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CNN Saturday Morning News

Mohammed Atef's Role in al Qaeda

Aired November 17, 2001 - 07:07   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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: A Taliban official reportedly confirms that Osama bin Laden's right-hand man was killed in U.S. bombing raids. According to The Associated Press, the Taliban official says that Mohammed Atef was killed three days ago.

As CNN's Mike Boettcher reports, Atef is suspected of planning the September 11 attacks as well as other assaults against the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was the third man, the man seen alongside Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al- Zawahiri. Like them, he was wanted by the U.S. government, indicted for his role in the 1998 embassy bombings. And like them, he is believed to be directly behind the September 11 attacks.

Little is known about Mohammed Atef. Like bin Laden, he is tall. One of his many aliases included the Arabic term "el Kabir," the big guy. He holds an Egyptian passport, was once a policeman there. How he went from that to being military commander of al Qaeda is something of a mystery.

PROF. MAGNUS RANSTORP, UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS: He was really no one, and he was propelled into someone who has tremendous importance in the organization as the head of the military command, military operations for the organization.

BOETTCHER: At some point during the 1980s, Atef went from Egypt to Afghanistan, where he met Osama bin Laden, then fighting against the Soviet occupation. This man, Jamal al-Fadl, testified recently that Atef was one of the founding members of al Qaeda, along with bin Laden and Abu Ubeda al-Banchiri (ph). Al-Banchiri was actually military commander, but when he drowned in a 1996 ferry accident, Atef took over.

Even before then, al-Fadl testified, Atef was in Somalia helping warlords like Mohammed Aidid train men to fight against the American troops there. According to al-Fadl, Atef said, "Everything happening in Somalia, it's our responsibility."

In an interview with CNN, Osama bin Laden claimed credit for helping in a Somali attack on U.S. Army Rangers in 1993 that killed 18 of the Rangers. Testimony also linked Atef to the embassy bombing in Kenya, placing him there as early as 1993, five years before the bombings.

Atef helped set up cells in East Africa, and then communicated with operatives for the next five years, according to wiretaps and phone records.

Months before the embassy bombings in 1998, Atef surfaced publicly. He was at bin Laden's side during a press conference announcing a fatwa against the U.S.

The truest sign of Mohammed Atef's importance to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda comes from this video taken this January in Kandahar, when Atef's daughter marries one of bin Laden's sons.

RANSTORP: There are few that bin Laden can trust in bringing in in terms of family. But it serves to reinforce loyalty, and it creates an intricate web in which he can then insulate any defections.

BOETTCHER: In the two most recent videos of bin Laden, Atef is also visible, showing his central role in al Qaeda's high command.

U.S. intelligence sources believe it was Atef, along with Ayman al-Zawahiri, who did the actual planning of the attacks on New York and Washington.

(on camera): If the news about Atef is verified, then it is a big blow to al Qaeda. Coalition intelligence sources who have studied the organization say Atef could well have been the successor to Osama bin Laden.

Mike Boettcher, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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