Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Analysis of Terror Warning
Aired May 16, 2003 - 07:08 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: Back now to this Saudi dissident living in London, who reports to our Peter Bergen, our terrorism analyst, that Osama bin Laden gave the green light to these attacks in Riyadh. Peter is live in D.C. to talk about it.
Good morning. Thanks for the late call and getting up early for us today -- Peter.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: Who is this man? How credible is he in London?
BERGEN: Well, Saad al Fagih is a leading Saudi dissident. He heads a movement for Islamic reform in Arabia. He is, I think, a highly credible individual. He's a former surgeon, who is now a full- time dissident. He runs a radio broadcast into the Saudi kingdom. He has also just started a satellite TV channel that's broadcasting into the kingdom, much against the Saudi authorities' wishes, as it were.
And so, he is in contact with people who are familiar with the thinking of al Qaeda. He's monitoring the various people, the various thoughts within the kingdom. And he heard before the Iraq war that there was likely to be a surprising anti-American attack linked to the Iraq war. Obviously, that didn't happen.
I called him yesterday and asked him if the Saudi attacks were that surprising attack. He said there is some debate about it. Perhaps there is going to be a larger-scale attack. He mentioned a possible attack in the United States.
Now, of course, some of this may be bravado, some of the people who are making these statements. But he also did say that he was positive that bin Laden gave the green light for this operation based on bin Laden's previous statements.
So, taken together, kind of an interesting set of observations.
HEMMER: Does that mean in his estimation that Osama bin Laden is alive?
BERGEN: Well, I think, Bill, that we -- I think in his estimation he believes that bin Laden is alive. I believe that bin Laden is alive as well. I think that we have quite a lot of evidence of that, of several audiotapes in the past months from bin Laden referencing recent events, whether it was the war in Iraq or an attack in Indonesia last October. I think bin Laden was certainly alive, certainly within the last several months. You know, whether or not he's in poor health is a different question. But I believe there is no evidence he's dead, so let's for the moment presume he's alive.
HEMMER: Yes, Peter, I read your report on cnn.com. What credence do you give to this possibility of the attacks in Riyadh were a distraction for a future bigger hit, if not in Saudi Arabia, somewhere else?
BERGEN: Well, I'm not quite sure. But, Bill, if you go back to October or November of last year, there were a whole set of attacks that all kind of came at the same time. There was an attack on an oil tanker in Yemen. There was an attack on a disco in Indonesia that killed nearly 200 people. There was the attack on the Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya and, as mentioned in the previous piece, an attempt to bring down an Israel airliner using a rocket-propelled grenade.
So, I think authorities are very concerned that this attack, the attack that we're seeing right now, might be one of a whole patent of attacks. That's why British airlines have cancelled their flights to Kenya. That's why there are concerns there might be attacks in Southeast Asia.
So, this attack may presage other attacks, because certainly that has been the case. Certainly that was the case a few months ago.
HEMMER: Good reporting. Let's hope this man in London is wrong. Peter Bergen in D.C. -- thanks, Peter.
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 16, 2003 - 07:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back now to this Saudi dissident living in London, who reports to our Peter Bergen, our terrorism analyst, that Osama bin Laden gave the green light to these attacks in Riyadh. Peter is live in D.C. to talk about it.
Good morning. Thanks for the late call and getting up early for us today -- Peter.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: Who is this man? How credible is he in London?
BERGEN: Well, Saad al Fagih is a leading Saudi dissident. He heads a movement for Islamic reform in Arabia. He is, I think, a highly credible individual. He's a former surgeon, who is now a full- time dissident. He runs a radio broadcast into the Saudi kingdom. He has also just started a satellite TV channel that's broadcasting into the kingdom, much against the Saudi authorities' wishes, as it were.
And so, he is in contact with people who are familiar with the thinking of al Qaeda. He's monitoring the various people, the various thoughts within the kingdom. And he heard before the Iraq war that there was likely to be a surprising anti-American attack linked to the Iraq war. Obviously, that didn't happen.
I called him yesterday and asked him if the Saudi attacks were that surprising attack. He said there is some debate about it. Perhaps there is going to be a larger-scale attack. He mentioned a possible attack in the United States.
Now, of course, some of this may be bravado, some of the people who are making these statements. But he also did say that he was positive that bin Laden gave the green light for this operation based on bin Laden's previous statements.
So, taken together, kind of an interesting set of observations.
HEMMER: Does that mean in his estimation that Osama bin Laden is alive?
BERGEN: Well, I think, Bill, that we -- I think in his estimation he believes that bin Laden is alive. I believe that bin Laden is alive as well. I think that we have quite a lot of evidence of that, of several audiotapes in the past months from bin Laden referencing recent events, whether it was the war in Iraq or an attack in Indonesia last October. I think bin Laden was certainly alive, certainly within the last several months. You know, whether or not he's in poor health is a different question. But I believe there is no evidence he's dead, so let's for the moment presume he's alive.
HEMMER: Yes, Peter, I read your report on cnn.com. What credence do you give to this possibility of the attacks in Riyadh were a distraction for a future bigger hit, if not in Saudi Arabia, somewhere else?
BERGEN: Well, I'm not quite sure. But, Bill, if you go back to October or November of last year, there were a whole set of attacks that all kind of came at the same time. There was an attack on an oil tanker in Yemen. There was an attack on a disco in Indonesia that killed nearly 200 people. There was the attack on the Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya and, as mentioned in the previous piece, an attempt to bring down an Israel airliner using a rocket-propelled grenade.
So, I think authorities are very concerned that this attack, the attack that we're seeing right now, might be one of a whole patent of attacks. That's why British airlines have cancelled their flights to Kenya. That's why there are concerns there might be attacks in Southeast Asia.
So, this attack may presage other attacks, because certainly that has been the case. Certainly that was the case a few months ago.
HEMMER: Good reporting. Let's hope this man in London is wrong. Peter Bergen in D.C. -- thanks, Peter.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
