Newsday.com - World News
CIA: 9/11 hijackers passed through Iran
Agency cautious of Tehran plot link:
"The 9/11 commission's report about Iran's assistance to the terrorists who eventually carried out the 9/11 attacks, which was first disclosed by Time Magazine, is likely to be politically sensitive.
Many critics have accused the Bush administration of launching an unnecessary war in Iraq on the basis of flimsy or nonexistent evidence of links between Saddam Hussein's regime and al-Qaida while ignoring signs of much closer connections between the terrorist network and other governments.
The commission has uncovered evidence that eight to 10 of the so-called 'muscle hijackers' -- those whose role was to physically subdue passengers and crew on the commandeered airliners -- passed through Iran in late 2000 and early 2001, Time reported.
They and other al-Qaida operatives were allowed to do so by Iranian authorities, who issued orders to border guards to facilitate their passage -- in some cases not even stamping their passports, according to the Time report. An Iranian stamp on a passport could have prompted extra scrutiny by U.S. border officials.
McLaughlin said his agency had 'known for some time that ... about eight of the hijackers that were able to pass through Iran at some point in their passage along their operational path.'
He said that was not surprising, given Iran's long support for terrorism in general -- but that there was no evidence that Tehran specifically backed al-Qaida terrorist operations or had advance knowledge of the 9/11 plot."
CIA: 9/11 hijackers passed through Iran
Agency cautious of Tehran plot link:
"The 9/11 commission's report about Iran's assistance to the terrorists who eventually carried out the 9/11 attacks, which was first disclosed by Time Magazine, is likely to be politically sensitive.
Many critics have accused the Bush administration of launching an unnecessary war in Iraq on the basis of flimsy or nonexistent evidence of links between Saddam Hussein's regime and al-Qaida while ignoring signs of much closer connections between the terrorist network and other governments.
The commission has uncovered evidence that eight to 10 of the so-called 'muscle hijackers' -- those whose role was to physically subdue passengers and crew on the commandeered airliners -- passed through Iran in late 2000 and early 2001, Time reported.
They and other al-Qaida operatives were allowed to do so by Iranian authorities, who issued orders to border guards to facilitate their passage -- in some cases not even stamping their passports, according to the Time report. An Iranian stamp on a passport could have prompted extra scrutiny by U.S. border officials.
McLaughlin said his agency had 'known for some time that ... about eight of the hijackers that were able to pass through Iran at some point in their passage along their operational path.'
He said that was not surprising, given Iran's long support for terrorism in general -- but that there was no evidence that Tehran specifically backed al-Qaida terrorist operations or had advance knowledge of the 9/11 plot."
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