Responsibility for the terrorist atrocities in the United States
released by Downing Street - 6th Oct 2001
This is the full text of the document, entitled Responsibility for the
terrorist atrocities in the United States, released by Downing Street on
Thursday October 4 2001 about the evidence against Osama Bin Laden.
This document does not purport to provide a prosecutable case against Osama
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 protect the safety of sources.
But on the basis of all the information available HMG is confident of its
conclusions as expressed in this document.
Introduction
1. The clear conclusions reached by the government are: Osama Bin Laden and
al-Qaeda, the terrorist network which he heads, planned and carried out the
atrocities on 11 September 2001; Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda retain the will
and resources to carry out further atrocities; The United Kingdom, and United
Kingdom nationals are potential targets; and Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda
were able to commit these atrocities because of their close alliance with the
Taleban regime, 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 some
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-Qaeda 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 Osama Bin Laden. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda 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. Osama Bin
Laden and al-Qaeda 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 operations able to
raise significant sums of money to support its activity. That activity
includes substantial exploitation of the illegal drugs trade from
Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda and the Taleban regime have a close
and mutually dependent alliance. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda provide the
Taleban regime with material, financial and military support. They jointly
exploit the drugs trade. The Taleban regime allows Bin Laden to operate his
terrorist training camps and activities from Afghanistan, protects him from
attacks from outside, and protects the drugs stockpiles. Osama Bin Laden
could not operate his terrorist activities without the alliance and support
of the Taleban regime. The Taleban's strength would be seriously weakened
without Osama Bin Laden's military and financial support. Osama Bin Laden and
al-Qaeda have the capability to execute major terrorist attacks. Osama 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 5000; and were
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
Osama Bin Laden's close associates. Of the 19 hijackers involved in 11
September 2001, it has already been established that at least three had links
with al-Qaeda. The attacks on 11 September 2001 were similar in both their
ambition and intended impact to previous attacks undertaken by Osama Bin
laden and al-Qaeda, 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 Muslims
- Meticulous long-term planning
- Absence of
warning.
6. Al-Qaeda retains the capability and the will to make further attacks on
the US and its allies, including the United Kingdom.
7. Al-Qaeda gives no warning of terrorist attack.
The facts
Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda
8. In 1989 Osama Bin Laden, and others, founded an international terrorist
group known as "al-Qaeda" (the Base). At all times he has been the leader of
al-Qaeda.
9. From 1989 until 1991 Osama 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 Regime
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 Mullah
Omar.
11. In 1996 Osama Bin Laden moved back to Afghanistan. He established a close
relationship with Mullah Omar, and threw his support behind the Taleban.
Osama Bin Laden and the Taleban regime have a close alliance on which both
depend for their continued existence.
They also share the same religious values and vision.
12. Osama Bin Laden has provided the Taleban regime 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 infrastructure
assistance and humanitarian aid. Forces under the control of Osama 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-Qaeda
support, the Taleban allow al-Qaeda 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 provided evidence to the Taleban of
the responsibility of al-Qaeda 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 regime that
al-Qaeda 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-Qaeda threat,
the United States warned the Taleban that it had the right to defend itself
and that it would hold the regime responsible for attacks against US citizens
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 Osama Bin Laden for
sponsoring international terrorism and operating a network of terrorist
camps, and demanded that the Taleban surrender Osama 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 Osama
Bin Laden and al-Qaeda for the 1998 East Africa bombings, despite the
accurately perceived threats of further atrocities, and despite the demands
of the United Nations, the Taleban regime responded by saying no evidence
existed against Osama Bin Laden, and that neither he nor his network would be
expelled.
19. A former Government official in Afghanistan has described the Taleban and
Osama Bin Laden as "two sides of the same coin: Osama cannot exist in
Afghanistan without the Taleban and the Taleban cannot exist without Osama".
Al-Qaeda
20. Al-Qaeda is dedicated to opposing 'UN-Islamic' governments in Muslim
countries with force and violence.
21. Al-Qaeda virulently opposes the United States. Osama 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 [i.e. Saudi Arabia] are calling upon your help and asking you
to take part in fighting against the enemy - the Americans and the Israelis.
"They 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 and 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 he 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 Muslim...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 [was] a religious duty". 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 Centre in 1993 as "role models". He went on
to exhort his followers "to take the fighting to America."
23. From the early 1990s Osama Bin Laden has sought to obtain nuclear and
chemical materials for use as weapons of terror.
24. Although US targets are al-Qaeda'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 supporters allying
with them" are references which unquestionably include the United Kingdom.
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-Qaeda 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-Qaeda also maintains cells and personnel in a number of other
countries to facilitate its activities.
27. Osama Bin Laden heads the al-Qaeda 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 lieutenants of Bin
Laden such as Abu Hafs Al-Masri. Egyptian Islamic Jihad has, in effect,
merged with al-Qaeda.
28. In addition to the Shura, al-Qaeda has several groups dealing with
military, media, financial and Islamic issues.
29. Mohammed Atef is a member of the group that deals with military and
terrorist operations. His duties include principal responsibility for
training al-Qaeda members.
30. Members of al-Qaeda must make a pledge of allegiance to follow the orders
of Osama Bin Laden.
31. A great deal of evidence about Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda has been made
available in the US indictment for earlier crimes.
32. Since 1989, Osama Bin Laden has conducted substantial financial and
business transactions on behalf of al-Qaeda 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-Qaeda and associated terrorist groups in countries throughout the world.
33. Since 1989 Osama Bin Laden has provided training camps and guest houses
in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Sudan, Somalia and Kenya for the use of
al-Qaeda and associated terrorist groups. We know from intelligence that
there are currently at least a dozen camps across Afghanistan, of which at
least four are used for training terrorists.
34. Since 1989, Osama Bin Laden has established a series of businesses to
provide income for al-Qaeda, and to provide cover for the procurement of
explosives, weapons and chemicals, and for the travel of al-Qaeda operatives.
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'.
Osama Bin Laden and previous attacks
35. In 1992 and 1993 Mohammed 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 back
to Osama 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-Qaeda, 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-Qaeda 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-Qaeda 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-Qaeda, in particular by Atef and Abu
Ubadiah al Banshiri.
39. Beginning in the latter part of 1993, members of al-Qaeda 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
Mohammed, a US citizen and admitted member of al-Qaeda, surveyed the US
Embassy as a possible target for a terrorist attack. He took photographs and
made sketches, which he presented to Osama Bin Laden while Bin Laden was in
Sudan. He also admitted that he had trained terrorists for al-Qaeda 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-Qaeda 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-Qaeda 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-Qaeda 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-Qaeda operative, who from about 1996 had
been trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan in explosives, hijacking,
kidnapping, assassination and intelligence techniques. With Osama Bin Laden's
express permission, he fought alongside the Taleban in Afghanistan. He had
met Osama Bin Laden personally in 1996 and asked for another 'mission'. Osama
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
multi-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-Qaeda. 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 mission,
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
Osama 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
whom were al-Qaeda or Egyptian Islamic Jihad members.
48. In Dar es Salaam the same day, at about the same time, operatives of
al-Qaeda detonated a bomb at the US embassy, killing 11 people. The al-Qaeda
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-Qaeda operatives, had
purchased in July 1998, in Dar es Salaam.
49. Khaflan Khamis Mohamed was arrested for the bombing. He admitted
membership of al-Qaeda, and implicated other members of al-Qaeda in the
bombing.
50. On 7 and 8 August 1998, two other members of al-Qaeda 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-Qaeda in the East African
bombings came from a search conducted in London of several residences and
businesses belonging to al-Qaeda 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 Osama 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 dying in the
Nairobi attack. In fact, because Al 'Owali fled at the last minute, only one
Saudi died.
54. On 22 December 1998 Osama 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 and, 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 that 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-Qaeda 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 making
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-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and
then been instructed to go abroad and kill US civilians and military
personnel.
56. On 3 January 2000, a group of al-Qaeda members, and other terrorists who
had trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, attempted to attack a US
destroyer with a small boat loaded with explosives. Their boat sank, aborting
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 Osama Bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan. Al 'Owali has
identified the two commanders of the attack on the USS Cole as having
participated 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-Qaeda, in which
Osama Bin Laden and others were shown encouraging Muslims to attack American
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.
Osama 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. At least three of
them have already been positively identified as associates of al-Qaeda. One
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 claiming 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. 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. Osama Bin Laden remains in charge, and the mastermind, of al-Qaeda. In
al-Qaeda, an operation on the scale of the 11 September attacks would have
been approved by Osama Bin Laden himself.
64. The modus operandi of 11 September was entirely consistent with previous
attacks. Al Qaeda's record of atrocities is characterised by meticulous long
term planning, a desire to inflict mass casualties, suicide bombers, and
multiple simultaneous attacks.
65. 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 three
attacks, just as there was none on 11 September.
66. Al-Qaeda 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 identify
and vet operatives, who have the skills to participate in the attack and the
willingness to die for their cause.
67. 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.
68. Al-Qaeda's attacks are characterised by total disregard for innocent
lives, including Muslims. In an interview after the East African bombings,
Osama Bin Laden insisted that the need to attack the United States excused
the killing of other innocent civilians, Muslim and non-Muslim alike.
69. No other organisation has both the motivation and the capability to carry
out attacks like those of the 11 September - only the al-Qaeda network under
Osama Bin Laden.
Conclusion
70. The attacks of the 11 September 2001 were planned and carried out by
al-Qaeda, an organisation whose head is Osama 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
Osama Bin Laden, which allowed Bin Laden to operate freely in Afghanistan,
promoting, planning and executing terrorist activity.
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