-Caveat Lector- "Boomer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>... > http://www.observer.co.uk/Distribution/Redirect_Artifact/0,4678,0-560624,00. > html > > Spy blunder > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > ---- > Resentful west spurned Sudan's key terror files > > War on Terrorism - Observer special > > The secret war. Part 1 > > David Rose > Sunday September 30, 2001 > The Observer > > Security chiefs on both sides of the Atlantic repeatedly turned down the > chance to acquire a vast intelligence database on Osama bin Laden and more > than 200 leading members of his al-Qaeda terrorist network in the years > leading up to the 11 September attacks, an Observer investigation has > revealed. > They were offered thick files, with photographs and detailed biographies of > many of his principal cadres, and vital information about al-Qaeda's > financial interests in many parts of the globe. > > On two separate occasions, they were given an opportunity to extradite or > interview key bin Laden operatives who had been arrested in Africa because > they appeared to be planning terrorist atrocities. > > None of the offers, made regularly from the start of 1995, was taken up. One > senior CIA source admitted last night: 'This represents the worst single > intelligence failure in this whole terrible business. It is the key to the > whole thing right now. It is reasonable to say that had we had this data we > may have had a better chance of preventing the attacks.' > > He said the blame for the failure lay in the 'irrational hatred' the Clinton > administration felt for the source of the proffered intelligence - Sudan, > where bin Laden and his leading followers were based from 1992-96. He added > that after a slow thaw in relations which began last year, it was only now > that the Sudanese information was being properly examined for the first > time. > > Last weekend, a key meeting took place in London between Walter Kansteiner, > the US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, FBI and CIA representatives, > and Yahia Hussien Baviker, the Sudanese intelligence deputy chief. However, > although the intelligence channel between Sudan and the United States is now > open, and the last UN sanctions against the African state have been removed, > The Observer has evidence that a separate offer made by Sudanese agents in > Britain to share intelligence with MI6 has been rejected. This follows four > years of similar rebuffs. > > 'If someone from MI6 comes to us and declares himself, the next day he can > be in Khartoum,' said a Sudanese government source. 'We have been saying > this for years.' > > Bin Laden and his cadres came to Sudan in 1992 because at that time it was > one of the few Islamic countries where they did not need visas. He used his > time there to build a lucrative web of legitimate businesses, and to seed a > far-flung financial network - much of which was monitored by the Sudanese. > > They also kept his followers under close surveillance. One US source who has > seen the files on bin Laden's men in Khartoum said some were 'an inch and a > half thick'. > > They included photographs, and information on their families, backgrounds > and contacts. Most were 'Afghan Arabs', Saudis, Yemenis and Egyptians who > had fought with bin Laden against the Soviets in Afghanistan. > > 'We know them in detail,' said one Sudanese source. 'We know their leaders, > how they implement their policies, how they plan for the future. We have > tried to feed this information to American and British intelligence so they > can learn how this thing can be tackled.' > > In 1996, following intense pressure from Saudi Arabia and the US, Sudan > agreed to expel bin Laden and up to 300 of his associates. Sudanese > intelligence believed this to be a great mistake. > > 'There we could keep track of him, read his mail,' the source went on. 'Once > we kicked him out and he went to ground in Afghanistan, he couldn't be > tracked anywhere.' > > The Observer has obtained a copy of a personal memo sent from Sudan to Louis > Freeh, former director of the FBI, after the murderous 1998 attacks on > American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. It announces the arrest of two > named bin Laden operatives held the day after the bombings after they > crossed the Sudanese border from Kenya. They had cited the manager of a > Khartoum leather factory owned by bin Laden as a reference for their visas, > and were held after they tried to rent a flat overlooking in the US embassy > in Khartoum, where they were thought to be planning an attack. > > US sources have confirmed that the FBI wished to arrange their immediate > extradition. However, Clinton's Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, > forbade it. She had classed Sudan as a 'terrorist state,' and three days > later US missiles blasted the al-Shifa medicine factory in Khartoum. > > The US wrongly claimed it was owned by bin Laden and making chemical > weapons. In fact, it supplied 60 per cent of Sudan's medicines, and had > contracts to make vaccines with the UN. > > Even then, Sudan held the suspects for a further three weeks, hoping the US > would both perform their extradition and take up the offer to examine their > bin Laden database. Finally, the two men were deported to Pakistan. Their > present whereabouts are unknown. > > Last year the CIA and FBI, following four years of Sudanese entreaties, sent > a joint investigative team to establish whether Sudan was in fact a sponsor > of terrorism. Last May, it gave Sudan a clean bill of health. However, even > then, it made no effort to examine the voluminous files on bin Laden. > > > >
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