-Caveat Lector-
FBI director gives Bush team list of Khobar suspects
May 6, 2001
Web posted at: 5:25 PM EDT (2125 GMT)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- FBI Director Louis Freeh has given the Bush
administration a list of people -- possibly including Iranian officials
-- who he believes should be indicted in the 1996 bombing in Saudi
Arabia that killed 19 U.S. servicemen, according to a New Yorker article
released Sunday.
The magazine story, based on interviews with Freeh and bureau personnel
among others, said Freeh, who is leaving his post in June, recently
briefed President Bush on the matter.
Without quoting Freeh directly, the article said, "any indictments are
likely to name Iranian government officials, especially those with ties
to Iranian intelligence, commonly believed to be the source of terrorist
activities."
The June 1996 bomb at the Khobar Towers military complex in Dharan,
Saudi Arabia, killed 19 servicemen and injured 500 others. The United
States has maintained a military presence in Saudi Arabia since the
buildup to the 1991 Gulf War.
It is unclear where any indictments might lead if the suspects live
outside the United States.
Asked about the issue on the ABC's "This Week," Bush's national security
adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said she could not comment on "legal and
judicial matters that are under review at the Justice Department."
The New Yorker piece did not say how the Bush administration would
proceed but it quoted one unidentified official as being open to
indictments.
It said Freeh hopes to resolve the case by the time he steps down.
"The only unfinished piece of business that I have is the one you're
writing about," the magazine quoted Freeh as saying.
The article said the suspicion of Iranian involvement dated to
conversations a few months after the bombing between then-national
security adviser Anthony Lake and his deputy, Sandy Berger, and Prince
Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to the United States and the
nephew of King Fahd.
"Bandar would always say, 'Tell me what you are going to do with the
information if we share it with you.' I wouldn't play that game. I knew
if we said we were going to whack the shit out of Iran we would never
get anything from the Saudis -- plus we had not made a decision about
what we were going to do," Berger is quoted as saying in the article.
The Saudis, who cooperated with the FBI in the investigation of the
bombing, feared U.S. military action against Iran would prompt Iran to
retaliate against its neighbor Saudi Arabia.
"Bandar told Freeh that he had once told White House officials that the
Saudis could close the investigation, so that no one would have to
retaliate against Iran," according to the New Yorker.
"By the end of the Clinton era, Free had become mistrustful of Clinton
that, although he believed he had developed enough evidence to seek
indictments against the masterminds behind the attack, not just the
front-line suspects, he decided to wait for a new administration," the
New Yorker said.
FBI spokesman Bill Carter declined to comment on whether a list of
suspects had been handed to the Bush team. But the bureau issued a
statement responding to the New Yorker article, saying the Khobar Towers
case "remains the investigative priority of the FBI."
Copyright 2001 Reuters. All rights reserved.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
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The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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