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Moussauoi linked plot { November 20 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12551-2002Nov19.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12551-2002Nov19.html
Moussaoui Linked to Plot
CIA Captive Says Suspect Met With 9/11 Planner
By Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 20, 2002; Page A01
Ramzi Binalshibh, an alleged coordinator of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks now in U.S. custody, has linked accused conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui to the suspected mastermind of the terror strikes on New York and Washington, revealing that Moussaoui met with Khalid Sheik Mohammed in Afghanistan in the winter of 2000, according to sources familiar with the interrogation.
Binalshibh's disclosures place Moussaoui in direct contact with Mohammed, believed to be al Qaeda's director of operations, who allegedly spent two years planning the terror attacks. Mohammed provided Moussaoui with names of contacts in the United States, and Binalshibh gave him an e-mail address and wired him money to advance the plot, Binalshibh has told interrogators.
The admissions could complicate Moussaoui's attempts to call Binalshibh as a defense witness in his conspiracy trial in federal court in Alexandria, now scheduled to begin next June. Moussaoui has acknowledged in court that he is a member of al Qaeda but has denied being part of the Sept. 11 plot.
Authorities have debated Moussaoui's role in the suicide attacks since Vice President Cheney named him as a possible 20th hijacker a month after the terror strikes. Binalshibh has told investigators that he and Mohammed ultimately lost confidence in Moussaoui's discretion and decided to use him in the hijack plot only as a last resort, the sources said.
The significance of Binalshibh's disclosures goes beyond the Moussaoui case, however, because he is also revealing information about Mohammed, a top al Qaeda leader who is still at large.
Binalshibh was captured in Karachi, Pakistan two months ago and quickly whisked away by the CIA for questioning at a secret location abroad. A Yemeni national who lived with lead hijacker Mohamed Atta in Hamburg, Germany, Binalshibh tried and failed to obtain a visa to enter the United States several times in what authorities have said may have been a bid to become one of the hijackers in the Sept. 11 plot.
He boasted of his role in supplying money and logistical support to the 19 hijackers in an interview he and Mohammed gave the al-Jazeera television network. The interview was recorded at a Karachi apartment in June and broadcast days before Binalshibh's arrest there in September.
Mohammed, a Kuwaiti of Palestinian origin, is a senior al Qaeda operative whose background includes alleged involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a foiled 1995 plot to crash a dozen U.S. airliners into the Pacific, as well as the bombing of a Tunisian synagogue in April. He is suspected by Pakistani authorities of involvement in the murder this year of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
Information provided by Binalshibh has been corroborated by other senior al Qaeda captives, sources said. Although U.S. officials have indicated for some time that Binalshibh has been cooperating, these disclosures are the first details of the information he has provided.
In addition to information about the attacks in Washington and New York, Binalshibh has told interrogators of an aborted plot planned for the same time period at London's Heathrow Airport, also allegedly coordinated by Mohammed, according to one of the sources. British authorities arrested an Islamic militant arriving on a flight from New York on Sept. 11, 2001; the militant was subsequently turned over to the FBI and held as a material witness.
Moussaoui is seeking to bring captured al Qaeda members, notably Binalshibh, to court to testify on his behalf. Federal prosecutors said they are not willing to interrupt detainee debriefings that could last months or even years, and are trying to prevent appearances in public courtrooms by al Qaeda operatives who may reveal information the government does not want publicly disclosed. Some federal officials have said that even if Binalshibh's testimony is incriminating, Moussaoui still may seek to call him as a way to exert leverage on prosecutors.
The government could limit testimony by dismissing the federal charges against Moussaoui and placing him instead before a secret military tribunal. That is something the Bush administration has considered but is reluctant to do, because Moussaoui could attempt to contest the move in federal court and open the military tribunal process to constitutional challenge.
In court documents made public this month, Moussaoui, who is acting as his own attorney, demanded a copy of the al-Jazeera interview with Binalshibh and Mohammed, arguing that it will advance his claim that he had no involvement in the Sept. 11 attack. Binalshibh discussed the hijackers, but made no mention of Moussaoui during the interview.
Two sources knowledgeable about the Binalshibh debriefings said he has told interrogators that Moussaoui met with Mohammed in the winter of 2000-2001 in Afghanistan. Mohammed provided Moussaoui with the names of individuals to contact in the United States, according to one intelligence source, and Moussaoui asked Mohammad for money.
The government said in its indictment that Moussaoui traveled from Hamburg to London in early December 2000, then on to Pakistan on Dec. 9, 2000. He departed Pakistan for London Feb. 7. Two weeks later, according to the indictment, Moussaoui flew from London to Chicago, declaring at least $35,000 in cash to U.S. Customs. He then traveled on to Norman, Okalahoma, where he attended flight school.
But he performed poorly; flight school officials there later said he was impatient and argumentative, and in a strange rush to obtain his pilot's license. They recalled seeing him make a large cash deposit to a local bank.
After he failed to qualify for solo flight, Moussaoui quit the Norman program and on May 23, 2001, e-mailed the Pan American International Flight Academy in Minnesota, according to the indictment.
Sources said that Binalshibh has told his interrogators that he met with Moussaoui in Karachi in June 2001. At some point during this period, Binalshibh gave Moussaoui the e-mail address of an individual in the United States, one of the sources said, and Moussaoui returned to take more flight training.
Binalshibh has told interrogators that he and Mohammed talked by phone in July, and discussed their concerns that Moussaoui was drawing attention to himself, acting in conspicuous ways and talking too much. Mohammed told Binalshibh that he did not have a lot of confidence in Moussaoui and the two decided they would use Moussaoui in the planned hijackings only if they really needed him, and would give him specific instructions at the last minute.
Sources also said Binalshibh has told interrogators about two wire transfers he made to Moussaoui in late July and early August 2001, as well as a confirmation fax he sent to Moussaoui. The indictment said Moussaoui received wire transfers from Binalshibh totaling $14,000 during this time period.
Moussaoui was arrested on immigration charges in mid-August after officials at the Minnesota flight school became suspicious of him and contacted the FBI.
In October, a month after the attacks, Binalshibh and Mohammed met in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Binalshibh has told interrogators. Binalshibh showed Mohammed a U.S. magazine that detailed Moussaoui's arrest. Mohammed, Binalshibh told interrogators, said he already knew about the arrest and expressed satisfaction that they had kept Moussaoui at a distance from others involved in the hijack plot.
Justice Department officials and federal prosecutors in Alexandria had no comment yesterday on Binalshibh's debriefings. Federal Public Defender Frank W. Dunham Jr., who is assisting in Moussaoui's defense, did not return a telephone call to his office seeking comment.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
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