- DUBAI (Reuters) - Arabic
television station al-Jazeera said on Thursday it had confessions from
two men it identified as members of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network
claiming the group was responsible for the September 11 attacks.
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- A Jazeera official identified the two men as Ramzi bin
al-Shaibah and Khaled al-Sheikh Mohammad, who the channel said were former
room mates of Mohamed Atta, one of the 19 hijackers of the aircraft which
were flown into U.S. landmarks.
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- In the first part of a documentary aired on Thursday,
the Qatar-based channel, noted for its footage of bin Laden, said the two
men were interviewed in Karachi, Pakistan, but did not say when.
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- "In the second part of this documentary, there will
be the first direct confession as to how al Qaeda planned and executed
the September 11 (attacks)," Yosri Fouda, the journalist who prepared
the documentary, said. The second part will be aired next Thursday.
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- Washington blames Saudi-born militant bin Laden and al
Qaeda for the attacks that killed more than 3,000 people. Al Qaeda officials
have welcomed the attacks as "blessed" acts of holy struggle,
but the group has not claimed responsibility for them.
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- The interviews were arranged by a liaison officer of
al Qaeda, identified by the channel as Abu Bakr. It did not give further
details about the interview, but said the two men lived with Atta in Hamburg,
Germany, until days before the attacks.
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- FACES NOT SHOWN
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- The Jazeera documentary, titled "Top Secret,"
showed still pictures it identified as being of Ramzi and Mohammad, but
it did not show their faces in what appeared to be footage from the interviews.
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- It showed the bare foot of a man clad in traditional
Pakistani robes sitting on the floor in a room with Fouda, and the back
of the head and part of the profile of a man with a black beard and hair
and a dark complexion.
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- Fouda said he was taken by "professionals"
through "mazes" in the busy streets of Karachi with his eyes
covered until he arrived in an apartment building where he met the two
men.
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- "...He (Mohammad) led me through a corridor to a
room on whose floor Ramzi bin al-Shaiba in the flesh was sitting, both
men are wanted with a (U.S.) bounty of $25 million for each."
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- Fouda continued: "Khaled (Sheikh Mohammad) jokingly
asked me 'do you recognize us now?' I said: 'Your faces seem to be familiar'.
Ramzi responded by saying: 'If you don't know who we are yet, you can rest
assured that you will know when the intelligence dogs start to knock on
your door'."
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- Jazeera did not broadcast any remarks by the two men
indicating any link between al Qaeda and the September 11 attacks. But
two officials of the channel told Reuters it had "confessions."
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- Comment
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- Anonymous
9-6-2
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- This is a riot! The CIA must have taken control of Al
Jazeera. The propaganda grist is beginning to pour in torrents now...somewhere
Goebbels is howling with delight at the incredible manipulation. The media
psych build-up to Gulf War II is in full swing. Bush's PR spinmeisters
are doubtless working around the clock. Reports are the Marines have now
left Camp Pendleton...
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- Comment
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- From ML
9-6-2
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- The humor gets darkly more laughable by the moment.
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- Comment
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- From David Goldman
9-6-2
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- Based on longterm reading their website, and based on
corresponding with them in the past, and based on what they refuse to print
IMHO, Jazeera is now a CIA asset.
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- This 'article' is a clever example of supporting Bush
in the final build-up to his invasion of Iraq.
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