US: The independent commission investigating the September 11th 2001 attacks on the United States reported yesterday there was "no credible evidence" that Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaeda target the US, a claim used by the Bush administration to help justify invading Iraq last year.
The commission also reported the attacks were originally scheduled for May 12th 2001 and that the mastermind wanted to hijack 10 planes and target the White House.
The claim of a connection between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein has most persistently been made by Vice President Dick Cheney who claimed again on Monday that the Iraqi dictator "had long established ties with al-Qaeda." While al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden made overtures for assistance to lraq a decade ago, there was no evidence of any help from Saddam Hussein, the commission staff report said.
"Bin Laden is said to have requested space to establish training camps, as well as assistance in procuring weapons, but Iraq apparently never responded," it said.
"Two senior bin Laden associates have adamantly denied that any ties existed between al-Qaeda and Iraq," the report said.
Mohamed Atta, the pilot of one of the planes that struck the World Trade Center, never met with Iraqi agents in Prague, a meeting cited by Mr Cheney and others as evidence of an al-Qaeda connection to Iraq, the report added.
Asked on Tuesday for evidence to back up Mr Cheney's claim on Monday, Mr Bush replied: "Zarqawi. Zarqawi is the best evidence of connection to al-Qaeda affiliates and al-Qaeda. He's the person who's still killing." Before the US-led invasion of Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant, was based in an enclave in the US-protected Kurdish area of Northern Iraq, outside the control of Baghdad.
The bipartisan commission issued its findings at renewed public hearings in Washington and will publish a final report in July on the attacks which involved four hijacked planes and killed nearly 3,000 people.
The commission said the commander of the attacks Khalid Shaikh Mohammed planned to pilot one of the planes, kill the male passengers, contact the media, land, release the women and children, then issue a statement attacking US policy in the Middle East. However Osama bin Laden turned him down.