Bin Laden evidence detailed

10/05/2001

By Gregory Katz
The Dallas Morning News

British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday gave Parliament new evidence that he said directly links Osama bin Laden to the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington – including a statement by the Saudi exile that he was about to launch a major attack on the United States.

In a long speech to Parliament members summoned from their annual recess, Mr. Blair said intelligence information that could not be divulged provided explicit proof that Mr. bin Laden and his top lieutenants planned the atrocities. And he said they could not have planned them without support from the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan.

"I can now confirm that of the 19 hijackers identified from the passenger lists of the four planes hijacked on September 11, at least three of these hijackers have already been positively identified as known associates of bin Laden," Mr. Blair said.

A U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity identified the three as Khalid Almihdhar, Nawaf Alhazmi and Salem Alhazmi, all tentatively identified by the FBI as Saudis. The U.S. official said at least four of the hijackers trained in Afghanistan.

Mr. Blair also said that one of Mr. bin Laden's closest associates was responsible for the detailed planning of the attacks.

The prime minister also said that Britain had obtained information indicating that shortly before the hijackings, Mr. bin Laden told his senior aides to expect a major attack on the United States and that he instructed members of his al-Qaeda network to return to Afghanistan for safety's sake in the days before the attack.

"A range of people were warned to return to Afghanistan because of the action on or around September 11," Mr. Blair said, "and, most importantly, one of bin Laden's closest lieutenants has said clearly that he helped with the planning of the September 11 attacks and has admitted the involvement of the al-Qaeda organization."

Mr. Blair's speech to Parliament was based on a 15-page "white paper" that laid out details on Mr. bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Mr. Blair's view on al-Qaeda's involvement also received a crucial endorsement Thureday from Pakistan when a foreign ministry spokesman said evidence shown to President Pervez Musharraf this week was strong enough for indictment of Mr. Bin Laden in a court of law.

Despite the release of evidence, which had been sought by many world leaders before any military action, French officials asserted Thursday that a possible U.S.-led military strike against Afghanistan was still weeks away because many key decisions have not been finalized.

French Defense Minister Alain Richard said these decisions could not be rushed.

"The decisions to take actions haven't been made," he said. "Everyone is going to prepare their own means that will be well-adapted for a joint effort. We aren't at the end of that."

Mr. Richard said the military plan being developed will seek to avoid hurting Afghan civilians.

"This is an action that will be very targeted, which is oriented toward objectives to destroy or control without touching the population," he said.

He spoke as NATO leaders agreed to provide the military and logistical support requested Wednesday by the United States.

The NATO decision means that Pentagon planners will be able to make use of NATO members' ports, airfields and airspace and to call upon NATO's naval forces in the Mediterranean, Italian officials said.

Italian Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero said NATO countries were also asked to provide early-warning radar planes and to provide financial assistance to Pakistan and other countries in the region that might be affected by hostilities.

NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson said the decision reflects the alliance's resolve to combat terrorism.

"The alliance is ready to deploy elements of its standing naval forces," he said.

With support for military action growing, Mr. Blair played a major role Thursday, underlining Britain's historic role as Washington's chief ally in the region.

Revealing new details about the hijackers, Mr. Blair said that one of the men who commandeered the airliners on Sept. 11 had also played an important role in the lethal 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which were orchestrated by Mr. bin Laden.

The documents made public by Mr. Blair asserted that one of Mr. bin Laden's "closest and most senior associates" was in charge of planning the Pentagon and World Trade Center attacks. Mr. Blair told Parliament that the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan has allowed Mr. bin Laden to conduct terror operations with impunity and warned that the elusive millionaire retains the capability to carry out more atrocities.

Mr. Blair said that the Taliban and al-Qaeda, Mr. Bin Laden's terrorist network, have developed a mutual relationship in which each depends on the other for survival.

He said Mr. bin Laden provides the Taliban regime with "material, financial and military support" in exchange for being allowed to operate terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. The British prime minister said the Taliban protects Mr. bin Laden from outside attacks and also protects his supplies of illicit drugs, which are sold to the outside world to raise money for the cause.

"Bin Laden could not operate his terrorist activities without the alliance and support of the Taliban regime, and the Taliban's strength would be seriously weakened without bin Laden's military and financial support," he said.

That gives the international coalition no choice but to treat the Taliban as enemies if Mr. Bin Laden is to be eliminated before he can develop and deploy nuclear and chemical weapons, Mr. Blair said.

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said U.S. officials agreed with the conclusions of the report made public by Mr. Blair. Mr. Boucher said that the disclosure of the information had been coordinated by U.S. and British officials and that no intelligence sources had been compromised. It is not clear to what extent the report was based on British intelligence information developed independently of the U.S. intelligence network.

After Mr. Blair's somber speech, which contained a warning that Britain is a possible target of Mr. bin Laden, he flew to Russia for crisis meetings with President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Blair plans to travel to Pakistan on Friday for consultations with Gen. Musharraf.

Europe Bureau chief Gregory Katz reported from Paris, and staff writer Jim Landers in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.