March 28, 2004
Ex-Terror Czar: Feds Couldn't Disprove Nichols-Yousef Connection
By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com
http://www.intelwire.com/2004_03_28_exclusives.html Federal agencies were "never able to disprove" claims that Ramzi Yousef and Terry Nichols may have met in the Philippines prior to the Oklahoma City bombing, according to the former National Security Council director of counterterrorism Richard Clarke, who also reveals that Nichols and Yousef were in Cebu City on the same days.
Amid the controversy over Against All Enemies, Clarke's expose of the Bush Administration, there has been only sporadic coverage of his brief mention of the Oklahoma City bombing and rumors that al Qaeda may have provided training to convicted conspirator Terry Nichols, which he cited as a loose end that still weighs on his mind.
"We were never able to disprove" the alleged connection, wrote Clarke, who headed a Clinton administration interagency task force on terrorism at the time. He said Nichols and Yousef "visited Cebu on the same days." Previously, the two had only been conclusively verified as being in Cebu together on one specific date (Dec. 11, 1994), but there is significant evidence to suggest more overlap.
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It's unclear whether the results of the investigation cited by Clarke were fully disclosed to defense lawyers for Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. The production of documents by the FBI and other federal agencies has been a major issue in the state trial of Terry Nichols.
An investigation by the Associated Press has turned up significant evidence that the FBI failed to provide and in some cases even destroyed evidence related to a broader conspiracy in the Oklahoma City bombing. AP's reports prompted the FBI to open an internal investigation into the bombing last month.
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INS Deported al Qaeda-Linked Suspect Just Days After Oklahoma Bombing
Gov't Returned Evidence, Erased Charges, Despite Ties to OKC Bombing Confession
By J.M. BERGER
http://www.intelwire.com/khalifa100603.html Seven days after the Oklahoma City bombing, the INS agreed to deport a brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden who had been implicated as a possible accessory to the attack by a jailhouse confession and documents relating to bomb construction.
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Arrested in San Francisco on an immigration violation in December 1994, Khalifa was a figure of primary interest to the FBI, which suspected him of assisting al Qaeda operatives Ramzi Yousef and Abdul Hakim Murad in a plot to bomb a dozen U.S. airliners from their base in the Philippines earlier that year, according to Peter Lance (
http://www.peterlance.com ), author of "1000 Years for Revenge," a new book covering the FBI's investigation of Yousef.
Evidence in the FBI's possession at the time potentially implicated the Saudi businessman in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the airliner bombing plot and the Oklahoma City bombing. Khalifa was formally named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 New York City Landmarks bombing plot.
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On the basis of evidence in the FBI's hands at the time a deal was finally approved in April, Khalifa was at minimum a material witness in the three biggest criminal cases in the history of the United States.
On the day of the Oklahoma bombing, Murad told a prison guard that the "Liberation Army" was responsible for the attack, an allegation he repeated to the FBI the following day, according to documents obtained by Lance, who contributed to this article.
Convicted World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef had claimed responsibility for the 1993 WTC attack on behalf of the Liberation Army. Items seized from his Manila apartment and at the time of his arrest also contained references to the group.
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