ACCESSION NUMBER:291422
FILE ID:TXT101
DATE:06/28/93
TITLE:U.S. MILITARY ACTION AGAINST IRAQI TERRORISM (06/28/93)
TEXT:*93062801.TXT
U.S. MILITARY ACTION AGAINST IRAQI TERRORISM
(Text: U.S. government fact sheet) (660)
(The U.S. government presented to the U.N. Security Council June 27 the
following background fact sheet entitled "United States June 26, 1993
Military Action Against Iraqi Terrorism.")
On April 14, 1993, while former President George Bush was beginning a
three-day visit to Kuwait City, Kuwaiti authorities thwarted a terrorist
plot, seizing a powerful car bomb and other explosives and arresting 16
suspects, led by two Iraqi nationals.
In the succeeding two months, U.S. investigative teams from the FBI and the
intelligence community have conducted a thorough investigation of this
operation. Based upon that review, the Department of Justice and the
Central Intelligence Agency have concluded that Iraq planned, equipped, and
ran the terrorist operation that threatened the life of President Bush in
Kuwait City in April. Further, it is the firm judgment of our intelligence
community, from all sources of evidence available to it, that this
assassination plot was directed and pursued by the Iraqi Intelligence
Service (IIS).
The evidence that forms the basis for these conclusions includes the
following:
A. FORENSICS
1. A car bomb, hidden in a Toyota Landcruiser, was smuggled across the
Iraq-Kuwait border by the suspects during the night of April 13, 1993.
This bomb, and the other explosives that were seized, have been directly
examined by FBI forensic experts. In the judgment of these experts, key
components, including the remote-control firing device, the plastic
explosives, the blasting cap, the integrated circuitry, and the wiring were
built by the same person or persons who built bombs previously recovered
from the Iraqis. Certain aspects of these devices have been found only in
devices linked to Iraq and not in devices used by any other terrorist
groups.
2. According to the forensic experts, other explosives seized in this plot,
including "cube bombs," contained components built by the same person or
persons who built similar devices recovered in the past from the Iraqis.
3. The car bomb itself possessed devastating power. It was a sophisticated
device, involving a complicated manufacturing process, and was well-hidden
in the vehicle. It contained approximately 80 kilograms of explosives. It
was constructed to allow detonation by remote control, by a timer or
manually. The forensic experts have concluded that this bomb had the power
to kill people within a radius of 400 yards.
B. THE SUSPECTS
1. The FBI conducted extensive interviews of the 16 suspects now on
trail in Kuwait. The two main suspects -- Ra'ad al-Asadi and Wali
al-Ghazali -- are Iraqi nationals. They told the FBI that they had been
recruited and received orders in Basra, Iraq, from individuals they
believed to be associated with the Iraqi intelligence Service.
2. These suspects told the FBI that their Iraqi recruiters provided them
with the car bomb and other explosives in Basra on April 10, 1993.
3. One of the suspects, al-Ghazali, told the FBI that he was recruited for
1he specific purpose of assassinating President Bush in Kuwait City.
4. The other main suspect, al-Asadi, told the FBI that his task was to
guide al-Ghazali and the car bomb to Kuwait University (where President
Bush and the Emir of Kuwait were scheduled to appear) and to plant smaller
explosives elsewhere in Kuwait.
C. INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENTS
1. During and immediately after the Persian Gulf War, Saddam -- through
his controlled media -- indicated that President Bush would be held
personally responsible for the war and would be hunted down and punished,
even after he left office. Various classified intelligence sources support
the conclusion that the Iraqi government ordered this attack against
President Bush.
2. From all the evidence available to it, the CIA is highly confident that
the Iraqi government, at the highest levels, directed its intelligence
service to assassinate former President Bush during his visit to Kuwait on
April 14-16, 1993.
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