Fact Report

The official investigation into the September 11 attacks on Wednesday said Pakistan had helped the Taliban regime in Afghanistan to harbour Osama bin Laden before the US war to overthrow the militia in late 2001.

A report released by the investigation also said that Pakistan broke with the Taliban only after September 11, even though it knew the militia was hiding Osama. "The Taliban’s ability to provide bin Laden a haven in the face of international pressure and UN sanctions was significantly facilitated by Pakistani support," said the report, entitled "Overview of the Enemy," adding: "Pakistan benefited from the Taliban-al-Qaeda relationship, as Osama’s camps trained and equipped fighters for Pakistan’s ongoing struggle with India over Kashmir".

"By 1992, Osama was focused on attacking the United States," said the report. "He argued that other extremists, aimed at local rulers or Israel, had not gone far enough; they had not attacked what he called ‘the head of the snake,’ the United States." With al-Qaeda as the basis, Osama sought "to build a broad Islamic army" that also included groups from Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Oman, Tunisia, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Somalia and Eritrea. "Not all groups from these states agreed to join, but at least one from each did. "With a multinational council intended to promote common goals, coordinate targeting and authorise asset sharing for terrorist operations, this Islamic force represented a new level of cooperation among diverse terrorist groups."

The report cast doubt on US administration claims of links between Iraq and al-Qaeda used to justify last year’s invasion. It said there was no "credible evidence" that Iraq had helped al-Qaeda to attack the United States. The report said Osama "explored possible cooperation with Iraq" while he was based in Sudan in the early 1990s, even though he opposed Saddam’s secular regime. "A senior Iraqi intelligence official reportedly made three visits to Sudan, finally meeting Osama in 1994," the report said. It added that Osama requested space to establish training camps and help in securing weapons.

The investigation said there were also reports of contacts with Baghdad after Osama returned to Afghanistan in the mid-1990s, but they do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship. "Two senior bin Laden associates have adamantly denied that any ties exist between al-Qaeda and Iraq," said the report. "We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States."

It also said there was "substantial uncertainty" about whether Osama or his organisation had any role in a 1993 attack on the World Trade Center in New York or a reported plot, based in Manila, to blow up a dozen US aircraft in 1995.

The report noted the al-Qaeda has changed drastically and become decentralised since the Sept 11 attacks, but it still helps regional networks and will keep trying to strike the United States to inflict mass casualties. "Al-Qaeda remains extremely interested in conducting chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attacks," said the report. Al-Qaeda’s ability to conduct an anthrax attack is one of the most immediate threats, it said. Al-Qaeda may also try to attack a chemical plant or shipment of hazardous materials, or to use industrial chemicals as a weapon. The report said al-Qaeda may modify "traditional tactics" to prevent detection.

The official investigation has already been highly critical of US intelligence failures and highlighted many signs of the impending attacks by al-Qaeda hijackers. A separate draft report by the commission also describes confusion in the Pentagon on the day of the attacks, the New York Times reported. It said Pentagon procedures were "unsuited in every respect" for the attacks, and unprepared officials responded with a "hurried attempt to create an improvised defence." Furthermore, the newspaper quoted commission chairman Thomas Kean as saying "there was a lot of chaos" in the White House response.

It said commission members wanted to know why Bush was allowed to continue meeting with Florida schoolchildren after the attacks were known, and why Bush hop scotched around the country on Air Force One before returning to Washington. A second panel report on Wednesday said there was no evidence Princess Haifa al-Faisal, the wife of Saudi ambassador to Washington Prince Bandar bin Sultan, had contributed any funds to the conspiracy. The final official report is to be handed over to the administration next month.