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American Morning
Confessed Assassin Claim He's Proof of Connection Between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein
Aired November 29, 2002 - 08:15 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We here at CNN have been very fortunate to have an insightful series from Brent Sadler. Brent's been northern Iraq for the past several weeks now trying to find out more about the lives of the people who live there, how they've been affected over the past 10 years or so.
The series is called Inside northern Iraq. And today the final installment of that series, a confessed assassin claims he is proof of a connection between al Qaeda and the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein.
Here's Brent Sadler again on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, NBC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Entry to a top security jail in northern Iraq, a lock up for dangerous men with shocking pasts. This is a confessed assassin, an Iranian born Arab who claims he was working for Baghdad and claims at the same time he was also involved with al Qaeda's terror network in Afghanistan.
"I was engaged with al Qaeda," says Mohammed Shehab (ph), "trading weapons and selling drugs between Iran and Kandahar."
He also claims to have separately funneled weapons from Iraq to Osama bin Laden. Caught on his way to Baghdad, say investigators here, more than two years ago carrying damning evidence of murder, a roll of film proving he had a bloody hand in this killing of an unidentified victim, probably Iranian, one of many, he boasts.
"Killings were done on the orders of the Iraqi intelligence," he says, "and mostly in Iran."
While there's no corroborating evidence in these files linking Baghdad to al Qaeda, investigators say they're certain Mohammed Shehab was an Iraqi hit man and that his other claims are feasible. But the Kurds have openly set their sights on regime change in Baghdad and are keen to use those unsubstantiated intelligence reports to support the case. (on camera): They are training for battle as potential U.S. allies in a possible war on two fronts against Saddam Hussein's regime in Baghdad, and what's described here as an al Qaeda style terror network on their side of the border with Iran.
(voice-over): A network which recently ordered 19-year-old Didah Mohammed (ph) to blow himself up using this explosives packed vest and belt to kill secular Kurdish opponents. The orders came, says Mohammed, from an extreme Kurdish Islamic group with suspected links to al Qaeda. He tells me an Afghan trained suicide bomb maker fitted him out.
"He opened a suitcase. Four or five of these bomb sets were inside," he says. "It was like setting a mine. I just had to press the button."
But Mohammed backed out at the very last second, sparing the lives of many, a warning that other Iraqi Kurdish suicide bombers may be on their way.
Brent Sadler, CNN, Solamineir (ph), northern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Brent Sadler.
A really insightful series throughout the week. And there are a lot of questions, certainly, about if there is a day in a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, what role does northern Iraq and the people play in terms of power sharing in that new government? It is a wide open question right now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein>
Aired November 29, 2002 - 08:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We here at CNN have been very fortunate to have an insightful series from Brent Sadler. Brent's been northern Iraq for the past several weeks now trying to find out more about the lives of the people who live there, how they've been affected over the past 10 years or so.
The series is called Inside northern Iraq. And today the final installment of that series, a confessed assassin claims he is proof of a connection between al Qaeda and the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein.
Here's Brent Sadler again on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, NBC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Entry to a top security jail in northern Iraq, a lock up for dangerous men with shocking pasts. This is a confessed assassin, an Iranian born Arab who claims he was working for Baghdad and claims at the same time he was also involved with al Qaeda's terror network in Afghanistan.
"I was engaged with al Qaeda," says Mohammed Shehab (ph), "trading weapons and selling drugs between Iran and Kandahar."
He also claims to have separately funneled weapons from Iraq to Osama bin Laden. Caught on his way to Baghdad, say investigators here, more than two years ago carrying damning evidence of murder, a roll of film proving he had a bloody hand in this killing of an unidentified victim, probably Iranian, one of many, he boasts.
"Killings were done on the orders of the Iraqi intelligence," he says, "and mostly in Iran."
While there's no corroborating evidence in these files linking Baghdad to al Qaeda, investigators say they're certain Mohammed Shehab was an Iraqi hit man and that his other claims are feasible. But the Kurds have openly set their sights on regime change in Baghdad and are keen to use those unsubstantiated intelligence reports to support the case. (on camera): They are training for battle as potential U.S. allies in a possible war on two fronts against Saddam Hussein's regime in Baghdad, and what's described here as an al Qaeda style terror network on their side of the border with Iran.
(voice-over): A network which recently ordered 19-year-old Didah Mohammed (ph) to blow himself up using this explosives packed vest and belt to kill secular Kurdish opponents. The orders came, says Mohammed, from an extreme Kurdish Islamic group with suspected links to al Qaeda. He tells me an Afghan trained suicide bomb maker fitted him out.
"He opened a suitcase. Four or five of these bomb sets were inside," he says. "It was like setting a mine. I just had to press the button."
But Mohammed backed out at the very last second, sparing the lives of many, a warning that other Iraqi Kurdish suicide bombers may be on their way.
Brent Sadler, CNN, Solamineir (ph), northern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Brent Sadler.
A really insightful series throughout the week. And there are a lot of questions, certainly, about if there is a day in a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, what role does northern Iraq and the people play in terms of power sharing in that new government? It is a wide open question right now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein>
