The Bush administration’s claims of ties between Saddam Hussein’s regime and al-Qaida terrorists are being tested in federal court, where the family of the FBI’s late counterterrorism chief has sued Iraq over the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings.
The wife and children of John O’Neill, who died in the attack on the World Trade Center, allege that Iraq began communicating with al-Qaida as early as 1992, provided training to Osama bin Laden’s warriors and sent intelligence agents to work with the terror network in Afghanistan. The suit accuses Iraq of complicity in the Sept. 11 attacks by providing support to terrorists, and seeks $1 billion in damages. The Associated Press reported over the weekend, based on interviews with intelligence officials, that the Bush administration has evidence of contacts between Iraqi intelligence and al-Qaida but no proof of direct Iraqi sponsorship of al-Qaida attacks. Full Story
