Brushing aside skeptics, Czech authorities insist that Atta met with Iraqi spy

By ONDREJ HEJMA
Associated Press Writer

PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Czech authorities are standing by their account of a clandestine meeting in Prague between suicide hijacker Mohammed Atta and an Iraqi diplomat, dismissing media reports that cast doubts on whether the pair ever really met.

Officials first disclosed the meeting in October, saying Atta – who piloted one of the jetliners that slammed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 – met in April with Iraqi diplomat Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir Al-Ani.

In the absence of any conclusive audio or video evidence the meeting took place, Czech media have begun to dispute whether it ever happened.

Even President Vaclav Havel has distanced himself from the claim, saying earlier this month that he believed there was only "a 70 percent chance" that Atta met with the Iraqi, who since has been expelled.

Citing anonymous intelligence sources and members of Prague's Arab community, the Mlada Fronta Dnes newspaper reported Friday that the agent who claimed firsthand knowledge of the meeting at Prague's international airport may have mistaken Atta for a businessman who frequently met with Al-Ani – or with a Pakistani citizen of the same name.

But Interior Minister Stanislav Gross, responding to the report, said he stood by his original statement that Atta and Al-Ani met at least once in Prague and said it was based on a reputable account from BIS, the Czech counterintelligence agency.

"Minister Gross had the information from BIS, and BIS guarantees the information," his spokeswoman, Gabriela Bartikova, said Monday. "So we stick by that information."

In Washington, U.S. officials told The Associated Press they also still believe the meeting occurred.

The Iraqi government has steadfastly denied a meeting, suggesting that such reports were intended to make Iraq appear to have been involved in the Sept. 11 attacks and justify making Baghdad a U.S. target in the war on terror.

Before meeting with President Bush in Washington last month, Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman said Atta had contacted Al-Ani to discuss an attack on the Prague building that serves as the headquarters for U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Zeman later backed off that statement, saying it was just a hypothesis raised by the intelligence services. Security around the RFE offices has been noticeably tightened as a precaution.

APNP-12-17-01 1259CST