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British Evidence Against Bin Laden
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
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Following is the official "executive summary" of the British
government's new presentation of evidence against Usama bin
Laden and the Al Qaeda network. All original spellings have been
preserved.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TERRORIST ATROCITIES IN THE
UNITED STATES, 11 SEPTEMBER 2001 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The attached document summarises both the public and newly
declassified material linking Usama Bin Laden and the Al Qaida
network to the terrorist atrocities of 11 September 2001. It updates
the document published by the Prime Minister on 4 October.
The update has been produced to remind people why we are engaged in this action, and
to publish new information:
� There is now information linking the majority of the hijackers with Al Qaida, rather
than just the three originally stated.
� A senior Bin Laden associate has admitted since 4 October to have trained some of
the hijackers in Afghanistan.
� Bin Laden's own statements and those of his lieutenants since 4 October have also
been increasingly self-incriminatory. He has made no attempt to deny responsibility
for the attacks:
� On 7 October he said: "Here is America struck by God Almighty ... so that its
greatest buildings are destroyed ... I swear to God that America will not live in
peace before peace reigns in Palestine, and before the army
of the infidels depart the land of Mohammed".
� On 9 October one of his spokesmen praised the 11 September atrocities as "a good
deed" which "transferred the battle into the US heartland". He warned "the storm of
plane attacks will not abate".
� On 13 October, one of his associates broadcast direct threats referring back to 11
September: "we ... advise the Muslims in the United States and Britain ... not to
travel by plane. We also advise them not to live in hi
gh-rise buildings and towers".
� Bin Laden has come closest to admitting responsibility in an inflammatory video made
on 20 October which has been circulating among supporters of the Al Qaida network:
� Referring to the attacks on US buildings: "It is what we instigated for a while, in
self-defence ... So if avenging the killing of our people is terrorism, let history be
a witness that we are terrorists".
� He also issued explicit threats: "Bush and Blair ... don't understand any language
but the language of force. Every time they kill us, we kill them, so the balance of
terror is achieved".
� He pledged to continue the campaign of terror: "The battle has been moved inside
America, and we shall continue until we win this battle, or die in the cause and meet
our maker".
� He again admitted to terrorism: "The bad terror is what America and Israel are
practising against our people ... what we are practising is the good terror that will
stop them doing what they are doing".
� In an interview to the Pakistani paper Dawn in November 2001, he again made a number
of self-incriminatory threats and statements. Following is the British government's
official updated evidence document of the case aga
inst Usama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda organization. All spellings have been preserved.
This document does not purport to provide a prosecutable case against Usama Bin Laden
in a court of law. Intelligence often cannot be used evidentially, due both to the
strict rules of admissibility and to the need to pro
tect the safety of sources. But on the basis of all the information available HMG is
confident of its conclusions as expressed in this document.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TERRORIST ATROCITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, 11 SEPTEMBER 2001 AN
UPDATED ACCOUNT
INTRODUCTION
1. The clear conclusions reached by the government are:
� Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida, the terrorist network which he heads, planned and
carried out the atrocities on 11 September 2001;
� Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida retain the will and resources to carry out further
atrocities;
� the United Kingdom, and United Kingdom nationals are potential targets; and
� Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida were able to commit these atrocities because of their
close alliance with the Taleban r�gime, which allowed them to operate with impunity in
pursuing their terrorist activity.
2. The material in respect of 1998 and the USS Cole comes from indictments and
intelligence sources. The material in respect of 11 September comes from intelligence
and the criminal investigation to date. The details of s
ome aspects cannot be given, but the facts are clear from the intelligence.
3. The document does not contain the totality of the material known to HMG, given the
continuing and absolute need to protect intelligence sources.
SUMMARY
4. The relevant facts show:
Background
� Al Qaida is a terrorist organisation with ties to a global network, which has been
in existence for over 10 years. It was founded, and has been led at all times, by
Usama Bin Laden.
� Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida have been engaged in a jihad against the United States,
and its allies. One of their stated aims is the murder of US citizens, and attacks on
America�s allies.
� Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida have been based in Afghanistan since 1996, but have a
network of operations throughout the world. The network includes training camps,
warehouses, communication facilities and commercial ope
rations able to raise significant sums of money to support its activity. That activity
includes substantial exploitation of the illegal drugs trade from Afghanistan.
� Usama Bin Laden�s Al Qaida and the Taleban r�gime have a close and mutually
dependent alliance. Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida provide the Taleban r�gime with
material, financial and military support. They jointly exploit
the drugs trade. The Taleban r�gime allows Bin Laden to operate his terrorist
training camps and activities from Afghanistan, protects him from attacks from
outside, and protects the drugs stockpiles. Usama Bin Laden cou
ld not operate his terrorist activities without the alliance and support of the
Taleban r�gime. The Taleban�s strength would be seriously weakened without Usama Bin
Laden�s military and financial support.
� Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida have the capability to execute major terrorist attacks.
� Usama Bin Laden has claimed credit for the attack on US soldiers in Somalia in
October 1993, which killed 18; for the attack on the US Embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania in August 1998 which killed 224 and injured nearly 5
000; and was linked to the attack on the USS Cole on 12 October 2000, in which 17 crew
members were killed and 40 others injured.
� They have sought to acquire nuclear and chemical materials for use as terrorist
weapons.
In relation to the terrorist attacks on 11 September
5. After 11 September we learned that, not long before, Bin Laden had indicated he was
about to launch a major attack on America. The detailed planning for the terrorist
attacks of 11 September was carried out by one of U
BL�s close associates. Of the 19 hijackers involved in 11 September 2001, it has been
established that the majority had links with Al Qaida. A senior Bin Laden associate
claimed to have trained some of the hijackers in Af
ghanistan. The attacks on 11 September 2001 were similar in both their ambition and
intended impact to previous attacks undertaken by Usama Bin laden and Al Qaida, and
also had features in common. In particular:
� Suicide attackers
� Co-ordinated attacks on the same day
� The aim to cause maximum American casualties
� Total disregard for other casualties, including Muslim
� Meticulous long-term planning
� Absence of warning.
6. Al Qaida retains the capability and the will to make further attacks on the US and
its allies, including the United Kingdom.
7. Al Qaida gives no warning of terrorist attack.
THE FACTS
Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida
8. In 1989 Usama Bin Laden, and others, founded an international terrorist group known
as �Al Qaida� (the Base). At all times he has been the leader of Al Qaida.
9. From 1989 until 1991 Usama Bin Laden was based in Afghanistan and Peshawar,
Pakistan. In 1991 he moved to Sudan, where he stayed until 1996. In that year he
returned to Afghanistan, where he remains.
The Taleban R�gime
10. The Taleban emerged from the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan in the early 1990s.
By 1996 they had captured Kabul. They are still engaged in a bloody civil war to
control the whole of Afghanistan. They are led by Mull
ah Omar.
11. In 1996 Usama Bin Laden moved back to Afghanistan. He established a close
relationship with Mullah Omar, and threw his support behind the Taleban. Usama Bin
Laden and the Taleban r�gime have a close alliance on which
both depend for their continued existence. They also share the same religious values
and vision.
12. Usama Bin Laden has provided the Taleban r�gime with troops, arms and money to
fight the Northern Alliance. He is closely involved with Taleban military training,
planning and operations. He has representatives in the
Taleban military command structure. He has also given infrastruture assistance and
humanitarian aid. Forces under the control of Usama Bin Laden have fought alongside
the Taleban in the civil war in Afghanistan.
13. Omar has provided Bin Laden with a safe haven in which to operate, and has allowed
him to establish terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. They jointly exploit the
Afghan drugs trade. In return for active Al Qaida s
upport, the Taleban allow Al Qaida to operate freely, including planning, training and
preparing for terrorist activity. In addition the Taleban provide security for the
stockpiles of drugs.
14. Since 1996, when the Taleban captured Kabul, the United States government has
consistently raised with them a whole range of issues, including humanitarian aid and
terrorism. Well before 11 September 2001 they had pro
vided evidence to the Taleban of the responsibility of Al Qaida for the terrorist
attacks in East Africa. This evidence had been provided to senior leaders of the
Taleban at their request.
15. The United States government had made it clear to the Taleban r�gime that Al Qaida
had murdered US citizens, and planned to murder more. The US offered to work with the
Taleban to expel the terrorists from Afghanistan
. These talks, which have been continuing since 1996, have failed to produce any
results.
16. In June 2001, in the face of mounting evidence of the Al Qaida threat, the United
States warned the Taleban that it had the right to defend itself and that it would
hold the r�gime responsible for attacks against US c
itizens by terrorists sheltered in Afghanistan.
17. In this, the United States had the support of the United Nations. The Security
Council, in Resolution 1267, condemned Usama Bin Laden for sponsoring international
terrorism and operating a network of terrorist camps,
and demanded that the Taleban surrender Usama Bin Laden without further delay so that
he could be brought to justice.
18. Despite the evidence provided by the US of the responsibility of Usama Bin Laden
and Al Qaida for the 1998 East Africa bombings, despite the accurately perceived
threats of further atrocities, and despite the demands
of the United Nations, the Taleban r�gime responded by saying no evidence existed
against Usama Bin Laden, and that neither he nor his network would be expelled.
19. A former Government official in Afghanistan has described the Taleban and Usama
Bin Laden as �two sides of the same coin: Usama cannot exist in Afghanistan without
the Taleban and the Taleban cannot exist without Usam
a�.
Al Qaida
20. Al Qaida is dedicated to opposing �un-Islamic� governments in Muslim countries
with force and violence.
21. Al Qaida virulently opposes the United States. Usama Bin Laden has urged and
incited his followers to kill American citizens, in the most unequivocal terms.
22. On 12 October 1996 he issued a declaration of jihad as follows:
�The people of Islam have suffered from aggression, iniquity and injustice imposed by
the Zionist-Crusader alliance and their collaborators ...
It is the duty now on every tribe in the Arabian peninsula to fight jihad and cleanse
the land from these Crusader occupiers. Their wealth is booty to those who kill them.
My Muslim brothers: your brothers in Palestine and in the land of the two Holy Places
[Saudi Arabia] are calling upon your help and asking you to take part in fighting
against the enemy � the Americans and the Israelis. T
hey are asking you to do whatever you can to expel the enemies out of the sanctities
of Islam.�
Later in the same year he said that
�terrorising the American occupiers [of Islamic Holy Places] is a religious and
logical obligation�.
In February 1998 he issued and signed a �fatwa� which included a decree to all Muslims:
�... the killing of Americans and their civilian and military allies is a religious
duty for each and every Muslim to be carried out in whichever country they are until
Al Aqsa mosque has been liberated from their grasp a
nd until their armies have left Muslim lands.�
In the same �fatwa� he called on Muslim scholars and their leaders and their youths to
�launch an attack on the American soldiers of Satan�
and concluded:
�We � with God�s help � call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be
rewarded to comply with God�s order to kill Americans and plunder their money whenever
and wherever they find it. We also call on Muslims .
.. to launch the raid on Satan�s US troops and the devil�s supporters allying with
them, and to displace those who are behind them.�
When asked, in 1998, about obtaining chemical or nuclear weapons he said �acquiring
such weapons for the defence of Muslims [is] a religious duty�, and made the following
claim in an interview printed in the Pakistan news
paper Dawn in November 2001:
�I wish to declare that if America used chemical or nuclear weapons against us, then
we may retort with chemical and nuclear weapons. We have the weapons as deterrent.�
In an interview aired on Al Jazira (Doha, Qatar) television he stated:
�Our enemy is every American male, whether he is directly fighting us or paying taxes.�
In two interviews broadcast on US television in 1997 and 1998 he referred to the
terrorists who carried out the earlier attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 as
�role models�. He went on to exhort his followers �to tak
e the fighting to America�.
23. From the early 1990s Usama Bin Laden has sought to obtain nuclear and chemical
materials for use as weapons of terror.
24. Although US targets are Al Qaida�s priority, it also explicitly threatens the
United States� allies. References to �Zionist- Crusader alliance and their
collaborators�, and to �Satan�s US troops and the devil�s suppor
ters allying with them� are references which unquestionably include the United
Kingdom. This is confirmed by more specific references in a broadcast of 13 October,
during which Bin Laden�s spokesman said:
�Al Qaida declares that Bush Sr, Bush Jr, Clinton, Blair and Sharon are the
arch-criminals from among the Zionists and Crusaders ... Al Qaida stresses that the
blood of those killed will not go to waste, God willing, unti
l we punish these criminals ... We also say and advise the Muslims in the United
States and Britain ... not to travel by plane. We also advise them not to live in
high-rise buildings and towers.�
25. There is a continuing threat. Based on our experience of the way the network has
operated in the past, other cells, like those that carried out the terrorist attacks
on 11 September, must be assumed to exist.
26. Al Qaida functions both on its own and through a network of other terrorist
organisations. These include Egyptian Islamic Jihad and other north African Islamic
extremist terrorist groups, and a number of other jihadi
groups in other countries including the Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and India. Al
Qaida also maintains cells and personnel in a number of other countries to facilitate
its activities.
27. Usama Bin Laden heads the Al Qaida network. Below him is a body known as the
Shura, which includes representatives of other terrorist groups, such as Egyptian
Islamic Jihad leader Ayman Zawahiri and prominent lieutena
nts of Bin Laden such as Mohamed Atef (also known as Abu Hafs Al-Masri). Egyptian
Islamic Jihad has, in effect, merged with Al Qaida.
28. In addition to the Shura, Al Qaida has several groups dealing with military,
media, financial and Islamic issues.
29. Mohamed Atef is a member of the group that deals with military and terrorist
operations. His duties include principal responsibility for training Al Qaida members.
30. Members of Al Qaida must make a pledge of allegiance to follow the orders of Usama
Bin Laden.
31. A great deal of evidence about Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida has been made
available in the US indictment for earlier crimes.
32. Since 1989, Usama Bin Laden has conducted substantial financial and business
transactions on behalf of Al Qaida and in pursuit of its goals. These include
purchasing land for training camps, purchasing warehouses for
the storage of items, including explosives, purchasing communications and electronics
equipment, and transporting currency and weapons to members of Al Qaida and associated
terrorist groups in countries throughout the wor
ld.
33. Since 1989 Usama Bin Laden has provided training camps and guest houses in
Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Sudan, Somalia and Kenya for the use of Al Qaida and
associated terrorist groups. We know from intelligence that th
ere are currently at least a dozen camps across Afghanistan, of which at least four
are used for training terrorists.
34. Since 1989, Usama Bin Laden has established a series of businesses to provide
income for Al Qaida, and to provide cover for the procurement of explosives, weapons
and chemicals, and for the travel of Al Qaida operativ
es. The businesses have included a holding company known as �Wadi Al Aqiq�, a
construction business known as �Al Hijra�, an agricultural business known as �Al
Themar Al Mubaraka�, and investment companies known as �Ladin
International� and �Taba Investments�.
Usama Bin Laden and previous attacks
35. In 1992 and 1993 Mohamed Atef travelled to Somalia on several occasions for the
purpose of organising violence against United States and United Nations troops then
stationed in Somalia. On each occasion he reported ba
ck to Usama Bin Laden, at his base in the Riyadh district of Khartoum.
36. In the spring of 1993 Atef, Saif al Adel, another senior member of Al Qaida, and
other members began to provide military training to Somali tribes for the purpose of
fighting the United Nations forces.
37. On 3 and 4 October 1993 operatives of Al Qaida participated in the attack on US
military personnel serving in Somalia as part of the operation �Restore Hope.�
Eighteen US military personnel were killed in the attack.
38. From 1993 members of Al Qaida began to live in Nairobi and set up businesses
there, including Asma Ltd, and Tanzanite King. They were regularly visited there by
senior members of Al Qaida, in particular by Atef and Ab
u Ubadiah al Banshiri.
39. Beginning in the latter part of 1993, members of Al Qaida in Kenya began to
discuss the possibility of attacking the US Embassy in Nairobi in retaliation for US
participation in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia. Ali
Mohamed, a US citizen and admitted member of Al Qaida, surveyed the US Embassy as a
possible target for a terrorist attack. He took photographs and made sketches, which
he presented to Usama Bin Laden while Bin Laden was
in Sudan. He also admitted that he had trained terrorists for Al Qaida in Afghanistan
in the early 1990s, and that those whom he trained included many involved in the East
African bombings in August 1998.
40. In June or July 1998, two Al Qaida operatives, Fahid Mohammed Ali Msalam and Sheik
Ahmed Salim Swedan, purchased a Toyota truck and made various alterations to the back
of the truck.
41. In early August 1998, operatives of Al Qaida gathered in 43, New Runda Estates,
Nairobi to execute the bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi.
42. On 7 August 1998, Assam, a Saudi national and Al Qaida operative, drove the Toyota
truck to the US Embassy. There was a large bomb in the back of the truck.
43. Also in the truck was Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al �Owali, another Saudi. He, by his
own confession, was an Al Qaida operative, who from about 1996 had been trained in Al
Qaida camps in Afghanistan in explosives, hijacking
, kidnapping, assassination and intelligence techniques. With Usama Bin Laden�s
express permission, he fought alongside the Taleban in Afghanistan. He had met Usama
Bin Laden personally in 1996 and asked for another �miss
ion.� Usama Bin Laden sent him to East Africa after extensive specialised training at
camps in Afghanistan.
44. As the truck approached the Embassy, Al �Owali got out and threw a stun grenade at
a security guard. Assam drove the truck up to the rear of the Embassy. He got out and
then detonated the bomb, which demolished a mult
i-storey secretarial college and severely damaged the US Embassy, and the Co-operative
bank building. The bomb killed 213 people and injured 4500. Assam was killed in the
explosion.
45. Al �Owali expected the mission to end in his death. He had been willing to die for
Al Qaida. But at the last minute he ran away from the bomb truck and survived. He had
no money, passport or plan to escape after the m
ission, because he had expected to die.
46. After a few days, he called a telephone number in Yemen to have money transferred
to him in Kenya. The number he rang in Yemen was contacted by Usama Bin Laden�s phone
on the same day as Al �Owali was arranging to get
the money.
47. Another person arrested in connection with the Nairobi bombing was Mohamed Sadeek
Odeh. He admitted to his involvement. He identified the principal participants in the
bombing. He named three other persons, all of who
m were Al Qaida or Egyptian Islamic Jihad members.
48. In Dar es Salaam the same day, at about the same time, operatives of Al Qaida
detonated a bomb at the US Embassy, killing 11 people. The Al Qaida operatives
involved included Mustafa Mohamed Fadhil and Khaflan Khamis
Mohamed. The bomb was carried in a Nissan Atlas truck, which Ahmed Khfaklan Ghailani
and Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, two Al Qaida operatives, had purchased in July 1998, in
Dar es Salaam.
49. Khaflan Khamis Mohamed was arrested for the bombing. He admitted membership of Al
Qaida, and implicated other members of Al Qaida in the bombing.
50. On 7 and 8 August 1998, two other members of Al Qaida disseminated claims of
responsibility for the two bombings by sending faxes to media organisations in Paris,
Doha in Qatar, and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
51. Additional evidence of the involvement of Al Qaida in the East African bombings
came from a search conducted in London of several residences and businesses belonging
to Al Qaida and Egyptian Islamic Jihad members. In
those searches a number of documents were found including claims of responsibility for
the East African bombings in the name of a fictitious group, �the Islamic Army for the
liberation of the Holy Places�.
52. Al �Owali, the would-be suicide bomber, admitted he was told to make a videotape
of himself using the name of the same fictitious group.
53. The faxed claims of responsibility were traced to a telephone number, which had
been in contact with Usama Bin Laden�s cell phone. The claims disseminated to the
press were clearly written by someone familiar with the
conspiracy. They stated that the bombings had been carried out by two Saudis in
Kenya, and one Egyptian in Dar es Salaam. They were probably sent before the bombings
had even taken place. They referred to two Saudis dyin
g in the Nairobi attack. In fact, because Al �Owali fled at the last minute, only one
Saudi died.
54. On 22 December 1998 Usama Bin Laden was asked by Time magazine whether he was
responsible for the August 1998 attacks. He replied:
�The International Islamic Jihad Front for the jihad against the US and Israel has, by
the grace of God, issued a crystal clear fatwa calling on the Islamic nation to carry
on Jihad aimed at liberating the holy sites. The
nation of Mohammed has responded to this appeal. If instigation for jihad against the
Jews and the Americans ... is considered to be a crime, then let history be a witness
that I am a criminal. Our job is to instigate an
d, by the grace of God, we did that, and certain people responded to this instigation.�
He was asked if he knew the attackers:
�... those who risked their lives to earn the pleasure of God are real men. They
managed to rid the Islamic nation of disgrace. We hold them in the highest esteem.�
And what the US could expect of him:
�... any thief or criminal who enters another country to steal should expect to be
exposed to murder at any time ... The US knows that I have attacked it, by the grace
of God, for more than ten years now ... God knows tha
t we have been pleased by the killing of American soldiers [in Somalia in 1993]. This
was achieved by the grace of God and the efforts of the mujahideen ... Hostility
towards America is a religious duty and we hope to be
rewarded for it by God. I am confident that Muslims will be able to end the legend of
the so-called superpower that is America.�
55. In December 1999 a terrorist cell linked to Al Qaida was discovered trying to
carry out attacks inside the United States. An Algerian, Ahmed Ressam, was stopped at
the US-Canadian border, and over 100 lbs of bomb-maki
ng material was found in his car. Ressam admitted he was planning to set off a large
bomb at Los Angeles International airport on New Year�s Day. He said that he had
received terrorist training at Al Qaida camps in Afghan
istan and then been instructed to go abroad and kill US civilians and military
personnel.
56. On 3 January 2000, a group of Al Qaida members, and other terrorists who had
trained in Al Qaida camps in Afghanistan, attempted to attack a US destroyer with a
small boat loaded with explosives. Their boat sank, abor
ting the attack.
57. On 12 October 2000, however, the USS Cole was struck by an explosive-laden boat
while refuelling in Aden harbour. Seventeen crew were killed, and 40 injured.
58. Several of the perpetrators of the Cole attack (mostly Yemenis and Saudis) were
trained at Usama Bin Laden�s camps in Afghanistan. Al �Owali has identified the two
commanders of the attack on the USS Cole as having pa
rticipated in the planning and preparation for the East African Embassy bombings.
59. In the months before the September 11 attacks, propaganda videos were distributed
throughout the Middle East and Muslim world by Al Qaida, in which Usama Bin Laden and
others were shown encouraging Muslims to attack A
merican and Jewish targets.
60. Similar videos, extolling violence against the United States and other targets,
were distributed before the East African Embassy attacks in August 1998.
Usama Bin Laden and the 11 September attacks
61. Nineteen men have been identified as the hijackers from the passenger lists of the
four planes hijacked on 11 September 2001. Many of them had previous links with Al
Qaida or have so far been positively identified as
associates of Al Qaida. An associate of some of the hijackers has been identified as
playing key roles in both the East African Embassy attacks and the USS Cole attack.
Investigations continue into the backgrounds of all
the hijackers.
62. From intelligence sources, the following facts have been established subsequent to
11 September; for intelligence reasons, the names of associates, though known, are not
given.
� In the run-up to 11 September, Bin Laden was mounting a concerted propaganda
campaign amongst like-minded groups of people � including videos and documentation �
justifying attacks on Jewish and American targets; and cl
aiming that those who died in the course of them were carrying out God�s work.
� We have learned, subsequent to 11 September, that Bin Laden himself asserted shortly
before 11 September that he was preparing a major attack on America.
� In August and early September close associates of Bin Laden were warned to return to
Afghanistan from other parts of the world by 10 September.
� Immediately prior to 11 September some known associates of Bin Laden were naming the
date for action as on or around 11 September.
� A senior associate claimed to have trained some of the hijackers in Afghanistan.
� Since 11 September we have learned that one of Bin Laden�s closest and most senior
associates was responsible for the detailed planning of the attacks.
� There is evidence of a very specific nature relating to the guilt of Bin Laden and
his associates that is too sensitive to release.
63. In addition, Usama Bin Laden has issued a number of public statements since the US
strikes on Afghanistan began. The language used in these, while not an open admission
of guilt, is self-incriminating.
64. For example, on 7 October he said:
�Here is America struck by God Almighty in one of its vital organs, so that its
greatest buildings are destroyed. Grace and gratitude to God ... I swear to God that
America will not live in peace before peace reigns in Pa
lestine, and before all the army of infidels depart the land of Mohammed, peace by
upon him.�
65. On 9 October his spokesman praised the �good deed� of the hijackers, who
�transferred the battle into the US heartland�. He warned that the �storm of plane
attacks will not abate�.
66. On 20 October Bin Laden gave an inflammatory interview which has been circulating,
in the form of a video, among supporters in the Al Qaida network. In the transcript,
when referring to the US buildings that were atta
cked, he says:
�It is what we instigated for a while, in self-defence. And it was in revenge for our
people killed in Palestine and Iraq. So if avenging the killing of our people is
terrorism, let history be a witness that we are terror
ists.�
Later in the interview he said:
�Bush and Blair ... don�t understand any language but the language of force. Every
time they kill us, we will kill them, so the balance of terror can be achieved.�
He went on:
�The battle has been moved inside America, and we shall continue until we win this
battle, or die in the cause and meet our maker.�
He also said:
�The bad terror is what America and Israel are practising against our people, and what
we are practising is the good terror that will stop them doing what they are doing.�
67. Usama Bin Laden remains in charge, and the mastermind, of Al Qaida. In Al Qaida,
an operation on the scale of the 11 September attacks would have been approved by
Usama Bin Laden himself.
68. The modus operandi of 11 September was entirely consistent with previous attacks.
Al Qaida�s record of atrocities is characterised by meticulous long-term planning, a
desire to inflict mass casualties, suicide bombers
, and multiple simultaneous attacks.
69. The attacks of 11 September 2001 are entirely consistent with the scale and
sophistication of the planning which went into the attacks on the East African
Embassies and the USS Cole. No warnings were given for these t
hree attacks, just as there was none on 11 September.
70. Al Qaida operatives, in evidence given in the East African Embassy bomb trials,
have described how the group spends years preparing for an attack. They conduct
repeated surveillance, patiently gather materials, and id
entify and vet operatives, who have the skills to participate in the attack and the
willingness to die for their cause.
71. The operatives involved in the 11 September atrocities attended flight schools,
used flight simulators to study the controls of larger aircraft and placed potential
airports and routes under surveillance.
72. Al Qaida�s attacks are characterised by total disregard for innocent lives,
including Muslims. In an interview after the East African bombings, Usama Bin Laden
insisted that the need to attack the United States excuse
d the killing of other innocent civilians, Muslim and non-Muslim
alike.
73. No other organisation has both the motivation and the
capability to carry out attacks like those of the 11 September �
only the Al Qaida network under Usama Bin Laden.
Conclusion
74. The attacks of the 11 September 2001 were planned and
carried out by Al Qaida, an organisation whose head is Usama Bin
Laden. That organisation has the will, and the resources, to
execute further attacks of similar scale. Both the United States
and its close allies are targets for such attacks. The attack could
not have occurred without the alliance between the Taleban and
Usama Bin Laden, which allowed Bin Laden to operate freely in
Afghanistan, promoting, planning and executing terrorist activity.
End<{{{
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