*EPF403 09/26/2002
Rumsfeld Says Senior Al-Qaeda Members Have Been in Baghdad
(Defense Department Report, September 26) (650)

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says current information suggests that members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network have been in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and have been provided "safe haven" in other parts of the country.

Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon September 26 that reports of an al-Qaeda presence in Iraq date back over the past decade, but that some intelligence reports are as recent as six months. While these operatives "are people of interest," he said Osama Bin Laden is not one of them.

Since September 11, 2001, he said, "we have solid evidence" of an al-Qaeda presence in Iraq "including some that have been in Baghdad." There has been reliable intelligence reporting of senior level contacts between Iraq and al-Qaeda," he said, with reports of the contacts increasing since 1998. "We have what we believe to be credible information that Iraq and al-Qaeda have discussed safe haven opportunities in Iraq" and have held "reciprocal non-aggression discussions," the secretary said.

Rumsfeld said there is also credible evidence that al-Qaeda leaders have sought Iraqi contacts "who could help them acquire weapons of mass destruction capabilities" and possible chemical and biological agent training.

On the subject of Iraqi capabilities, Rumsfeld said: "We know they have weapons of mass destruction. We know they have active programs. There isn't any debate about it." For more information, he pointed to the British White Paper on Iraq that was released on September 24 (The full text of the paper is available at: http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraq/text/dossiertc.htm).

The secretary said members of the U.S. Congress have been briefed extensively on this subject. He also said that John McLaughlin, deputy director of Central Intelligence, provided a detailed briefing to NATO allies in Warsaw "on the threat posed by Iraq, its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, and its ties to terrorists and its connections to al-Qaeda." Meanwhile, Rumsfeld said Iraq continues "to deny that it has weapons of mass destruction programs or weapons of mass destruction and is in the process of playing the international community along in New York" at the United Nations.

Rumsfeld acknowledged that it is difficult to obtain "perfect evidence" to satisfy those who are seeking proof of the connection between Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and deadly weapons, but he noted that evidence does pile up over time. "It is cumulative," he said of the evidence that is being gathered through interrogations and other sources.

Rumsfeld said that he asked the intelligence community to declassify some information about the subject last week in an effort to demystify what is known about Iraq. Some of that information was declassified, he said, and is being used in media opportunities by National Security Affairs Advisor Condoleezza Rice, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer and Pentagon officials.

The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who briefed with Rumsfeld, provided an update on military action in Iraq. Marine Corps General Peter Pace said coalition aircraft responded to hostile fire September 25 by launching precision-guided munitions against Iraqi air defense facilities in al-Kufa and Basra.

The subject of the coalition strike in Basra was "a military target," Pace said. He explained that the al-Basra airfield where the strike occurred is used by both civilian and military aircraft. "The radar site that was struck was on the military side of the field ����way off the end of the ����field," he said. It was basically in the desert in an area where there were no civilian activities, including civilian aircraft, at the time of the strike, Pace said. "And the only reason anybody would be out in this vicinity of this particular radar at any time of day would be to actually be functioning as part of that radar team," he added.

Pace was also asked about possible plans for the U.S. military to train Iraqi opposition forces. He said U.S. military officials will examine the "whole spectrum" of available military options to see what might be appropriate today as well as over the next two years.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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