998 arrest warrant for General Augusto Pinochet, when he was on his back in a London hospital. He had gone up there for surgery. Judge Parsons was trying to get him for crimes against humanity, committed against Spaniards and others during General Pinochet's rule of Chile. That of course, General Pinochet did get back to Chile. It was ruled that he wasn't fit to stand trial, so he did make it back.
But Judge Parsons has been investigating these cases and Islamic terrorist cases since the mid-1990s. So he has got quite a track record.
PHILLIPS: Fascinating man.
Meanwhile, Allouni, have you had a chance to come face-to-face with him, talk with him? What is he saying?
GOODMAN: OK, we have talked to his wife, we have talked to his defense lawyer, we have talked to his colleagues from Al Jazeera. They all say that he is innocent, that he is a journalist, he is not a terrorist. And the network Al Jazeera is mounted a very vigorous defense of one of their key correspondents. Of course he covered the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
I did see Tayseer Allouni. I was at the courthouse in Madrid just last week when he went in before Judge Parsons. He came in handcuffed. But he looked very relaxed. And his colleague from Al Jazeera, the Brussels' bureau chief, talked to him in Arabic. I asked the man what Tayseer Allouni had said to him, and he said, "Everything's OK." PHILLIPS: Interesting. And you mentioned Al Jazeera showing support, the broadcasters, they were wearing badges supporting him on the air.
GOODMAN: Indeed, this Brussels' bureau chief told me and other reporters that Al Jazeera is not going to let this drop, and I think that may be why the judge has made it clear in this indictment, saying, basically, let me make this clear, if it's not clear, this is not about Al Jazeera, it is not about journalists in general, it is about these alleged terrorist activities by Tayseer Allouni. He's in jail outside of Madrid. There's not trial date set for him.
PHILLIPS: Al Goodman, we appreciate your coverage. We'll continue to follow the case with you.
GOODMAN: Thanks a lot, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Thank you.
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 October 3, 2003 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the war on terror and a reporter who's now become part of the story. A correspondent with the Arab television network Al Jazeera is still in Madrid jail. He was accused last month of belonging to the Al Qaeda terror network.
CNN's Al Goodman has been following this story. He's come all the way from Spain to Atlanta, just to be with us to talk about this case.
Good to see you, Al.
Well, let's talk about Tayseer Allouni and how much trouble he's in right now.
AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, these are very serious charges. He's under indictment for being a member of the Spanish branch of Al Qaeda. Now the court documents, which CNN has had access to, in there, you see no indication he's linked to the 9/11 attacks or any killings or kidnappings by Al Qaeda.
But the judge is saying he was a key member of this logistics group, providing the key logistics so that other terrorists can go out and carry out these attacks, specifically that he moved money from certain Al Qaeda operatives to other ones, that he provided housing, fake documents, even recruited people to be sent off to terrorist training camps.
PHILLIPS: All right now, I remember before the war started, during the war, there was so much talk about Al Jazeera and how do they get these tapes, and is this a biased network? Let's talk about this. And is this an indictment on Al Jazeera, or is this two separate things here? He did get the last interview with Osama bin Laden, right?
GOODMAN: Indeed he did, shortly after the 9/11 attacks. CNN has run portions of that interview, because CNN was invited beforehand to submit written questions, which were used in that interview.
Now there are different things that you're seeing in the court documents. On the one hand, the judge is saying that Tayseer Allouni did these things outside of his role as a journalist, but taking advantage of his role as a journalist because he was able to get out and see people.
But then in the indictment, it's very clear, the judge repeating, this is not against Al Jazeera, this is not an indictment of journalists in journal, it's about Tayseer Allouni and these alleged terrorist activities.
PHILLIPS: And you had even told me that this man, even before he became an employee of Al Jazeera, was being wiretapped, was being watched closely because of his contacts. Do you think his plan to become a journalist for Al Jazeera was a way to have this PR campaign for Al Qaeda?
GOODMAN: OK, that is a key question. The court documents do not address that. There was a story in a major Barcelona newspaper last week, "Lavan Guardia (ph)," citing U.S. and Spanish intelligence authorities, saying that he really was to be the principal PR man, if you will, for Al Qaeda in Europe and the United States. We have tried to get confirmation of that. We've had a round no comment on that. So that's to be decided.
PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, interesting back ground on this Judge Parsons (ph), he's the one handling this case. He's got quite a track record of going after terrorist organizations.
GOODMAN: Indeed, he does. He cut his teeth trying -- going after the armed outlawed Basque ETTA (ph) organization, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States. He's put a lot of those people in jail, studied how they do financing, how they get their gun, et cetera, et cetera, to carry out their attacks. They've been fighting for Basque independence, have killed about 800 people. Judge Parsons jumped into the international stage with a 1998 arrest warrant for General Augusto Pinochet, when he was on his back in a London hospital. He had gone up there for surgery. Judge Parsons was trying to get him for crimes against humanity, committed against Spaniards and others during General Pinochet's rule of Chile. That of course, General Pinochet did get back to Chile. It was ruled that he wasn't fit to stand trial, so he did make it back.
But Judge Parsons has been investigating these cases and Islamic terrorist cases since the mid-1990s. So he has got quite a track record.
PHILLIPS: Fascinating man.
Meanwhile, Allouni, have you had a chance to come face-to-face with him, talk with him? What is he saying?
GOODMAN: OK, we have talked to his wife, we have talked to his defense lawyer, we have talked to his colleagues from Al Jazeera. They all say that he is innocent, that he is a journalist, he is not a terrorist. And the network Al Jazeera is mounted a very vigorous defense of one of their key correspondents. Of course he covered the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
I did see Tayseer Allouni. I was at the courthouse in Madrid just last week when he went in before Judge Parsons. He came in handcuffed. But he looked very relaxed. And his colleague from Al Jazeera, the Brussels' bureau chief, talked to him in Arabic. I asked the man what Tayseer Allouni had said to him, and he said, "Everything's OK." PHILLIPS: Interesting. And you mentioned Al Jazeera showing support, the broadcasters, they were wearing badges supporting him on the air.
GOODMAN: Indeed, this Brussels' bureau chief told me and other reporters that Al Jazeera is not going to let this drop, and I think that may be why the judge has made it clear in this indictment, saying, basically, let me make this clear, if it's not clear, this is not about Al Jazeera, it is not about journalists in general, it is about these alleged terrorist activities by Tayseer Allouni. He's in jail outside of Madrid. There's not trial date set for him.
PHILLIPS: Al Goodman, we appreciate your coverage. We'll continue to follow the case with you.
GOODMAN: Thanks a lot, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
