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Iraq: Al-Qaeda Operatives Hide in Iraq, Some U.S. Officials Say Bush administration officials believe Al-Qaeda operatives are using Iraq as a hideout in the aftermath of the U.S.-led campaign to oust Afghanistan’s former Taliban rulers, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, March 20). Some analysts and officials believe Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is aware of al-Qaeda’s presence in his country, according to the Times. “You cannot convince me Saddam does not know they are in Iraq,” a senior administration official said. “It adds up to tacit complicity for Iraq and Iran to serve as safe havens for al-Qaeda.” If Hussein is knowingly tolerating al-Qaeda’s presence, it would provide a justification for the United States to attack Iraq, some analysts said. U.S. President George W. Bush has indicated that concerns that terrorists might acquire Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction could prompt him to take military action (see GSN, June 3). The Bush administration believes there are links between Iraqi government-dominated businesses and al-Qaeda, according to the Times. U.S. officials have no evidence, however, that Iraq serves as a location for al-Qaeda bases or training camps, officials said (see GSN, March 19). U.S. intelligence agencies have also been unable to directly link Iraq to the Sept. 11 attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (see GSN, May 9). Other Countries Meanwhile, Israeli intelligence has told the United States that al-Qaeda operatives have passed through Iran and Iraq to Lebanon and joined the militant group Hezbollah. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has also charged that al-Qaeda members have crossed through Iran. Early concerns that al-Qaeda might reconstitute itself in Somalia have not proved true, however, officials said (see GSN, Jan. 31). “Al-Qaeda is trying to figure out lessons from Afghanistan, and one lesson is not to set up new, big training camps that are too easily observed by satellite photographs and other things,” a senior official said (Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times, June 21).
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