http://www.xs4all.nl/~stgvisie/VISIE/donahue.html

This transcript is produced from the teletext subtitles that are generated live for Newsnight. It has been checked against the programme as broadcast,
however Newsnight can accept no responsibility for any factual inaccuracies. We will be happy to correct serious errors.
Has someone been sitting on the FBI? 6/11/01

GREG PALAST:
The CIA and Saudi Arabia, the Bushes and the Bin Ladens. Did their connections cause America to turn a blind eye to terrorism?

UNNAMED MAN:
There is a hidden agenda at the very highest levels of our government.

JOE TRENTO, (AUTHOR, "SECRET HISTORY OF THE CIA"):
The sad thing is that thousands of Americans had to die needlessly.

PETER ELSNER:
How can it be that the former President of the US and the current President of the US have business dealings with characters that need to be
investigated?

PALAST:
In the eight weeks since the attacks, over 1,000 suspects and potential witnesses have been detained. Yet, just days after the hijackers took off from
Boston aiming for the Twin Towers, a special charter flight out of the same airport whisked 11 members of Osama Bin Laden's family off to Saudi Arabia.
That did not concern the White House.

Their official line is that the Bin Ladens are above suspicion - apart from Osama, the black sheep, who they say hijacked the family name. That's
fortunate for the Bush family and the Saudi royal household, whose links with the Bin Ladens could otherwise prove embarrassing. But Newsnight has
obtained evidence that the FBI was on the trail of other members of the] Bin Laden family for links to terrorist organisations before and after September
11th.

This document is marked "Secret". Case ID - 199-Eye WF 213 589. 199 is FBI code for case type. 9 would be murder. 65 would be espionage. 199
means national security. WF indicates Washington field office special agents were investigating ABL - because of it's relationship with the World
Assembly of Muslim Youth, WAMY - a suspected terrorist organisation. ABL is Abdullah Bin Laden, president and treasurer of WAMY.

This is the sleepy Washington suburb of Falls Church, Virginia where almost every home displays the Stars and Stripes. On this unremarkable street, at
3411 Silver Maple Place, we located the former home of Abdullah and another brother, Omar, also an FBI suspect. It's conveniently close to WAMY. The
World Assembly of Muslim Youth is in this building, in a little room in the basement at 5613 Leesburg Pike. And here, just a couple blocks down the road
at 5913 Leesburg, is where four of the hijackers that attacked New York and Washington are listed as having lived.

The US Treasury has not frozen WAMY's assets, and when we talked to them, they insisted they are a charity. Yet, just weeks ago, Pakistan expelled
WAMY operatives. And India claimed that WAMY was funding an organisation linked to bombings in Kashmir. And the Philippines military has accused
WAMY of funding Muslim insurgency. The FBI did look into WAMY, but, for some reason, agents were pulled off the trail.

TRENTO:
The FBI wanted to investigate these guys. This is not something that they didn't want to do - they wanted to, they weren't permitted to.

PALAST:
The secret file fell into the hands of national security expert, Joe Trento. The Washington spook-tracker has been looking into the FBI's allegations about
WAMY.

TRENTO:
They've had connections to Osama Bin Laden's people. They've had connections to Muslim cultural and financial aid groups that have terrorist
connections. They fit the pattern of groups that the Saudi royal family and Saudi community of princes - the 20,000 princes - have funded who've
engaged in terrorist activity.

Now, do I know that WAMY has done anything that's illegal? No, I don't know that. Do I know that as far back as 1996 the FBI was very concerned about
this organisation? I do.

PALAST:
Newsnight has uncovered a long history of shadowy connections between the State Department, the CIA and the Saudis. The former head of the
American visa bureau in Jeddah is Michael Springman.
MICHAEL SPRINGMAN:
In Saudi Arabia I was repeatedly ordered by high level State Dept officials to issue visas to unqualified applicants. These were, essentially, people who
had no ties either to Saudi Arabia or to their own country. I complained bitterly at the time there. I returned to the US, I complained to the State Dept here,
to the General Accounting Office, to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and to the Inspector General's office. I was met with silence.

PALAST:
By now, Bush Sr, once CIA director, was in the White House. Springman was shocked to find this wasn't visa fraud. Rather, State and CIA were playing
"the Great Game".

SPRINGMAN:
What I was protesting was, in reality, an effort to bring recruits, rounded up by Osama Bin Laden, to the US for terrorist training by the CIA. They would
then be returned to Afghanistan to fight against the then-Soviets.

The attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 did not shake the State Department's faith in the Saudis, nor did the attack on American barracks at
Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia three years later, in which 19 Americans died. FBI agents began to feel their investigation was being obstructed. Would
you be surprised to find out that FBI agents are a bit frustrated that they can't be looking into some Saudi connections?

MICHAEL WILDES, ( LAWYER)
I would never be surprised with that. They're cut off at the hip sometimes by supervisors or given shots that are being called from Washington at the
highest levels.

PALAST:
I showed lawyer Michael Wildes our FBI documents. One of the Khobar Towers bombers was represented by Wildes, who thought he had useful
intelligence for the US. He also represents a Saudi diplomat who defected to the USA with 14,000 documents which Wildes claims implicates Saudi
citizens in financing terrorism and more. Wildes met with FBI men who told him they were not permitted to read all the documents. Nevertheless, he tried
to give them to the agents.

WILDES:
"Take these with you. We're not going to charge for the copies. Keep them. Do something with them. Get some bad guys with them." They refused.

PALAST:
In the hall of mirrors that is the US intelligence community, Wildes, a former US federal attorney, said the FBI field agents wanted the documents, but
they were told to "see no evil."

WILDES:
You see a difference between the rank-and-file counter-intelligence agents, who are regarded by some as the motor pool of the FBI, who drive following
diplomats, and the people who are getting the shots called at the highest level of our government, who have a different agenda - it's unconscionable.

PALAST:
State wanted to keep the pro-American Saudi royal family in control of the world's biggest oil spigot, even at the price of turning a blind eye to any terrorist
connection so long as America was safe. In recent years, CIA operatives had other reasons for not exposing Saudi-backed suspects.

TRENTO:
If you recruited somebody who is a member of a terrorist organisation, who happens to make his way here to the US, and even though you're not in touch
with that person anymore but you have used him in the past, it would be unseemly if he were arrested by the FBI and word got back that he'd once been
on the payroll of the CIA. What we're talking about is blow-back. What we're talking about is embarrassing, career-destroying blow-back for intelligence
officials.

PALAST:
Does the Bush family also have to worry about political blow-back? The younger Bush made his first million 20 years ago with an oil company partly
funded by Salem Bin Laden's chief US representative. Young George also received fees as director of a subsidiary of Carlyle Corporation, a little known
private company which has, in just a few years of its founding, become one of Americas biggest defence contractors. His father, Bush Senior, is also a
paid advisor. And what became embarrassing was the revelation that the Bin Ladens held a stake in Carlyle, sold just after September 11.

ELSNER:
You have a key relationship between the Saudis and the former President of the US who happens to be the father of the current President of the US. And
you have all sorts of questions about where does policy begin and where does good business and good profits for the company, Carlyle, end?

PALAST:
I received a phone call from a high-placed member of a US intelligence agency. He tells me that while there's always been constraints on investigating
Saudis, under George Bush it's gotten much worse. After the elections, the agencies were told to "back off" investigating the Bin Ladens and Saudi
royals, and that angered agents. I'm told that since September 11th the policy has been reversed. FBI headquarters told us they could not comment on
our findings. A spokesman said: "There are lots of things that only the intelligence community knows and that no-one else ought to know.
End of Newsnight 6 November 2001

THE GW BUSH--OSAMA BIN LADIN CONNECTION

James R. Bath, friend and neighbor of George W. Bush, was used as a cash funnel from Osama bin
Laden's rich father, Sheikh bin Laden, to set George W. Bush up in business, according to reputable
sources from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. The connection between GW Bush, the
bin Laden family, and the Bank Commerce Credit International (BCCI) is well documented. The excerpts
from the books and news articles are supplemented by the links at the bottom of the page to the cash flow
charts of the bin Laden-backed BCCI money which was funneled into the Bush family in return for
favors. Just click on the links at the bottom of the page to see the flow charts and use the back and
forward keys on the screen to return to this page where you can then access the next flow chart link.
******************************************************
******************************************************

"Bath--who made his fortune by investing money for Mahfouz and another BCCI-connected Saudi,
Sheikh bin-Laden--...was an original investor in George Bush Jr.'s oil exploration company..." from The
Outlaw Bank, page 229.
**************************************************************************************************************

"Bath provided financing to George W. Bush, the future president's eldest son, when he went into the oil
business..." from False Profits, page 365.
**************************************************************************************************************

"Bath told me he was in the CIA...he had been recruited by George Bush himself 1n 1976 when Bush was
director of the agency...Bath and George, Jr. were pals and flew together in the same Air National Guard
unit, and Bath lived down the street from the Bush family when George, Sr. was living in Houston...he
became representative for Sheikh Khalid bin-Mafouz...one of the richest men in the world, and he was a
controlling shareholder in...BCCI..." from The Outlaw Bank, page 228.
**************************************************************************************************************

"BCCI was charged with laundering drug money..." from False Profits, page 433.
**************************************************************************************************************

"During George Bush's tenure as CIA director, the agency was allegedly involved in a very curious
business deal with James R. Bath, a Texas businessman who is a friend and sometime financial backer of
one of Bush's sons (George Bush, Jr.). Bath was also a business associate of Khalid bin Mafouze and an
important BCCI insider." from http://www.freerepublic.com/forum.a1000396.htm
**************************************************************************************************************

 DIAGRAM OF BIN LADEN MONEY SENT TO GW BUSH THROUGH
                                               JAMES R. BATH
 
 

"...BCCI would make payments to key officials, sometimes in suitcases filled with cash. As BCCI officer
Abdur Askhia stated in interviews tithe Subcommittee staff: Abedi's philosophy was to appeal to every
sector. President Carter's main thing was charity, so he gave Carter charity. Pakistani President Zia's
brother in law needed a job, he got a job. Bangladeshi president Ashraf's mistress needed a job, she got a
job. Admission of your son to a top college, he would arrange it somehow. There was a world wide list of
people who were in the payoff of BCCI...". from United States Senate Subcommittee Report on Bank
Credit Commerce International, 1992--the Kerry Committee.
**************************************************************************************************************

Osama bin Laden, whose funds were inherited from his father, Sheikh bin Laden's BCCI investments, has
been operating out of Afghanistan since he was established as a conduit for CIA funds in the 1980's.
"Afghanistan was by far the biggest; it was, in fact, the biggest CIA operationof all time, both in terms of
dollars spent ($5-$6 billion) and personnel involved..."from the book The CIA's Greatest Hits.
**************************************************************************************************************

The story of the Bush involvement in the BCCI scandal involved "trails that branched, crossed one
another, or came to unexpected dead ends...". It was like a "three dimensional chess game." from The
Outlaw Bank, page 227.
**************************************************************************************************************

The BCCI bribery connection went straight to the George Bush oval office. The White House political
director, a man whom the Senate noted sat in on presidential meetings, named Ed Rogers, was hired away
from the Chief of Staff's Office to represent the BCCI's American representative, Sheik Adham.
**************************************************************************************************************

"Q-Mr. President, considering your concern about propriety in government, what was your reaction when
a senior member of your White House staff, Ed Rogers, left the White House employ and signed a contract
with a Saudi sheikh accused of being a key figure in the BCCI scandal?

The President-Well, he is a free citizen to do anything he wants once he leaves the White House. My
concern is about the White House itself, that it be beyond any perception of impropriety.

Q-Well, what do you think he was selling to the Saudis except for accessing---

The President--Ask him. I don't know anything what he's selling. I don't know anything about this man,
excpet I've read bad stuff about him. And I don't like what I read about him. But I would suggest that the
matter is best dealt with by asking this man what kind of representation he is doing for this sheikh. But it
has nothing to do, in my view, with the White House." from the Official Papers of the Presidents, Press
Conference, October 25, 1991. George Herbert Walker Bush.
**************************************************************************************************************

The Senate Commitee on BCCI, the Kerrey Committee, noted that Ed Rogers, the White House political
director, was hired directly away by the BCCI sheikh and paid, along with a hitherto unknown assistant
named Haley Barbour (later to become National Republican Committee Chairman), the sum of $600,000
to not do much of nothing. The Senate Committee concluded that it, along with the "gifts" of cash to GW
Bush, was intended to influence President Bush.
**************************************************************************************************************

After GW Bush's company, Arbrusto, went bust, the bin Laden connection with BCCI went to work once
again to prop up the president's son and to buy influence. GW swapped out shares until he had an interest
in a new company, Harken Energy, which quickly received a lucrative oil concession in Bahrain. An
"extraordinary number of people connected to Harken or the oil deal have ties to BCCI...Sheikh Khalifa
bin-Salman al-Khalifa helped to ensure that Harken was awarded the offshore drilling contract...Sheikh
Abdullah Taha Baksh..Ghairth Pharaon...Bin Mahfouz...Talat Othman who has visited the White House..."
from False Profits, page 370. "Knowledgeable oil company sources believe that the Bahrain oil concession
was indeed an oblique favor to the president of the United States but say that Saudi Arabia (home of bin
Laden) was behind the Decision". from Outlaw Bank, page 230.
**************************************************************************************************************

The payback was access: "After the Harken-Bahrain deal was signed, Talat Othman was added to a group
of Arabs who met with George Bush and National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft three times in 1990 --
once just two days after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Othman was the representative of Sheikh Abdullah Bakhsh,
who purchased 10% of Harken stock and had several ties to the infamous BCCI bank. Bakhsh was a
co-investor in Saudi Arabia with alleged BCCI front man Ghaith Pharaon. Bakhsh's banker, Khalid bin
Mahfouz, was another BCCI figure and head of the largest bank in Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Kalifah, the
prime minister of Bahrain, was a BCCI shareholder and played the key role in selecting Harken for the oil
contract." from http://www.realchange.org/bushjr.htm
**************************************************************************************************************

Three dimensional Chess Game--Click on Writing

James R. Bath cash flow
George W. Bush
Bank Credit Commerce International

BCCI Official Reports and the Bush White House--click

Official US Senate Report--BCCI Crimes
Official US Senate Report--Ed Rogers and BCCI
Ed Rogers--Cash Flowchart

BUSH AFGHANISTAN FLOWCHART

Bush Afghanistan Policy Flow Chart
*LINK TO MONEY FUNNEL FROM BUSH TO BIN LADEN

    THE GW-OSAMA CONNECTION--THE MONEY FUNNEL FROM
                                              BUSH TO OSAMA
 
 

MONEY FLOW GOES BOTH WAYS

     Sheikh bin Laden/BCCI to George W. Bush
     President Bush to Pakistani General
     Pakistani General to Osama bin Laden

20 August 1998 TEXT: U.S. GOVERNMENT FACTSHEET ON USAMA BIN LADIN (Saudi advocates
destruction of United States) (860) (The following U.S. government factsheet was distributed by the
Defense Department August 20, 1998.) Usama Bin Ladin was born around 1955 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
He is the youngest son of Muhammad Bin Ladin, a wealthy Saudi of Yemeni origin and founder of the
Bin Ladin Group, a construction firm heavily involved with Saudi Government contracts. Usama Bin
Ladin left Saudi Arabia to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan in 1979. In the mid-1980s he
co-founded the Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK) or Services Office, to help funnel fighters and money to the
Afghan resistance in Peshawar with a Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood member named 'Abdallah 'Azzam.
The MAK ultimately established recruitment centers around the world -- including in the U.S., Egypt,
Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan -- that enlisted, sheltered, and transported thousands of individuals from over
50 countries to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. It also organized and funded paramilitary training camps
in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Bin Ladin imported heavy equipment to cut roads and tunnels and to build
hospitals and storage depots in Afghanistan.

Bin Ladin split from 'Azzam in the late 1980s to extend his campaign to all corners of the globe: 'Azzam
remained focused only on support to Muslims waging military campaigns. Bin Ladin formed a new
organization in 1988 called al-Qa'ida -- the military "base." After 'Azzam was killed by a car bomb in late
1989, the MAK split, with the extremist faction joining Bin Ladin's organization.

Bin Ladin returned to work in his family's Jeddah-based construction business after the Soviets withdrew
from Afghanistan in 1989, but he continued his organization to support opposition movements in Saudi
Arabia and Yemen.

Bin Ladin's anti-government activities prompted the Saudi government to expel him in 1991, after which
he relocated to Sudan. Although the Afghan war had ended, al-Qa'ida has remained a formidable
organization consisting of mujahedin of many nationalities who had previously fought with Bin Ladin.
Many of these have remained loyal to and continue working with him today.

In May 1996, Sudan expelled Bin Ladin, largely in response to U.S. insistence and to the threat of UN
sanctions following Sudan's alleged complicity in the attempted assassination of Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak in Ethiopia in 1995. Within a month, Bin Ladin took refuge in Afghanistan, where his support
for and participation in Islamic extremist activities continued.

Bin Ladin's Organization

Al-Qa'ida's goal, in Bin Ladin's words, is to "unite all Muslims and to establish a government which
follows the rule of the Caliphs." Bin Ladin has stated that the only way to establish the Caliphate is by
force. Al-Qa'ida's goal, therefore, is to overthrow nearly all Muslim governments, which Bin Ladin views
as "corrupt," to drive Western influence from those countries, and eventually to abolish state boundaries.

Al-Qa'ida is multi-national, with members from numerous countries and with a worldwide presence.
Senior leaders in the organization are also senior leaders in other terrorist organizations, including those
designated by the Department of State as foreign terrorist organizations, such as the Egyptian al-Gama'at
al-Islamiyya and the Egyptian al-Jihad. Al-Qa'ida seeks a global radicalization of existing Islamic groups
and the creation of radical Islamic groups where none exist.

Al-Qa'ida supports Muslim fighters in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Tajikistan, Somalia, Yemen, and
now Kosovo. It also trains members of terrorist organizations from such diverse countries as the
Philippines, Algeria, and Eritrea.

Anti-U.S. Agenda

Bin Ladin advocates the destruction of the United States, which he sees as the chief obstacle to reform in
Muslim societies. Since 1996, his anti-U.S. rhetoric has escalated to the point of calling for worldwide
attacks on Americans and our allies, including civilians.

-- Bin Ladin publicly issued his "Declaration of War" against the United States in August 1996.

-- When anti-U.S. attacks did not materialize immediately, he explained the delay: "If we wanted to carry
out small operations, it would have been easy to do so immediately after the statements. Even the nature
of the battle requires good preparation."

-- In November 1996 he pronounced as "praiseworthy terrorism" the bombings in Riyadh and at Khobar
in Saudi Arabia, promising that other attacks would follow. He admitted carrying out attacks on U.S.
military personnel in Somalia and Yemen, declaring that "we used to hunt them down in Mogadishu."

-- He stated in an interview broadcast in February 1997 that "if someone can kill an American soldier, it is
better than wasting time on other matters."

-- In February 1998, Bin Ladin announced the creation of a new alliance of terrorist organizations, the
"International Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders." The Front included the Egyptian
al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Harakat ul-Ansar, and two other groups. The
Front declared its intention to attack Americans and our allies, including civilians, anywhere in the world.

-- In May 1998, he stated at a press conference in Afghanistan that we would see the results of his threats
"in a few weeks."

February 12, 1989 Bush OKs Military Aid For Rebels ByAP

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (AP) - President Bush has approved continuing U.S. military aid to the
Mujahadeen rebels resisting the Soviet-imposed government in Afghanistan, an administration spokesman
said Saturday. Deputy press secretary Steve Hart confirmed that Bush had decided Friday to continue
helping the rebels. "The president met with his National Security Council," Hart said, "and reaffirmed U.S.
policy" of continuing the flow of money, arms and supplies to the rebels..."

March 16, 1989 Column: LEONARD LARSEN Financing Afghan guerillas may return harsh dividends
ByLEONARD LARSEN

WASHINGTON - The situation in Afghanistan is fluid, as the diplomats say, but it's clear the "freedom
fighters" American taxpayers financed with more than $2 billion have now become "holy warriors" with
no debt of friendship to the United States.

In celebrating the rebel victory, Americans might also contemplate the possibility that other Islamic "holy
warriors" may soon be perched near airports around the world, targeting civilian planes with the deadly
U.S. missiles we sent to the "freedom fighters."

June 6, 1989 Pentagon Plans Sale Of Arms to Pakistan ByAP

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon notified Congress on Monday it had approved sales of torpedoes
and anti-aircraft missiles valued at $68 million to Pakistan. The plans were announced the day Pakistan's
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was scheduled to arrive in the capital for talks with President Bush,
Secretary of State James A. Baker III and congressional leaders. Pakistan has supported anti-Communist
fighters battling the Marxist government in neighboring Afghanistan, and it has served as a conduit for
U.S. aid destined for the rebels..."

July 26, 1990 Baker denies accord in Afghan dispute ByAP

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)..." The Bush administration has been hoping for a breakthrough to end the
war between Afghan government forces armed by the Soviet Union and a guerrilla coalition fighting with
American- supplied weapons funneled through Pakistan..."

Bin Laden, US' own creation, becomes its enemy no 1 Chidanand Rajghatta
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WASHINGTON, AUG 21: Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi millionaire-turned-renegade charged with
international terrorism, bears a striking similarity to the late Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The resemblance
is more than just facial. Like Bhindranwale, Bin Laden was created by the very forces which are now
seeking to destroy him. Experts are almost unanimous in saying that bin Laden is a creature of a US
foreign policy which recklessly fed and nurtured him and his Islamic warriors with million of dollars
worth of money and arms to fight the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan. The money was funnelled largely
through Pakistan's maverick Inter-Services Intelligence. Even at that time, Bin Laden and his holy
warriors had made it clear that the US was as much anathema to them as the communists.

The CIA is now trying to destroy the same camps it helped set up, Robert Fisk, a British writer who
covered the region and who met bin Laden at his camp recently said on Friday in an interview on National
Public Radio. Fisk said Bin Laden did not appear to be such a fearsome international terrorist that the US
was making him out to be. On the contrary, he was isolated, lonely, virtually unlistened to, and was
constantly trying to know what was happening in other parts of the world.

US officials have made Bin Laden out to be a terrorist mastermind operating out of a high-tech cave filled
with satellite phones and other gizmos overseeing a worldwide network of extremist organisations. Bin
Laden is said to be around 43 years old. Born in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, he is the youngest son of
Mohammed bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi who founded the Bin Laden Group, a construction firm that
thrived on Saudi government contracts. Osama Bin Laden is said to have inherited some $ 300 million
from his father. In his mid-20s he left Saudi Arabia for Afghanistan to fight in the so-called Jihad against
the Soviet forces in Afghanistan. Several accounts have it that he was cultivated by the CIA, which helped
him set up camps in and around Khost, the same town now bombed by US forces.

After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia to work in his father's
construction business. But he soon began to oppose the Saudi royal family, especially after the Gulf War
when US troops landed in Saudi Arabia and remained there. He launched a local movement to force US
troops out of the country, railing against the defilement of the Muslim holy places of Mecca and Medina.

But he was thrown out of the country by the rulers and was virtually disowned by his family. He relocated
to Sudan in 1991 and resumed his construction operations there. Sudanese officials said they expelled him
in 1996 under US pressure after Washington suspected him to be indulging in terrorist activities.

US officials think he and his followers were involved in the bombing of US training facility in Riyadh in
1995 which killed seven people (including two Indians) and the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996 which
killed 19 US servicemen.

Bin Laden relocated to Afghanistan in 1996 and has been on the US terrorism watchlist since. Earlier this
year, the US ambassador to UN Bill Richardson contacted the Afghan Taliban rulers to ask for bin Laden
but was reportedly turned down. In several interviews this year, bin Laden openly issued threats to the
US, calling for a holy war to evict the infidels from Saudi Arabia. In February this year, he is said to have
issued a fatwaurging holy Islamic warriors to kill Americans everywhere, whether military or civilian. In
June this year, he is said to have presided over a conclave of extremist leaders from across the world in
Peshawar under the umbrella of the Islamic Front, which endorsed the fatwaand decided upon an
undisclosed course of action.

American intelligence agencies tracked all these movements closely and issued a heightened alert warning
to its US personnel and establishments in South Asia and the Middle East. But bin Laden, they now say,
struck in East Africa."

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

"Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence [ISI] The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence [ISI] was
founded in 1948 by a British army officer, Maj Gen R Cawthome, then Deputy Chief of Staff in Pakistan
Army. Field Marshal Ayub Khan, the president of Pakistan in the 1950s, expanded the role of ISI in
safeguarding Pakistan's interests, monitoring opposition politicians, and sustaining military rule in
Pakistan.

The ISI is tasked with collection of of foreing and domestic intelligence; co-ordination of intelligence
functions of the three military services; surveillance over its cadre, foreigners, the media, politically active
segments of Pakistani society, diplomats of other countries accredited to Pakistan and Pakistani diplomats
serving outside the country; the interception and monitoring of communications; and the conduct of
covert offensive operations.

The ISI has become a state within a state, answerable neither to the leadership of the army, nor to the
President or the Prime Minister. The result is there has been no real supervision of the ISI, and corr.

The Joint Counter Intelligence Bureau (JCIB) is responsible for field surveillance of Pakistani diplomats
stationed abroad, as well as for conducting intelligence operations in the Middle East, South Asia, China,
Afghanistan and the Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union.

Joint Intelligence / North (JIN) is responsible for Jammu and Kashmir operations, including infiltration,
exfilteration, propaganda and other clandestine operations.

Joint Intelligence Miscellaneous (JIM) conducts espionage in foreign countries, including offensive
intelligence operations.

The Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau (JSIB), which includes Deputy Directors for Wireless, Monitoring
and Photos, operates a chain of signals intelligence collection stations along the border with India, and
provide communication support to militants operating in Kashmir.

Joint Intelligence Technical

In addition to these main elements, ISI also includes a separate explosives section and a chemical warfare
section. Published reports provide contradictory indications as to the relative size of these organizational
elements, suggesting that either JIX is the largest, or that the Joint Intelligence Bureau is the lrgest with
some sixty percent of the total staff. The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) is the ISI's
main international financial vehicle.

The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence is of particular importance at the joint services level. The
directorate's importance derives from the fact that the agency is charged with managing covert operations
outside of Pakistan -- whether in Afghanistan, Kashmir, or farther afield. The ISI supplies weapons,
training, advice and planning assistance to terrorists in Punjab and Kashmir, as well as the separatist
movements in the Northeast frontier areas of India. The 1965 war in Kashmir provoked a major crisis in
intelligence. When the war started there was a complete collapse of the operations of all the intellience
agencies, which had been largely devoted to domestic investigative work such as tapping telephone
conversations and chasing political suspects. Ayub Khan set up a committee headed by General Yahya
Khan to examine the working of the agencies.

The ISI has been deeply involved in domestic politics and, has kept track of the incumbent regime's
opponents. Prior to the imposition of Martial Law in 1958, ISI reported to the Commander-in-Chief of the
Army (C-in-C). When martial Law was promulgated in 1958 all the intelligence agencies fell under the
direct control of the President and Chief Martial Law Administrator, and the three intelligence agencies
began competing to demonstrate their loyalty to Ayub Khan and his government. The ISI and the MI
became extremely active during the l964 presidential election keeping politicians, particularly the East
Pakistanis, under surveillance.

The ISI became even more deeply involved in domestic politics under General Yahya Khan, notably in
East Pakistan, where operations were mounted to ensure that no political party should get an overall
majority in the general election. An amount of Rs 29 lac was expended for this purpose, and attempts
were made to infiltrate the inner circles of the Awami League. The operation was a complete disaster.

Mr. Bhutto promoted General Zia-Ul-Haq in part because the Director of ISI, General Gulam Jilani Khan,
was actively promoting him. General Zia, in return, retained General Jilani as head of ISI after his
scheduled retirement. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto established the Federal Security Force and gave it wide-ranging
powers to counter the influence of ISI, but the force was abolished when the military regime of Zia
ul-Haq seized power in 1977. When the regime was unpopular with the military and the president (as was
Benazir Bhutto's first government), the agency helped topple it by working with opposition political
parties.

The ISI became much more effective under the leadership of Hameed Gul. The 1990 elections are widely
believed to be rigged. The Islami Jamhoori Ittehad [IJI] party was a conglomerate formed of nine mainly
rightist parties by the ISI under Lt General Hameed Gul to ensure the defeat of Bhutto's Pakistan People's
Party (PPP) in the polls. Gul denies this, claiming that the ISI's political cell created by Z.A. Bhutto only
'monitored' the elections.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan made Pakistan a country of paramount geostrategic importance. In a
matter of days, the United States declared Pakistan a "frontline state" against Soviet aggression and offered
to reopen aid and military assistance deliveries. For the remainder of Zia's tenure, the United States
generally ignored Pakistan's developing nuclear program. Pakistan's top national security agency, the
Army's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, monitored the activities of and provided advice and
support to the mujahidin, and commandos from the Army's Special Services Group helped guide the
operations inside Afghanistan. The ISI trained about 83,000 Afghan Mujahideen between 1983 to 1997
and dispatched them to Afghanistan. Pakistan paid a price for its activities. Afghan and Soviet forces
conducted raids against mujahidin bases inside Pakistan, and a campaign of terror bombings and sabotage
in Pakistan's cities, guided by Afghan intelligence agents, caused hundreds of casualties. In 1987 some 90
percent of the 777 terrorist incidents recorded worldwide took place in Pakistan.

The ISI continues to actively participate in Afghan Civil War, supporting the Talibaan in their fight against
the Rabbani government.

ISI is currently engaged in covertly supporting the Kashmiri Mujahideen in their fight against the Indian
authorities in Kashmir. Reportedly "Operation Tupac" is the designation of the three part action plan for
the liberation of Kashmir, initiated by President Zia Ul Haq in 1988 after the failure of "Operation
Gibraltar." The designation is derived from Tupac Amru, the 18th century prince who led the war of
liberation in Uruguay against the Spanish rule. According to a report compiled by the Joint Intelligence
Committee (JIC) of India in 1995, ISI spent about Rs 2.4 crore per month to sponsor its activities in
Jammu and Kashmir. Although all groups reportedly receive arms and training from Pakistan, the
pro-Pakistani groups are reputed to be favored by the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence. As of
May 1996, at least six major militant organizations, and several smaller ones, operate in Kashmir. Their
forces are variously estimated at between 5,000 and 10,000 armed men. They are roughly divided between
those who support independence and those who support accession to Pakistan. The oldest and most
widely known militant organization, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), has spearheaded
the movement for an independent Kashmir. Its student wing is the Jammu and Kashmir Students
Liberation Front (JKSLF). A large number of other militant organizations have emerged since 1989, some
of which also support independence, others of which support Kashmir's accession to Pakistan. The most
powerful of the pro-Pakistani groups is the Hezb-ul-Mujahedin. The other major groups are Harakat-ul
Ansar, a group which reportedly has a large number of non-Kashmiris in it, Al Umar, Al Barq, Muslim
Janbaz Force and Lashkar-e Toiba, which is also made up largely of fighters from Afghanistan and
Pakistan. According to press reports, several hundred fighters from Afghanistan and other Muslim
countries have also joined some of the militant groups or have formed their own. The Harakat ul-Ansar
group, a powerful militant organization which first emerged in 1993, is said to be made up largely of
non-Kashmiris.

ISI is reported to operate training camps near the border of Bangladesh where members of separatist
groups of the northeastern states, known as the "United Liberation Front Of Seven Sisters" [ULFOSS] are
trained with military equipment and terrorist activities. These groups include the National Security Council
of Nagaland [NSCN], People's Liberation Army [PLA], United Liberation Front of Assam [ULFA], and
North East Students Organization [NESO]. ISI is said to have intensified its activities in the southern
Indian States of Hyderabad, Bangalore, Cochin, Kojhikode, Bhatkal, and Gulbarga. In Andhra Pradesh the
Ittehadul Musalmeen and the Hijbul Mujahideen are claimed to be involved in subversive activities
promoted by ISI. And Koyalapattinam, a village in Tamil Nadu, is said to be the common center of
operations of ISI and the Liberation Tigers.

Sources and Methods

Inter-Services Intelligence Model Homepage

ISI and its Chicanery in Exporting Terrorism

Maj Gen YASHWANT DEVA AVSM (Retd): The Indian Defence Review, © 1997 by Lancer Publishers
& Distributors. Role of the Military in Politics in Pakistan Armughan Javaid The Aristocrat and the
General Indranil Banerjie SAPRA INDIA MONTHLY Bulletin Jun-Oct 1996 The Game Of Foxes: J-K
Intelligence War Manoj Joshi Times Of India, July 16, 1994 Pan-Islamic Fundementalism Exporting
Terror India Today, May 15, 1994 Pan-Islamic forces funding militancy Ritu Sarin The Indian Express
September 28, 1996 "This Secret Agency's Name is Infamous" by Sunil Sharma New Delhi JANSATTA
27 Nov 94 page 1 -- ISI Said Behind Widespread Terror, Violence -- Infamous Past, Active Present :
JPRS-NEA-94-059 : 27 November 1994 "How Intelligence Agencies Run Our Politics" by Altaf Gauhar
The Nation 17 Aug 97 p 4 [Pakistan: Writer Exposes ISI's Role in Politics : FBIS-NES-97-230 : 18 Aug
1997 ] "In This Way, The Net of ISI is Spread" by Priyaranjan Bharati New Delhi JANSATTA 27 Nov 94
page 1 [ISI Said Behind Widespread Terror, Violence -- Power, Influence Increasing: JPRS-NEA-94-059:
27 November 1994] "How to retaliate against this proxy-war" by Kranti Kumar Sharma Delhi Jansatta 30
Jan 97 p 4 [Article Views Pakistani `Spy' Activities: FBIS-NES-97-021 : 30 Jan 1997]

WHO IS THE SECRET OSAMA FUNNEL TODAY?

*LINK TO
 
 

                                        GENERAL IS HIS NAME

      GW BUSH KNOWS, FULL WELL, THE NAME AND THE POSITION OF GENERAL PERVAIZ
MUSHARRAF. HE IS THE FUNNEL. GENERAL IS RAPIDLY CONSOLIDATING COMMAND OF ALL
  OF THE TERRORIST FORCES IN THE WORLD. IT'S SOME KIND OF A NEW WORLD ORDER OR
                                                     SOMETHING...
 
 

    GW BUSH PLAYS DUMB WHEN IT COMES TO PAKISTAN--SOME SAY IT IS CONVINCING

                                   HILLER: Can you name the general who's in...
**************************************************************************************************************

                         BUSH: Wait a minute, is this a -- is this a -- is this 50 questions?
**************************************************************************************************************

                        HILLER: No, it's four questions of four leaders in four hot spots.
**************************************************************************************************************

   BUSH: The new Pakistani General has just been elected. He's not elected; this guy took over office. He
    appears he's going to bring stability to the country, and I think that's good news for the subcontinent.
**************************************************************************************************************

                                   HILLER (on-camera): And you can name him?
**************************************************************************************************************

                                      BUSH: General -- I can name the general.
**************************************************************************************************************

                                                   HILLER: And it's...
**************************************************************************************************************

                                                     BUSH: General.
**************************************************************************************************************
 
 

 GENERAL MEETS WITH RED CHINESE WHILE SOON-TO-BE-OUSTED PRIME MINISTER MEETS
                                                       WITH USA

                                       DAWN NEWSPAPER OF PAKISTAN:

                                      COAS holds talks with Chinese officials

 "BEIJING, May 26: General Pervez Musharraf, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of
 Army Staff, currently visiting China at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, called on General Zhang
              Wannian, Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission, here on Wednesday.

   During the meeting, matters of bilateral interests and current global and regional situation came under
                                                       discussion.

  General Musharraf also held talks with General Fu Quan You, the Chief of General Staff of the Chinese
                                           People's Liberation Army (PLA).

   Earlier, General Musharraf attended a welcome ceremony at the ministry of defence and inspected the
                                                    guard of honour.

   In the evening, he called on General Chi Haotian, Vice-Chairman of Central Military Commission and
                                           Defence Minister of China."-APP
**************************************************************************************************************
  GENERAL ALMOST SENT PAKISTAN INTO NUCLEAR WAR WHILE PRIME MINISTER SHARIF
   WAS DEALING WITH THE USA--GENERAL GOES TO CHINA FOR INSTRUCTIONS THE SAME
                                                           DAY
**************************************************************************************************************

                                          November 29 1999 SOUTH ASIA

                                         Kashmir 'nearly led to nuclear clash'

                                    BY MICHAEL EVANS, DEFENCE EDITOR

 PAKISTAN and India came "very close" to a nuclear exchange over Kashmir in the summer when border
  clashes erupted after Islamic militants infiltrated the Indian-controlled section of the mountain province,
                           Peter Hain, the Foreign Office Minister, revealed yesterday.

 Kashmir, which had been the cause of two past conventional wars between India and Pakistan, remained
     a "frightening flashpoint", Mr Hain said. "We know the two countries came very close to a nuclear
                            exchange over it," he said in an interview with The Times.

   The minister was not prepared to give any more details. However, there is likely to have been satellite
       photographic evidence that one side or both sides were preparing weapon systems known to be
 nuclear-capable. Both countries were proven nuclear powers after successful atomic tests in 1998, and by
the time of the new clash over Kashmir, India and Pakistan had each developed a small number of nuclear
                                                        warheads.

 While Britain, the US and other countries urged a rapid end to the confrontation for fear that it might turn
   nuclear, India and Pakistan launched ferocious border artillery strikes. India also launched airstrikes.

  The near-nuclear exchange has remained a key issue for the Foreign Office in its deliberations over how
    to deal with the military regime in Pakistan because of evidence that General Pervaiz Musharraf, who
 seized power in October, was personally involved in the decision to send Islamic "mercenaries" to occupy
                                   the Kargil district of Kashmir in May last year.

   General Musharraf is known to have been angry with Nawaz Sharif, the then Pakistani Prime Minister,
                        after he ordered the withdrawal of the inflitrators from Kashmir.

  Despite the continuing caution in London over General Musharraf's motives for seizing power, there are
 now new efforts under way to help the military regime to adopt constitutional systems that will eventually
                                                  lead to free elections
**************************************************************************************************************

 Musharraf, Qadhafi hold talks SIRTE (Libya), April 18: Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf held two
 rounds of talks with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Qadhafi soon after his arrival here on a two-day
    official visit on Tuesday. In a rare gesture, Col Qadhafi received Gen Musharraf in a tent close to the
    airport. Matters of wide-spread spectrum relating to bilateral, regional and international interest were
  discussed, according to the sources. The CE said that Pakistan and Libya enjoyed brotherly relationship
 which would be strengthened. The Libyan leader said that Pakistan was in the hearts of the Libyan people.
    "We want to continue this mutually-beneficial relationship and further enhance our cooperation with
    Pakistan," he added. The CE briefed the Libyan leader about the situation in South Asian region with
  particular reference to the Kashmir issue. Col Qadhafi referred to the policies being pursued by Libya in
   Africa. The CE said the visit would help revive substantive relationship between the two countries and
  result in strengthening of bilateral relations. "The meeting is taking place in a warm, cordial and friendly
 atmosphere of trust," the sources said. In his arrival statement, earlier, the CE said that Pakistan and Libya
 had a lot of cooperation already, and "we have come to identify further areas of cooperation". Meanwhile,
  foreign ministers of the two countries, Abdul Sattar and Abdul Rehman Shalqum, held a separate round
                             of talks on matters of bilateral and regional interest.-APP

                  GENERAL HANGS WITH FIDEL AS ELIAN HANGS IN THE BALANCE

   Dawn of Pakistan 14 April 2000 Friday 08 Musharraf reiterates one-China policy HAVANA, April 13:
   Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday reaffirmed Pakistan's support to one-China
     policy and hoped that Taiwan will also return to the fold of China like Hong Kong and Macau. Gen
 Musharraf said this at a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Meet Li Lanqing here. The meeting took place
 in a warm and cordial atmosphere on the sidelines of the G-77 South Summit. The chief executive briefed
 the Chinese leader on recent developments in the region including Pakistan's efforts to reduce tension and
   resume dialogue with India. Gen Musharraf said, India remained adamant and was seeking to impose
   conditions for resumption of a dialogue. The Chinese Vice Premier appreciated Pakistan's position and
   said peaceful settlement of Kashmir dispute was necessary for the socio-economic development of the
   region. Both leaders agreed on the need for greater cooperation among the developing countries in the
    economic field. Li Lanqing recalled chief executive's visit to China and conveyed greetings and good
                              wishes of Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Rongji to him.

                                              GENERAL GOES TO IRAN
**************************************************************************************************************

 About Afghanistan, General Pervez Musharraf said the common grounds between Iran and Pakistan were
 strategic. "I am a believer that the strategic aims of the two countries are the same, which is bringing about
     peace in the region and helping Afghanistan overcome the destruction that it has faced," he added.

                                               Dawn of Pakistan 12-8-99
**************************************************************************************************************

                 GENERAL VERY CLOSE TO OSAMA'S HOMETOWN IN AFGHANISTAN
**************************************************************************************************************

 ANKARA, Nov 9: The Chief Executive, General Pervez Musharraf, here on Tuesday said that he had held
   talks with President Suleyman Demirel and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on Kashmir and Afghanistan.
**************************************************************************************************************

                  US TESTIFIES IN CONGRESS THAT PAKISTAN BEHIND TERRORISM
**************************************************************************************************************

                                          US says Pakistan training militants

   By Shaheen Sehbai WASHINGTON, Nov 3: A senior US official responsible for counter-terrorism on
    Tuesday directly accused Pakistan of supporting training of militant groups in Afghanistan as well as
 providing "material support" to some of the Kashmiri militants. "There are numerous Kashmiri separatist
    groups and sectarian groups involved in terrorism which use Pakistan as a base...We have repeatedly
 asked Islamabad to end support of terrorist training in Afghanistan," Michael Sheehan, State Department's
   coordinator for counter-terrorism, told a Senate Foreign Relations sub-committee. The sub-committee
   hearing was called and presided over by Senator Sam Brownback and the list of experts who testified
   included a former CIA officer in Pakistan Milt Bearden, president of Stimson Centre Michael Krepon,
   John Hopkins University Central Asia Institute chairman Dr Fredrick Starr and a Pakistani- American
                                     businessman and columnist Mansoor Ijaz.

  Mr Sheehan recently visited India to coordinate US-Indian responses to terrorist threats but when asked
  whether he would also visit Pakistan soon, he said: "Hopefully." "Pakistan has frequently acknowledged
  what it calls moral and diplomatic support for militants in Kashmir who employ violence and terrorism
     against Indian interests. We have continuing reports of Pakistani material support for some of these
                                             militants," Mr Sheehan said.

 He named several Pakistan-based militant Islamic groups including Lashkar Taiba, Harkatul Jehad Islami
      and Hizbul Mujahideen, which, he said, "operate freely in Pakistan and support terrorist attacks in
                                                        Kashmir."

   Asked by Indian and Pakistani journalists after his hearing whether he found any change in the policy
  after the overthrow of the Nawaz government, Mr Sheehan said: "We are still waiting for their responses
   and it is too early to judge whether there is any change." When a correspondent pointed out whether it
  was "business as usual" with the military government, he crisply said "no" but added: "We hope to work
                                             with them on all these issues."
**************************************************************************************************************

                   GENERAL ON THE PHONE WITH BUSH-BACKER,BAHRAINI SHEIKH
**************************************************************************************************************

  Gen Musharraf further telephoned Bahraini Emir Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa to inform him of Pakistan's
    desire to continue its cooperation with Manama, the official GNA news agency reported. DAWN OF
                                                PAKISTAN, OCT.22,'99
**************************************************************************************************************

                    UN RESOLUTION CONSIDERS PAKISTAN AS SOURCE OF OSAMA
**************************************************************************************************************

       UNITED NATIONS, Oct 22: The UN Security Council on Friday condemned Taliban rulers for
 undermining efforts to end the civil war, but decided against explicitly criticizing Pakistan. In a statement
  by its president, Russian ambassador Sergei Lavrov, the United Nations Council said the Taliban had "a
 primary responsibility" for the continued fighting in Afghanistan. ...An earlier draft of Lavrov's statement
                                   said that these schools were "within Pakistan".
**************************************************************************************************************

     MULTAN, Pakistan, Jan 7: Masood Azhar freed by India in return for hostages on a hijacked plane
      received a hero's welcome from family and friends when he returned home today, witnesses said.
**************************************************************************************************************

                                     No terrorist arrested in Pakistan: Musharraf

     By Our Staff Reporter KARACHI, Dec 20: Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf on Monday
    categorically denied that 200 terrorists had been arrested in Pakistan. The news, he said, was "a total
                                                       fabrication."

 Talking to editors and journalists at a get-together at the Governor House, the chief executive said no one
     had been caught. "I phoned my people (to check the news). Not a single man has been arrested."...

  The general felt hurt over the fact that the news item in question gave an impression as if the arrests had
 been made in Pakistan at the behest of the United States - "as if we are under control of the United States."
                               This perception, he said, was wrong. "We are not." ...
**************************************************************************************************************
 
 

             GENERAL OCCUPIES THE POSITION WHICH IS THE FUNNEL TO OSAMA

  THROUGHOUT THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION, US FUNDS WERE SECRETLY GIVEN TO OSAMA
 BIN LADEN TO ARM AND ORGANIZE THE MUJAHADDIN IN AFGHANISTAN.

THE US EMBASSY  BEING CLOSED IN AFGHANISTAN, ALL OF THE MONIES WERE LAUNDERED
BY THE CIA AND TRANSFERRED IN A SURREPTITIOUS FASHION THROUGH THE OLD-BOY SPY
NETWORK--IN  THIS CASE, THE PAKISTANI INTELLIGENCE SERVICE--WHICH IS THE
ARMY INTELLIGENCE.
THE ARMY INTELLIGENCE IS DIRECTLY COMMANDED BY THE PAKISTANI CHIEF OF STAFF.
GENERAL PERVAIZ MUSHARRAF IS THE PAKISTANI CHIEF OF STAFF.
**************************************************************************************************************
  THE CONFLICT WITH INDIA IS ONE OF GENERAL MUSHARRAF'S DESIGN, AND GENERAL IS
       TAKING HIS ORDERS BY COMMAND OF THE CHINESE TOP BRASS IN PEKING. WHEN
    GENERAL OUSTED PRIME MINISTER SHARIF IN OCTOBER, 1999, PAKISTAN WAS WITHIN
       DAYS OF SIGNING THE COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY. SINCE HIS ASSUMING
  CONTROL OF PAKISTAN, MUSHARRAF HAS STATED THAT PAKISTAN WILL NOT NOW SIGN
THE CTBT, AND HE HAS BROKEN OFF ALL NEGOTIATIONS WITH INDIA. MEANWHILE, HE HAS
   MET, ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY, WITH AFGHANISTAN AND ITS FEW ALLIES IN THE WORLD.
         DESPITE HIS HEAVY SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS WITH THE ALLIES OF TERRORIST
  AFGHANISTAN, MUSHARRAF HAS NOT SPENT A SINGLE DAY IN THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF
      EXECUTIVE, DOING THE REGULAR DAY-TO-DAY BUSINESS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF
                                                       PAKISTAN.
**************************************************************************************************************

 ISLAMABAD, Jan 4: Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistan will not hesitate to
                                  use nuclear weapons if its security is threatened.

     In January former President George Bush and former British Prime Minister John Major paid a social call
on Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah at his luxurious tent compound outside Riyadh.
While chitchatting, the Prince asked his guests to excuse him for elevating an injured foot in their presence.
Bush then started discussing a podiatric mishap recently experienced by his wife. As Bush  launched into
details, the Prince used a remote to raise the volume on several television sets playing in the room, according
to an  account of the meeting. Major, politely hinting that the televisions had become too loud, quipped that he
traveled to the desert to  escape television. Ignoring Major's remark, the Prince kept the televisions blaring.

Such a scene might seem humorous, but both former leaders were in Saudi Arabia in conjunction with serious
business. Bush, taking  time off from assisting his son's presidential campaign, and Major were traveling the
Middle East to help the Carlyle Group, a  multibillion-dollar private investment firm based in Washington,
which has investments around the world--from soda bottling to waste treatment to jet-wing manufacturing--and
which is managed by former members of the Reagan and Bush administrations. Carlyle has extensive interests in
Saudi Arabia, and it has been pursuing a deal in partnership with SBC, the telecommunications giant (which owns
Southwestern Bell, Ameritech, Pacific Telesis and Cellular One), to acquire about 25 percent of the Saudi
phone system.
     Accompanied by several Carlyle execs, Bush and Major--the leaders of the alliance that pushed Saddam Hussein
out of Kuwait in 1991--were out to win friends and influence Saudis on behalf of Carlyle. (Bush, Major and the
Carlyle officers also made a stop in  Kuwait.) A day or two after the short session with the Prince, Bush and Major
were whisked by the Carlyle team, headed by Carlyle  founder David Rubenstein, a former Carter White House aide,
to the city of Jeddah. They spent four hours on a yacht cruising the Red  Sea with Saudi business officials and then
attended a swank party at a private residence, again hobnobbing with prominent Saudis.

     Bush was compensated for the trip, but his office would not provide a figure. He serves as a member
of Carlyle's Asian advisory  board, and he is paid to give speeches for Carlyle around the world. "He is friendly
with the management of Carlyle," says Gian-Carlo Peressutti, a Bush spokesman. (Indeed. James Baker, Bush's
Secretary of State, is senior counselor to the company; Richard Darman, Bush's budget director, is a senior
adviser; and Frank Carlucci, Reagan's Defense Secretary, is chairman.) Peressutti notes that Bush did not "know
the exact nature of the business Carlyle was conducting on that trip." One Carlyle source maintains that Bush and
Major "had no knowledge" of Carlyle's specific business activities in Saudi Arabia, including the potential SBC
deal. "We used them for good-will gestures," this source says, "for lunches and dinners. People like to see former
presidents and former prime ministers. It's a very good way of getting people to pay attention to you."

     Can it be true that Bush and Major hire themselves out as props, without realizing what Carlyle deals
they might be abetting? To schmooze without being aware of the end results? In any event, they did not have
to explain their presence in Saudi Arabia, for both had been invited to speak at an economic forum in Jeddah.
Bush and Major were also received by King Fahd. "But for part of the  time they were just with us," says the
Carlyle source. According to two sources familar with the mission, Carlyle executives were focusing on the telephone
system deal. In 1998 the Saudi government announced it was privatizing the kingdom's phone service, and  the
Saudis have been seeking foreign investors. Several companies from around the world have expressed interest.
SBC has been  looking at this potential deal for about a year and brought in well-wired Carlyle as a partner.

     It might not trouble the (supposedly) unknowing Bush that he is aiding SBC, a Texas-based company run by
executives who have contributed nearly $50,000 to George W. Bush's gubernatorial and presidential campaigns.
Governor Bush's administration has also  been supportive of SBC, which spends more on lobbying in Texas
than any other corporation (at least $5 million in 1999). In  December the Texas Public Utilities Commission,
comprising three Bush appointees, approved SBC's highly controversial request to  enter the long-distance market
in that state. Critics of SBC complained that the company had not opened up the local market as it had  promised,
and after the PUC granted its OK, the Justice Department, citing SBC's anticompetitive ways, urged the Federal
Communications Commission to reject the company's long-distance application. (By the way, SBC once donated
$400,000 to a  reading initiative promoted by Govenor Bush.)

     John Major's relationship with Carlyle may be more problematic. As a member of Carlyle's European advisory
board, he is profiting by assisting a US-based firm in partnership with a US competitor of British Telecommunications,
and he is doing so while an active member of the British Parliament.

     "It's pretty obvious," says one person with knowledge of the trip. "Carlyle wanted to open up doors, and they
bring in Bush and Major, who saved the Saudis' ass in the Gulf War. If you got these guys coming in for SBC or
any other company, those companies are going to have a pretty good chance."

     The Carlyle connection runs in the family. In 1990, a year after Carlyle acquired Caterair, a large airline-catering
firm, Fred Malek, a  longtime Bush associate, helped place George W. on the board of Caterair. And this past
fall the Bush campaign received a scare  when one of its lead fundraisers, GOP lobbyist Wayne Berman, was
implicated in a scandal involving Carlyle. On September 23 former Connecticut State Treasurer Paul Silvester
pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges regarding his handling of state pension funds. Berman pocketed
about $1 million from Carlyle for helping the firm win $100 million in pension investments from Silvester.

     Shortly before Silvester left office in early 1999, Berman allegedly promised him a job while angling for another
$50 million investment in a Carlyle fund. Berman then hired Silvester for a position in the consulting firm he
operates with former Senator Alfonse D'Amato.
     After Berman's role in the affair became public, the Bush campaign announced that Berman, who had worked
in the Bush Administration, was no longer fundraising for George W. Carlyle has been good to the Bushes. But if
the Berman-Carlyle scandal spreads, it may draw more attention to the back-scratching, deal-making financial-political
world in which the Bush family and their friends have flourished. That won't be good for the son of Carlyle's most
famous meet-and-greeter.

David Corn is The Nation's Washington editor. Paul Lashmar is an investigative writer for the London Independent

                       Osama bin Laden, Staatsfeind Nummer
                       eins der USA, hat Medienberichten
                       zufolge einen CIA-Agenten in Dubai
                       getroffen. Im Juli - nur wenige Wochen vor
                       den Terroranschlägen des 11.
                       September - soll sich Bin Laden zu einer
                       Nierenbehandlung im Amerikanischen
                       Krankenhaus in Dubai aufgehalten haben,
                       berichtet am Mittwoch die französische
                       Tageszeitung "Le Figaro". Bei dieser
                       Gelegenheit habe ihn der CIA-Mann
                       kontaktiert. Auch die Prag-Reisen des
                       mutmaßlichen Entführers und
                       Todespiloten Mohammed Atta werden für
                       die Ermittler immer mysteriöser.

CIA-Kontakte über Dubai?

  Von Carola Schneider,
            ORF Paris.

                      "Juli 2001: Osama bin Laden trifft den CIA in
                      Dubai" - so titelt die konservative
                      französische Tageszeitung "Le Figaro" in
                      ihrer Ausgabe am Mittwoch.

                      Behandlung in US-Spital

                      Diesem Bericht und Meldungen des
                      internationalen französischen Senders
                      Radio France Internationale (RFI) zufolge
                      soll der saudische Milliardär und
                      mutmaßliche Terrorist im Juli in das
                      US-Krankenhaus in Dubai eingeliefert
                      worden sein.

                      Schon auf Fahndungsliste

                      Zu einem Zeitpunkt also, zu dem Bin Laden
                      bereits jahrelang als mutmaßlicher
                      Drahtzieher von Attentaten auf
                      US-amerikanische Einrichtungen gesucht
                      wurde.

                      Amerikanischer Urologe sollte helfen

                      Bin Laden, der seit langem an einer
                      Nierenkrankheit leide, soll im
                      US-Krankenhaus von Dubai zehn Tage lang
                      vom renommierten Urologen Terry Callaway
                      behandelt worden sein.

                      Geschäftspartner als Informant

                      Sowohl "Le Figaro" als auch Radio France
                      Internationale berufen sich in ihren Berichten
                      auf einen Geschäftspartner der
                      Krankenhausdirektion.

                      Mit Leibarzt und Leibwächtern

                      Demnach soll Bin Laden in Begleitung
                      seines persönlichen Arztes und mehrerer
                      Leibwächter am 4. Juli aus Pakistan nach
                      Dubai gekommen sein und das
                      Krankenhaus am 14. Juli wieder verlassen
                      haben.

                      CIA-Agent als prominenter Besucher

                      Sein Aufenthalt habe sich allerdings nicht
                      nur auf seine Genesung beschränkt.

                      Neben seinen Familienmitgliedern soll der
                      saudische Milliardär an seinem Krankenbett
                      auch den für Dubai zuständigen
                      CIA-Agenten empfangen haben.

                      Rückruf nach Amerika

                      Der Name des Agenten laute nach Angaben
                      des Radiosenders RFI Larry Mitchell. Er soll
                      beobachtet worden sein, als er das Zimmer
                      von Bin Laden aufgesucht habe.

                      Laut verlässlichen Quellen, so "Le Figaro"
                      weiter, habe der Agent gegenüber Freunden
                      mit seinem Besuch bei Bin Laden geprahlt
                      und sei kurz darauf in die USA
                      zurückberufen worden.

                      Nicht das erste Mal?

                      Der saudische Milliardär soll sich bereits in
                      der Vergangenheit öfters aus geschäftlichen
                      Gründen in Dubai aufgehalten haben.

                      Mutmaßlichen Attentäter verhaftet

                      Dort wurde übrigens auch Ende Juli der
                      Franko-Algerier Djamel Beghal verhaftet.

                      Ihm wird vorgeworfen, ein Attentat auf die
                      US-Botschaft in Paris geplant zu haben und
                      in engem Kontakt mit dem Umfeld Bin
                      Ladens zu stehen.

                      USA: "Keine Kontakte"

                      Inzwischen hat die Direktion des
                      US-Krankenhauses in Dubai gegenüber der
                      Nachrichtenagentur AFP offiziell dementiert,
                      Bin Laden jemals behandelt zu haben.

                      Der US-Geheimdienst CIA wies die Berichte
                      zurüc. "Das ist total absurd", sagte ein
                      CIA-Sprecher der Nachrichtenagentur AFP
                      in Washington am Mittwoch (Ortszeit).

                      Der CIA hatte bereits am 5. Oktober
                      Berichte zurückgewiesen, wonach er in der
                      Vergangenheit - besonders während des
                      Krieges der Sowjetunion in Afghanistan -
                      Kontakte zu Bin Laden unterhielt.

                      Links:
                           CIA
                           Le Figaro

Special Section: The War on Terrorism
What's New at the Central Intelligence Agency
November 15 - Posted updated Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of
Foreign Governments. more ...
November 1 - Posted updated Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign
Governments. more ...
October 31 - Posted Chemical/Biological/Radiological Incident Handbook
(October 1998) to the Publication & Reports page under DCI and CIA Reports.
October 26 - Posted Statement by CIA Spokesman Bill Harlow regarding the
discovery of a trace amount of anthrax at the CIA's Material Inspection Facility.
October 25 - Posted updated Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign
Governments. more ...

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