Reply #31: I ran across this article from The Guardian dated 08/23/2002 ...

[dixiechiken]

And I'm curious ... Would this be the same "camp" as the one in the current MSNBC article? Or a different one? I don't see any specific mention of Abu Musab Zarqawi, but I'm not sure how many "camps" were found in Northern Iraq ... anyone else know?



Al-Qaida running new terror camp, say Kurds

Michael Howard in Halabjah, Iraqi Kurdistan and Julian Borger in Washington
Friday August 23, 2002

<snip>

It was reported this week that the Bush administration contemplated a covert strike on Ansar-controlled territory because it suspected al-Qaida had set up a laboratory there to experiment with chemical or biological weapons. But US analysts decided that whatever al-Qaida was up to was too rudimentary to pose a direct threat and was not worth risking American lives for.

Nevertheless, Washington hawks arguing for an invasion of Iraq have seized on the allegations of an al-Qaida presence as evidence of a link between President Saddam, Osama bin Laden and September 11. The PUK claims have drawn scepticism because of the group's interest in drawing the US into a conflict with Baghdad. But Guardian interviews with captured Ansar members appear to confirm the al-Qaida presence and a limited, indirect connection to Baghdad. Iraqi agents have also been seen in Ansar villages.

It is in Baghdad's interest to exploit Ansar as a destabilising force in the north, but the evidence the US is looking for - a conclusive link between Baghdad and al-Qaida - is proving elusive.

<snip>