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US defense secretary, CIA chief to testify before Sept. 11 panel

PLA Daily 2004-02-19

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenet will attend a hearing next month before the independent federal commission probing the Sept. 11 attacks, a report of the Associated Press said Tuesday.

They will testify publicly in the two-day hearing in late March which will focus on the country's anti-terrorism policy.

The hearing will be unprecedented in its review of high-level officials in the administrations of President George W. Bush and former President Bill Clinton, Philip Zelikow, executive director of the Sept. 11 commission, was quoted as saying.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, his predecessor Madeleine K. Albright and Clinton's defense secretary William Cohen are also scheduled to testify.

"We're going to break new ground as we shift the focus from officials in the field to the highest officials in government and foreign policy both before 9-11 and today," Zelikow said.

The panel will hold private meetings in the coming weeks with Bush, Vice President Richard Bruce Cheney, Clinton and former Vice president Al Gore about what their administrations knew before the attacks.

Bush agreed to meet privately with commissioners last Friday but said it was unnecessary for him to testify publicly.

The commission last Saturday met with Condoleezza Rice, assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the highest current administration official interviewed by the panel. The panel had said it wanted to question Rice about what the government knew about potential terrorist attacks against the country in 2001.

In May 2002 Rice said there was no indication that terrorists were planning suicide hijackings in the United States. But reports later revealed the intelligence agency had suggested the possibility one month before the attacks.

The commission, set up in late 2002 to examine security-related issues before the attacks and response afterward and to make recommendations on guarding against future attacks, is also trying to have hearings with Bush, Cheney, Clinton and Gore.