From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2001 17:52:05 -0600 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [CubaNews] Le Monde: No "Proof" of bin Laden Guilt Le Monde, Paris, editorial, 5 Oct 2001 Pas de "preuves tangibles" dans le dossier britannique contre ben Laden In the wave of attacks on September 11 in the United States, proof of the implication of Oussama ben Laden, made public by Britain, are not "tangible" and raise as many questions as there are answers, experts on Friday maintained. While presenting Thursday a 20-page file of incriminations, British Prime Minister Tony Blair affirmed that he had "absolutely no doubt" about the responsibility coming from the Saudi multi-millionaire. Yet, the file presents no tangible proof which would be liable to constitute a strong case against him. Tony Blair has himself recognized that these elements were not sufficient to consider the condemnation of ben Laden by a judicial court, but he affirmed that there existed proof "of a very specific nature" implying his guilt, too sensitive to be published. This file of accusations are more "persuasive than convincing", emphasized William Wallace, professor in International Relations at the London School of Economics. "It would be extremely difficult at this stage to construct a sufficiently strong indictment which could be admitted into a court", he said to the AFP. But the published proof "brings a good enough indication concerning the nature of the ben Laden network." In summary, the file maintains "the clear conclusion" that Oussama ben Laden and his organization Al Qaida planned and perpetrated the attempts, thanks to their ties with the Taliban. The file notably concludes that shortly before September 11, ben Laden had forewarned his associates that he had prepared "a sizeable attack against the United States". In the weeks preceding the attempts, the associates of ben Laden had been asked to return to Afghanistan on September 10. Some among them spoke of a "J-day", while mentioning the date on or around September 11. Finally, according to the file, one of the more closer and important lieutenants of ben Laden made details and organized scheduling of the actions in the attacks. On the other hand, the file doesn't make any mention of several crucial points which have made its way into the press since September 11: - a meeting between one of the main hijackers, Mohammed Atta, and an Iraqi information officer, - arrests in Europe in the setting of the anti-terrorist struggle - bases of the network Al Qaida in Britain and in Germany, - the " financial " network binding ben Laden in the Middle East, Europe and the United States, - similarities between attempts against the World Trade Center and the tentative aborted attack in 1994 by the armed Algerian Islamic Group (GIA) to crash a plane by diverting it into the Eiffel Tower in Paris, - and a meeting in the beginning of 2000 between two of hijackers and a key character in Malaysia that might have helped in the preparation of the attempt against the American naval destroyer US Cole, in October 2000. Also, the file remained completely mute on presumed ties of terrorists with Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arabian Emirates. As for the previous attempt against the World Trade Center, in 1993, it is only mentioned in the context of a quote by ben Laden that he would qualifiy terrorists as "role models". For William Wallace, the file contains much less of a legal bearing than it acts as a political device, notably to give confidence to certain allies who are a little reticent, such as Pakistan or Saudi Arabia, to provide them with some reasons to support the American position. "I have absolutely no doubts about the fact that the Saudi connection passed under a realm of silence because the least desirable thing is to have a destabilization of that country ", he explained. "It makes one think that it is necssary to have much stronger proofs in order to judge a ruffian who might bring us into a world war", a comment made in The Times on Friday by Anthony Scrivener, who is one of the most well-known British jurists. Associated Press of France(AFP) 5 Oct. 2001, r�serv�s; (c) Le Monde 2001, usage strictement personnel. L'utilisateur du site reconna�t avoir pris connaissance de la licence de droits d'usage, en accepter et en respecter les dispositions. ----------------- Courtesy of Nathan Gant CBIACS _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
