If members of Saddam Hussein’s regime were ordered to assist Islamic terrorists, particularly al Qaeda, who would be privy to that knowledge?

According to those who have been captured, as few people as possible.

Abu Zubaydah, as reported by the 2004 Senate Intelligence Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq, told his CIA interrogators that he was unaware of a relationship between al Qaeda and Iraq and “that any relationship would be highly compartmented”. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was one of the members of al Qaeda who Zubaydah named as having good relations with Iraqi Intelligence.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in testimony before jurors in the Zacarias Moussaoui case, said that the necessity to compartmentalize the details of the 9-11 plot was a top priority. “He insisted on compartmentalizing the details of the plot, to such a degree that even some of Al Qaeda's top officials did not know them.” Los Angeles Times, 4-5-06

But what about the Iraqis? Would they feel the need to keep a possible relationship with Islamic terrorists a secret?

In the case of al Qaeda, apparently the answer is yes. Toronto Star foreign correspondent Mitch Potter’s discovery of a Mukhabarat file on al Qaeda revealed the manner in which Iraqi officials would such high priority information.

"It's a top secret file, it was marked top secret, and of course they went to great lengths to try to mask the contents of it.” Potter told the CBC. CBC News, 4-28-03

Captured Iraqi Intelligence officers have given testimony to confirm the desire for secrecy within Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Abdul Rahman al-Shamari, a former member of Saddam Hussein’s Mukhabarat now in custody, told Jonathan Schanzer (Senior fellow at Washington Institute for Near East Policy) that not only did Saddam Hussein’s regime lend aid to members of al Qaeda but that the efforts to do so were kept secret. Jonathan Schanzer, Weekly Standard, 3-01-04

When digging for an answer to Saddam Hussein’s possible State Sponsorship of al Qaeda will the answers be formal agreements or videos of public meetings? If the examples above are representative of the possible relationship between the two groups then the answer is “no.”

What can be done is ask questions of those who would know. This would include former regime officials who are in custody (it must be kept in mind that denials of sponsorship may only indicate that that particular detainee was not privy to the compartmentalized information), al Qaeda members captured in Iraq (both early and late in the war). The further exploitation of the millions of recovered documents from Saddam Hussein’s former regime will also shed some light on the who’s, what’s and when’s of these unanswered questions.

These links will eventually be added to the sidebar of this site. For now, I am listing them as their own link.

Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq. This is the 2004 Senate report on the U.S. intelligence community’s prewar assessments of Iraq. This report examines Iraq’s ties to terrorism in Section XII and XIII.

The 9-11 Commission Report – Final Report on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, Official Government Edition. This is the official 9-11 Commission Report and it will be cited frequently on this site.

1998 indictment of Osama bin Laden and others for embassy attacks. The report cites Iraqi sponsorship (among others) of al Qaeda.

As part of my analysis of Saddam Hussein's State Sponsorship of Terrorism I will periodically point to the work of others on the subject. Today, I found myself reviewing the work of Deroy Murdock and I wanted to direct those who wish to know more about this blog's focus to review Deroy Murdock's "Hussein and Terror."

For those who may be interested in viewing the original hyperlinks to the people mentioned in my NEWSBLAZE story regarding former Baathists working with Zarqawi in Iraq, the hyperlinks are below....

Abdel Fatih Isa – former Iraqi Army officer and al Qaeda emir, captured May 6, 2004

Ahmad Hasan Kaka al-’Ubaydi - Ahmad Hasan Kaka al-’Ubaydi is a former Iraqi Intelligence Service officer, and is now believed associated with Ansar Al Islam affiliate. Still at large

Rafid Ibrahim Fattah - He traveled throughout Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq for the last 15 years, forming a relationship with al-Qaida in 1999. He served as a liaison between terrorist networks, as an operations officer coordinating the activities of the various terrorist groups, and as a security chief for a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. military, killed March 27, 2006

Muhammed Hila Hammad Ubaydi - aka Abu Ayman, Until his capture, Abu Ayman, the former aide to the Chief of Staff of Intelligence during the Saddam Hussein regime for 30 years, was the leader of the Secret Islamic Army in the Northern Babil Province . Abu Ayman has strong ties to terror leader Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, still considered the head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, captured 4-6-06 in Southern Baghdad

Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri – possibly dead, “The former vice chairman of Saddam's Baathist Revolutionary Command Council. He swore fealty to Zarqawi last year and commands a significant element of the Baathist/al Qaeda converts. H has significant links in Syria and is an important source of funding for al Qaeda in Iraq (link).”

Unidentified man – “The man who was killed was later identified as a retired officer in the Iraqi Air Force serving under the Saddam Hussein regime. The male who initiated the gunfire is a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist for whom the troops were searching, as well as the retired officer’s son. “ killed on April 14,2006

Abu Asim - A former Special Republican Guard officer under Saddam Hussein, authorities believe Abu Asim has been active within the insurgency since the fall of the former regime. Associate of Abu Musab al Zarqawi, at large

Fadhil Ibrahim Mahmud Al-Mashadani, “the former leader of the Military Bureau in Baghdad during the Saddam Hussein regime, was apprehended by security forces in a military operation conducted at a farm in the northeast of Baghdad,” a government statement said.” caught April 13,2005

Abed Dawood Suleiman and his son, Raed Abed Dawood, - Abed was a former Iraqi general believed to be Jordanian extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's "military adviser“, his son Raed was a former Army captain in the Iraqi army, caught April 15, 2005

Abu Talha, also known as Mohammed Khalaf Shkarah al-Hamadani , a key facilitator and financier for al Qaeda, the purported head of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi’s terror cell and former member of Saddam Hussein’s once ruling Baath Party and a warrant officer in the former Iraqi army, captured June 5, 2005

Sajida Mubarak al-Rishawi, brother of former Iraqi military officer Thamer Mubarak captured by Jordanian officials during the al Qaeda (Zarqawi orchestrated) suicide bombings in Amman, Jordan.

"Al-Hajji" Thamer Mubarak, a former Iraqi military officer turned key aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was involved in the August 2003 al Qaeda attack on UN headquarters in Iraq

Abu Aseel, a former high ranking Saddam official, has been working with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi since 2002. Sami Moubayed, Asia Times, 6-13, 06

Hasayn Ali Muzabir, formerly al Qaeda's emir of Samarra, was killed in Balad, Iraq on June 2, 2006. Muzabir was a former Intelligence officer (Mukhabarat) for Saddam Hussein’s regime

Muhammad Hamza Zubaydi, Zubaydi was a "Baath Party official in charge of security in central Iraq and had helped put down an uprising by Shiite Muslims in southern Iraq in 1991," later found to be associate of Zarqawi's group in Iraq

85 fighters were also killed in a joint Baath/al Qaeda camp in March 2005

Abu Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi, "believed to be a former officer in Saddam's army, or its elite Republican Guard, who has worked closely with al-Zarqawi since the overthrow of the Iraqi dictator in April 2003", was also considered to be the replacement for Abu Musab al Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq.

Abdul Hamid Mustafa al-Douri, an aide to Zarqawi and head of the Salaheddin province Al-Qaida branch, captured in a joint Iraqi police and army operation in a village in northern Tikrit. A relative to Saddam Hussein’s aide Izzat Ibrahim, al-Douri was behind a number of car bombings.

Abu Maysira al-Iraqi, “Minister of Information” for al Qaeda in Iraq; also a former expert in Information Technology for Saddam Hussein’s Army, “He was an expert in Information Technology in Saddam's army and was entrusted with the additional task of waging the jihad through the Internet” for Abu Musab al Zarqawi’s al Qaeda in Iraq

Haitham al-Badri, "before joining al-Qaeda in Iraq, Badri was a warrant officer in the Special Republican Guard under Saddam Hussein. After the invasion, he joined the insurgent group Ansar al-Sunna, where he trained recruits and carried out attacks"

Salas Khabbas, "a former member of the Baath party and closely linked with al-Qaeda, specialized in attacking convoys and kidnapping." Captured 7-12-06 by Polish Intelligence agents.

Abu Zubair, linked to Saddam Hussein, was trained in Iraq. This report also said that in the 1990s, Zubair's “Supporters of Islam” organisation was sent by Saddam Hussein into northern Iraq to “assassinate leading Kurds and to build chemical warfare facilities.”

Rafid Fatah, "also known as Abu Omer al-Kurdi, was also trained by Saddam and worked with Zubair against the Kurds. It is not known when he left Iraq, but he too became a leading member of al-Qa'eda . His whereabouts are not known."

Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi, #3 al Qaeda leader, former Iraqi Army officer,

Mohammed Hanoun Hamoud al-Mozani, former Iraqi intelligence officer captured by police after last week's bombings in Baghdad and Karbala has revealed that he was paid by al-Qa'eda to carry out attacks on civilians

Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, former member of Saddam Hussein's Intelligence Services who rose to number 2 in al-Qaeda.