| “
Nothing has come to our notice that would indicate links between Iraq and
al-Qaida,” said Michael Chandler, the committee’s chief investigator.
The committee first heard of alleged ties during Secretary of State Powell’s
February presentation to the Security Council ahead of the Iraq war. “
It had never come to our knowledge before Powell’s speech, and we
never received any information from the United States for us to even follow
up on,” said Abaza Hassan, a committee investigator. |
|
Powell insisted in his presentation that Saddam Hussein’s regime
was allowing a senior al Qaeda member named Abu Musab Zarqawi to operate
from Baghdad. Zarqawi has been indicted in the murder of a U.S. diplomat
in Jordan on Oct. 28. The alleged connections were cited by the administration
as one of the key reasons for going after Hussein, but the committee saw
no need to investigate Zarqawi’s movements. Nevertheless, the committee
is investigating al Qaeda activity in Iran. Chandler, who visited
the Iran-Afghanistan border in October, said he had been satisfied then
with steps the Iranians were taking. “They captured some people
coming across the border and handed those people over to their countries
of origin,” he said.
|
