Homeland Security

Iraq, Al-Qaeda "Bound By A Common Hatred," Says Boucher

(Tells Al-Jazeera that latest bin Laden audiotape shows links between
the two) (1850)
State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said the audiotape believed
to be Osama bin Laden that was aired February 11 by the Qatar-based
Al-Jazeera network supports U.S. allegations of links between the
al-Qaeda network and Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
Speaking in an interview with Al-Jazeera later in the day, Boucher
said the two are "bound by a common hatred; that is what brought them
together."
"And I think that's really what you did have bin Laden confirming
today in this tape. In the tape, he says it doesn't matter if people
are socialist, we're going to fight together with them to destroy
everything that we can," said Boucher, seeking to refute those who
claim that Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist ideology could not find a common
cause with al-Qaida's radical religious agenda.
Bin Laden, said Boucher, "threatens everybody in the Arab world except
for Saddam Hussein. He says, in fact, that he wants to fight with
Saddam Hussein."
The spokesman repeated some of the allegations of continuing
high-level contacts between the Baghdad regime and al-Qaeda that were
presented to the United Nations Security Council February 5 by
Secretary of State Colin Powell.
"[I]t's not just one place, one time. It's a whole network of
information that describes a network of terror that has been able to
operate now from Iraq because the Iraqis have given it safe haven,"
said Boucher.
Boucher reminded the Arabic speaking audience that bin Laden "didn't
just threaten the United States. He threatened half a dozen Arab
governments -- Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Yemen. He's threatening
the whole world."
"So the fact is there's still a threat out there and we all need to
continue to cooperate in fighting against this kind of terrorism," he
said.
Following is a transcript of Spokesman Boucher's interview with
Al-Jazeera:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
For Immediate Release                                  
February 11, 2003
2003/137
Interview
Spokesman Richard Boucher
On Al-Jazeera
February 11, 2003
Washington, D.C.
 (3:20 p.m. EST)
QUESTION: We are on air now, Mr. Boucher. Thank you very much indeed
for joining us this evening, and welcome to the program. And first of
all, we would like to ask, if we may please, don't you think, Mr.
Boucher, that Secretary of State Mr. Powell to be rather worried or
anxious about the fact that the bin Laden message proves that he is
still alive and maybe even Mr. al-Zawahari, his right-hand man as
well, instead of worrying about the content of the message?
MR. BOUCHER: I think we do worry about the content of the message. We
know that al-Qaida is out there, that they're still a danger to us
all. This tape didn't just threaten the United States. He threatened
half a dozen Arab governments -- Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Yemen.
He's threatening the whole world. We've said this is a fight for
civilization to protect civilized countries against this kind of
terrorism, and I think that's demonstrated again by this tape.
So the fact is there's still a threat out there and we all need to
continue to cooperate in fighting against this kind of terrorism.
QUESTION: Mr. Boucher, Mr. Powell said today that this message shows
there is a partnership, as he (inaudible), or a link between Iraq and
al-Qaida. What was he basing this assertion on, especially the view of
the fact that what we hear the entire tape now and it showed nothing
of the sort?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, I think it did. If you remember when the Secretary
was in front of the United Nations, he laid out very carefully how the
ties between the Iraqi intelligence service and al-Qaida had been
built up over the years, the contacts through the 1990s, even when bin
Laden was in Sudan; how the Iraqi intelligence service offered safe
haven to al-Qaida after they were expelled from Afghanistan and were
no longer able to harm the people of Afghanistan, the Iraqis offered
them a place to go. And so we saw them set up and the Secretary
outlined the contacts.
Now, after that, there were people who argued, well, these two
ideologies are too different, they'll never get together. The
Secretary made clear that we thought they were bound by a common
hatred; that is what brought them together. And I think that's really
what you did have bin Laden confirming today in this tape. In the
tape, he says it doesn't matter if people are socialist, we're going
to fight together with them to destroy everything that we can.
QUESTION: Mr. Boucher, but this does not show or prove any link
between Iraq and Usama bin Laden, and especially when he considers the
Arab Ba'ath Party as infidels and Saddam Hussein personally as well.
MR. BOUCHER: Well, he does. And he even says that in the tape. But he
threatens everybody in the Arab world except for Saddam Hussein. He
says, in fact, that he wants to fight with Saddam Hussein. And the
Secretary of State laid out very carefully, if you look at his
presentation, how those ties have been built up, how the links have
been built up, and how it was that al-Qaida came to have safe haven in
Iraq.
We're very careful about making the case on solid grounds, not
overstating it, but this does confirm that bin Laden and Saddam
Hussein seem to find common cause together.
QUESTION: Mr. Boucher, do you believe that what -- the version of this
message that got to you, that your received, maybe is different than
the one we have just broadcast a little while ago, and maybe the
difference lies with the source which provided you with the message?
MR. BOUCHER: I think it was essentially the same. We had heard a lot
about this tape in advance, and therefore the Secretary was able to
describe it. But I heard the broadcast, at least I heard the
translation of the broadcast that was just carried on Al-Jazeera, and
in there he says that we will fight with the socialists, the
socialists of Iraq, the Ba'ath Party.
And so I think what I am telling you is what your viewers just heard
on the air.
QUESTION: Don't you think, Mr. Boucher, finally, that when Secretary
Powell says that the relationship, or what he suspects of existing
between Iraq and the al-Qaida organization, are not constant as some
may wish to be strong enough to prove the existence of such a link?
What is your comment about that?
MR. BOUCHER: I think it is clear that there is a link. It is clear
there is communications, there's contacts, there's channels. We know
of eight high-level meetings through the 1990s. We know of operations
in places in Northern Iraq where the al-Qaida associated groups are
existing and operating, where also the Iraqi intelligence service has
a presence. We know how they contact each other. We know how the
assassin who was in Jordan, that the materials came from al-Qaida
operatives in Iraq.
So we know all those things. That's solid fact and that was laid out
by the Secretary of State. We're not claiming more than exists. We're
talking about contacts, we're taking about safe haven. We're saying
Iraq has given a harbor to these -- to this group, and that therefore
channels of communication exist, channels that could come back to
haunt us all if a weapon of mass destruction or other technology or
information was passed through that channel.
QUESTION: Finally, Mr. Boucher, you say that Iraq provides a haven for
such people who belong to or support al-Qaida, and maybe you're
referring to the group called Ansar al-Islam which are on the part of
Northern Iraq which is outside the control of the Iraqi Government.
In view of all of this, we must ask you therefore, what is your
comment on when somebody says that Colin Powell has become rather
desperate to find a link or a piece of evidence to prove others to --
to others that the American stance has what -- has enough
justification to wage war against Iraq?
MR. BOUCHER: I think you're ignoring the facts. The Secretary of State
laid out a very careful case in front of the United Nations. People
can get on the Internet and review that case in great detail. It's
there for all to see in dozens of languages.
The point is that this group operates in Northern Iraq. We know the
Iraqi intelligence service is up there and offered them safe haven
there. We know that Mr. Al-Zarqawi was in Baghdad, got medical care,
set up an operation there. We know this by tracing back throughout
Europe and other parts of the world the people who have been caught.
And where did they get their materials from? Where did they come from?
They tell us: from this network that operates out of Iraq.
So it's not just one place, one time. It's a whole network of
information that describes a network of terror that has been able to
operate now from Iraq because the Iraqis have given it safe haven.
Let's remember as well the question of the UN Security Council
resolution is not just the question of their ties to terrorism. Their
ties to terrorism makes it all the more dangerous. But the fact is, as
the inspectors have said, Iraq has not cooperated with the United
Nations in disarmament. Iraq is not disarming peacefully. And the
United Nations' responsibility is to see that Iraq is disarmed so that
the Iraqi regime can't use these weapons of mass destruction again,
and so that others that they have links and ties to, including
terrorists, can't ever get their hands on them.
QUESTION:  Another final question, Mr. Boucher, if we may, please.
MR. BOUCHER:  Okay, we have several final questions.
QUESTION: If some American forces are -- if you got a copy of the
message before we got our hands on it, why didn't you publish them or
broadcast them? Does this mean that now you are getting messages from
the source of Usama bin Laden even before the media outlets can get
them?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know when you got your copy, but certainly we're
not a TV network. We're a government. We do collect information. We
talk to a lot of people. We want to know things. We understood you had
it, but I think I'll leave that to the broadcast people to talk about
what they had and when they decided, how they decided to broadcast it.
QUESTION: Mr. Boucher in Washington, thank you very much indeed for
joining us this evening.
MR. BOUCHER:  Thank you very much.  It's a pleasure to talk to you.
QUESTION:  You're welcome.  Thank you very much.  Bye-bye.
MR. BOUCHER:  Thanks a lot.  Bye-bye.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)