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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Michael Weisskopf

Aired December 01, 2002 - 08:07   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.


KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Amid the government warnings about possible new terrorist threats comes a report that al Qaeda is planning attacks inside Saudi Arabia. A new "TIME" magazine cover story says terrorists are slipping across the border from Yemen to set up operations in Saudi Arabia. Joining us now with details on this is is Michael Weisskopf, a senior correspondent with "TIME" magazine. Thanks for coming in and talking with us about this story.
MICHAEL WEISSKOPF, TIME MAGAZINE: Good morning.

OSBORN: Well, certainly Yemen is known for being semi- autonomous, having a lot of tribal areas. Talk to me about this new report.

WEISSKOPF: Intelligence agents in this country have tracked al Qaeda cells slipping across the border from Yemen into Saudi Arabia, potentially targeting such hard areas as petroleum facilities and oil pumping facilities stations. Also, the thinking is they may be looking at soft targets like malls and housing complexes where Americans and other Westerners live.

OSBORN: Well, the report also mentions the extent to which the Saudi government is seeking to highlight its terror fighting credentials, pointing to its interrogation of Zubaydah, along with other aspects of how it's cracking down on terrorism. Of course, a lot of this in the atmosphere of a lot of recent criticism coming from Congress about the ambassador and the supposed payments to some of the 9/11 hijackers.

WEISSKOPF: That's right. And the pressure is coming mostly from Congress at this point, where there's discussion about cutting off aid to Saudi Arabia and also some of the military supplies. And the Saudis are trying to make more visible their contribution to the anti- terrorism effort, telling us, for instance, that after interrogating a detainee, an al Qaeda detainee, it was Saudi Arabia turning over the location of Abu Zubaydah, a top lieutenant of bin Laden.

There also is the significance of Saudi territory being the launching pad for American drones now hunting terrorists throughout the region. These are the kinds of things that Saudis are hoping to make public in the hopes to reduce some of the pressure on them.

OSBORN: Well, CNN's investigative unit a couple of months ago talked about attacks being thwarted within Saudi Arabia as well. And I wanted to ask you, certainly for quite some time Osama bin Laden has been very vocal, very specific about his opposition to the Saudi regime.

WEISSKOPF: That's right. Of course, bin Laden, although he's a Yemeni native, grew up in Saudi Arabia, and began turning on the kingdom in the early 1990s when it began harboring U.S. troops, especially to drive Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. And he considers the Saudi royal family right up there on its hit list.

OSBORN: It's also very interesting in the report, what you mentioned a moment ago about the basing of a Hellfire drone within Saudi Arabia. One reason potentially that this administration, the Bush administration is very clear to emphasize how much the Saudi royal family is cooperating in the war on terrorism, despite, as you mentioned, these criticisms from Congress.

WEISSKOPF: That's right. There is a distinction between whatever aid they're giving kind of behind the scenes and what we know about the lapsed control of charities and other means of financing terrorist groups. That's where the criticism has been. That's where the criticism has recently been sparked by reports of money flowing from the Saudi embassy in Washington to the friends of 9/11 terrorists.

OSBORN: Well, certainly the big picture of the context too much of this that receives a lot of attention is the delicate balancing act the Saudi government is so often in the midst of trying to negotiate -- on the one hand, dealing with their own domestic political situation, yet still seeking to be allies with the U.S. and its coalition.

WEISSKOPF: Like many of the states in the Middle East diplomatically friendly to the U.S. but containing militant elements within their own streets that represent a big threat to the continuation of those regimes.

OSBORN: Michael Weisskopf from "TIME" magazine with a new cover story, thank you very much.

WEISSKOPF: You're welcome.

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 1, 2002 - 08:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Amid the government warnings about possible new terrorist threats comes a report that al Qaeda is planning attacks inside Saudi Arabia. A new "TIME" magazine cover story says terrorists are slipping across the border from Yemen to set up operations in Saudi Arabia. Joining us now with details on this is is Michael Weisskopf, a senior correspondent with "TIME" magazine. Thanks for coming in and talking with us about this story.
MICHAEL WEISSKOPF, TIME MAGAZINE: Good morning.

OSBORN: Well, certainly Yemen is known for being semi- autonomous, having a lot of tribal areas. Talk to me about this new report.

WEISSKOPF: Intelligence agents in this country have tracked al Qaeda cells slipping across the border from Yemen into Saudi Arabia, potentially targeting such hard areas as petroleum facilities and oil pumping facilities stations. Also, the thinking is they may be looking at soft targets like malls and housing complexes where Americans and other Westerners live.

OSBORN: Well, the report also mentions the extent to which the Saudi government is seeking to highlight its terror fighting credentials, pointing to its interrogation of Zubaydah, along with other aspects of how it's cracking down on terrorism. Of course, a lot of this in the atmosphere of a lot of recent criticism coming from Congress about the ambassador and the supposed payments to some of the 9/11 hijackers.

WEISSKOPF: That's right. And the pressure is coming mostly from Congress at this point, where there's discussion about cutting off aid to Saudi Arabia and also some of the military supplies. And the Saudis are trying to make more visible their contribution to the anti- terrorism effort, telling us, for instance, that after interrogating a detainee, an al Qaeda detainee, it was Saudi Arabia turning over the location of Abu Zubaydah, a top lieutenant of bin Laden.

There also is the significance of Saudi territory being the launching pad for American drones now hunting terrorists throughout the region. These are the kinds of things that Saudis are hoping to make public in the hopes to reduce some of the pressure on them.

OSBORN: Well, CNN's investigative unit a couple of months ago talked about attacks being thwarted within Saudi Arabia as well. And I wanted to ask you, certainly for quite some time Osama bin Laden has been very vocal, very specific about his opposition to the Saudi regime.

WEISSKOPF: That's right. Of course, bin Laden, although he's a Yemeni native, grew up in Saudi Arabia, and began turning on the kingdom in the early 1990s when it began harboring U.S. troops, especially to drive Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. And he considers the Saudi royal family right up there on its hit list.

OSBORN: It's also very interesting in the report, what you mentioned a moment ago about the basing of a Hellfire drone within Saudi Arabia. One reason potentially that this administration, the Bush administration is very clear to emphasize how much the Saudi royal family is cooperating in the war on terrorism, despite, as you mentioned, these criticisms from Congress.

WEISSKOPF: That's right. There is a distinction between whatever aid they're giving kind of behind the scenes and what we know about the lapsed control of charities and other means of financing terrorist groups. That's where the criticism has been. That's where the criticism has recently been sparked by reports of money flowing from the Saudi embassy in Washington to the friends of 9/11 terrorists.

OSBORN: Well, certainly the big picture of the context too much of this that receives a lot of attention is the delicate balancing act the Saudi government is so often in the midst of trying to negotiate -- on the one hand, dealing with their own domestic political situation, yet still seeking to be allies with the U.S. and its coalition.

WEISSKOPF: Like many of the states in the Middle East diplomatically friendly to the U.S. but containing militant elements within their own streets that represent a big threat to the continuation of those regimes.

OSBORN: Michael Weisskopf from "TIME" magazine with a new cover story, thank you very much.

WEISSKOPF: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com