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Fbi scales back investigation { May 14 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2675556,00.htmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2675556,00.html
FBI Scales Back Saudi Investigative Team
Wednesday May 14, 2003 5:39 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) - The size of the FBI contingent headed to Saudi Arabia to investigate the deadly bombings was scaled back amid concern about Saudi sensitivity to a large U.S. law enforcement presence.
FBI Director Robert Mueller dispatched the ``assessment team,'' consisting of six agents and technicians led by a senior official in the counterterrorism division, on Tuesday. The CIA and State Department also have sent personnel.
Initial plans called for the FBI team to include up to 12 people. However, FBI officials said Wednesday more agents are likely to be sent in the future.
The FBI team will rely heavily on help from Saudi authorities, who in the past have limited U.S. access to terrorism investigations.
In 1996, Saudi authorities restricted American access after the bombing of the Khobar Towers dormitory that killed 19 U.S. military service members. In the latest bombings, it will be up to the Saudis to secure the scene and ensure that no evidence is lost.
``My expectation is that we will get full cooperation from the Saudis,'' Mueller said Tuesday during an appearance in Albany, N.Y.
U.S. lawmakers are demanding that the Saudis offer full cooperation.
``The attacks ... should really be a wake-up call to the Saudis,'' said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
``There's been a measure of cooperation. It can be stronger, and this may result in stronger cooperation,'' said Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said, ``It's once again imperative that we press upon the Saudis how critical it is that we have their cooperation, not only on this particular incident but all of those issues that have linked Saudis with terrorism in the past.''
FBI investigators plan to interview witnesses and recover and secure evidence alongside Saudi police. FBI bomb specialists will begin the process of figuring out what explosives were used, how they were detonated and how to trace their origin.
Saudi officials may be more willing to accept U.S. assistance, as they have been eager to blunt the U.S. criticism that they have allowed al-Qaida operatives to operate within the country. More than 300 suspected terrorists have been arrested in Saudi Arabia since the Sept. 11 attacks, Saudi officials say.
In the Khobar Towers case, the FBI was prevented by Saudi officials from interrogating some suspects. Former FBI Director Louis Freeh urged former President Clinton to push for more cooperation, but the administration was concerned about offending a key ally.
At one point, the FBI had to submit a list of 212 questions to Saudi authorities, who then did the interviews with suspects while FBI agents watched.
A five-year FBI investigation led to the U.S. indictments in 2001 of 14 suspects described by prosecutors as members of Saudi Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group. None of the suspects has been brought to the United States to stand trial.
American counterterrorism officials have said there are signs that al-Qaida also had a hand in the Khobar attacks.
Mueller said Monday's attack bears many ``markings'' of al-Qaida, although he declined to definitely blame Osama bin Laden's terror network. Signposts include the high degree of coordination needed to carry out multiple, simultaneous attacks, the use of suicide attackers and the group's oft-stated aim of ridding Saudi Arabia of Western influence.
U.S. intelligence had indicated over the past few months that an attack in Saudi Arabia against American interests was possible and that it would be against ``soft targets'' rather than fortified military or government installations. Al-Qaida staged a similar strike on a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, last October that killed more than 200 people.
U.S. authorities are trying to determine who directed the operation and inquiring whether senior al-Qaida operatives hiding in Iran played a role, according to Bush administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Bin Laden's son Saad is thought to be among those in Iran.
The new attacks came less than a week after Mueller and President Bush said the United States had turned the tide in the war against al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations. They cited the capture of leading al-Qaida figures and successful wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as significantly weakening the organization.
Some terrorism experts said the optimism might be misguided. They noted al-Qaida is known for its patience and tends to mount major attacks in 18-to-24 month cycles.
``The very terrorist group we thought was on its way out pulls a sophisticated operation right in the heart of the Middle East, where we have thousands of troops,'' said Michael Greenberger, a former Justice Department counterterrorism official who is now a law professor at the University of Maryland's Center for Health and Homeland Security. ``I'm very concerned about whatever intelligence they're getting that says the tide has turned.''
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Associated Press writers Curt Anderson in Washington and Alicia Chang in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this story.
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