23 September 2001
Powell Says U.S. Will Share Evidence Against bin Laden
(U.S. officials reject claim Osama bin Laden is missing) (770)
By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr.
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Secretary of State Colin Powell says the United States
will share evidence it has gathered linking accused terrorist Osama
bin Laden and his terrorist network, al-Qaida, to the September 11
attacks in New York and Washington that killed thousands.
"In the near future we will be able to put out a document linking him
to this attack," Powell said September 23 on NBC's "Meet the Press."
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, on Fox's "News Sunday,"
said "we are going to make a case" against bin Laden and his terrorist
network. "We have very good evidence of links between known Osama bin
Laden al-Qaida operatives and what happened on September 11th," she
said.
And, she continued, the United States will be laying out its case just
as was done after bin Laden's network bombed two U.S. embassies in
Africa, killing hundreds. She added that many of the countries the
United States will present with its findings are actively engaged in
helping build the case.
Powell, Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said September 23
they do not believe news reports from Afghanistan that bin Laden is
missing. Bin Laden has been living in Afghanistan since 1998 as a
"guest" of the Taliban-controlled government.
"They know where he is," Rumsfeld said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
U.S. cabinet officers and senior members of the U.S. Congress appeared
on an array of television news shows September 23, as the United
States begins the first phase of its counterattack on terrorists.
Powell and Rice said that the first phase of the campaign has included
seeking and building international support from individual nations and
international organizations -- such as the United Nations, NATO, the
Organization of American States, Australia through the ANZUS Treaty
and the European Union. It has also included sending more U.S. armed
forces to the Middle East region for potential strikes against bin
Laden and his network and other terrorists groups.
Powell also said President Bush's plan to lift the sanctions imposed
against India and Pakistan after both nations tested nuclear weapons
is an "important signal that we will stand by our friends who stand by
us." The United States has received considerable support from India
and has won support from Pakistan as it prepares a response to the
terrorist attacks.
Rice said the United States was well within international law to
defend itself against terrorist attacks. "The United States has the
right to self defense," she said on Fox. "That is recognized in
international law. If you don't believe this is a matter of
self-defense, just look at what happened on September 11th."
Rice said the United States has received very good international
support "not only from countries like Canada and Britain and France,
but also from the Muslim world. We have been in constant contact with
the moderate Arab nations. They understand the threat here."
Powell, on "Meet the Press," also pointed to the support from Muslim
countries: [I]t's ... interesting to note that Egypt and Saudi Arabia
and most of the countries in that part of the world have come to our
support. They recognize that terrorism is a threat not only against
the United States, against them. They have suffered from terrorism, as
well, and they recognize that this is not consistent with Islamic
teachings. It is absolutely inconsistent with Islamic teachings, and
so I think they understand the domestic pressures they are under, and
they understand what they have committed themselves to, and when you
even have countries such as Syria and, to some extent, even Iran
indicating that they sense the problem associated with this kind of
attack, it gives us something to explore, something to work with."
Powell, on ABC's "This Week," rejected news reports that Saudi Arabia
was refusing full cooperation with the U.S. military. "I can assure
you that the Saudi government, the Saudi leadership, and their
representative here in the United States has been responsive to all
the requests we have placed on them," Powell said. "They are a friend
in this. They have condemned this attack and they have offered support
in many ways and we are satisfied with the level of their support and
their commitment to this campaign."
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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