J
John
Guest
CIA withheld al Qaeda tapes from 9/11 panel-paper
Sat Dec 22, 2007 12:05pm EST
(Adds CIA comment in paragraphs 6-8)
NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The Sept. 11 commission asked the CIA in 2003
and 2004 for information on the interrogation of al Qaeda suspects, only to
be told the agency provided all that was requested, The New York Times
reported on Saturday.
The CIA said on Dec. 6 it destroyed hundreds of hours of videotape in 2005
showing interrogations of al Qaeda suspects Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim
al-Nashiri, prompting former members of the commission to review classified
documents.
The taped interrogations were believed to show a simulated drowning
technique known as waterboarding that rights activists have condemned as
torture.
The Sept. 11 commission's chairmen, Lee Hamilton and Thomas Kean, said their
reading of the review, a copy of which the newspaper obtained, convinced
them the CIA made a conscious decision to impede the panel's inquiry, the
Times said.
A memo prepared by Philip Zelikow, the panel's former executive director,
concluded that "further investigation is needed" to determine whether the
CIA's withholding of the interrogation tapes from the commission violated
U.S. law, the paper reported.
CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield on Saturday said the CIA gave the commission "a
wealth of information" and did not destroy the tapes while the commission
was active.
"The 9/11 commission certainly had access to, and drew from, detailed
information that had been provided by terrorist detainees," Mansfield said
in an e-mail. "That's how they reconstructed the plot in their comprehensive
report."
"Because it was thought the commission could ask about tapes at some point,
they were not destroyed while the commission was active. As Director Hayden
pointed out in his December 6th statement, the tapes were destroyed only
when it was determined they were no longer of intelligence value and not
relevant to any internal, legislative or judicial inquiries," Mansfield
said.
The CIA said it destroyed the tapes lawfully to protect the agents involved
in the interrogations, but the news prompted an outcry from rights activists
and Democrats in Congress, as well as investigations by the Bush
administration and Congress.
The commission investigated what went wrong before and after al Qaeda
militants used hijacked commercial airliners to attack the United States on
Sept. 11, 2001. The panel's report called for an overhaul of the U.S.
intelligence community.
Kean, a Republican and former New Jersey governor, said the panel would give
the memo to federal prosecutors and lawmakers looking into the destruction
of the tapes.
A CIA spokesman told the Times the agency had been prepared to provide the
Sept. 11 commission with the tapes, but was never asked to do so.
"I don't know whether that's illegal or not, but it's certainly wrong," Kean
said of the CIA's decision not to disclose the existence of the tapes.
Hamilton, a Democrat and former Indiana congressman, said the agency
"clearly obstructed" the commission's investigation.
NOT HOLDING BACK
Among statements that the memo suggested were misleading was a June 2004
assertion by John McLaughlin, deputy director of central intelligence, that
the CIA had "taken and completed all reasonable steps necessary to find the
documents in its possession, custody or control" in response to the panel's
requests and "has produced or made available for review" all such documents,
the Times said.
Kean and Hamilton expressed anger once it was revealed the tapes had been
destroyed, the paper said.
The Times said Zelikow's report provides more evidence to bolster their
views about the CIA's actions and was likely to put more pressure on the
Bush administration over its handling of the matter.
McLaughlin told the Times that agency officials had always been candid with
the commission and that information from the CIA proved central to their
work.
"We weren't playing games with them, and we weren't holding anything back,"
the paper quoted him as saying.
The memo draws no conclusions about whether the withholding of the tapes was
unlawful, but notes that federal law penalizes anyone who knowingly
withholds or covers up a material fact from a federal inquiry or makes a
false statement to investigators, the Times reported. (Editing by John
O'Callaghan)
Sat Dec 22, 2007 12:05pm EST
(Adds CIA comment in paragraphs 6-8)
NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The Sept. 11 commission asked the CIA in 2003
and 2004 for information on the interrogation of al Qaeda suspects, only to
be told the agency provided all that was requested, The New York Times
reported on Saturday.
The CIA said on Dec. 6 it destroyed hundreds of hours of videotape in 2005
showing interrogations of al Qaeda suspects Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim
al-Nashiri, prompting former members of the commission to review classified
documents.
The taped interrogations were believed to show a simulated drowning
technique known as waterboarding that rights activists have condemned as
torture.
The Sept. 11 commission's chairmen, Lee Hamilton and Thomas Kean, said their
reading of the review, a copy of which the newspaper obtained, convinced
them the CIA made a conscious decision to impede the panel's inquiry, the
Times said.
A memo prepared by Philip Zelikow, the panel's former executive director,
concluded that "further investigation is needed" to determine whether the
CIA's withholding of the interrogation tapes from the commission violated
U.S. law, the paper reported.
CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield on Saturday said the CIA gave the commission "a
wealth of information" and did not destroy the tapes while the commission
was active.
"The 9/11 commission certainly had access to, and drew from, detailed
information that had been provided by terrorist detainees," Mansfield said
in an e-mail. "That's how they reconstructed the plot in their comprehensive
report."
"Because it was thought the commission could ask about tapes at some point,
they were not destroyed while the commission was active. As Director Hayden
pointed out in his December 6th statement, the tapes were destroyed only
when it was determined they were no longer of intelligence value and not
relevant to any internal, legislative or judicial inquiries," Mansfield
said.
The CIA said it destroyed the tapes lawfully to protect the agents involved
in the interrogations, but the news prompted an outcry from rights activists
and Democrats in Congress, as well as investigations by the Bush
administration and Congress.
The commission investigated what went wrong before and after al Qaeda
militants used hijacked commercial airliners to attack the United States on
Sept. 11, 2001. The panel's report called for an overhaul of the U.S.
intelligence community.
Kean, a Republican and former New Jersey governor, said the panel would give
the memo to federal prosecutors and lawmakers looking into the destruction
of the tapes.
A CIA spokesman told the Times the agency had been prepared to provide the
Sept. 11 commission with the tapes, but was never asked to do so.
"I don't know whether that's illegal or not, but it's certainly wrong," Kean
said of the CIA's decision not to disclose the existence of the tapes.
Hamilton, a Democrat and former Indiana congressman, said the agency
"clearly obstructed" the commission's investigation.
NOT HOLDING BACK
Among statements that the memo suggested were misleading was a June 2004
assertion by John McLaughlin, deputy director of central intelligence, that
the CIA had "taken and completed all reasonable steps necessary to find the
documents in its possession, custody or control" in response to the panel's
requests and "has produced or made available for review" all such documents,
the Times said.
Kean and Hamilton expressed anger once it was revealed the tapes had been
destroyed, the paper said.
The Times said Zelikow's report provides more evidence to bolster their
views about the CIA's actions and was likely to put more pressure on the
Bush administration over its handling of the matter.
McLaughlin told the Times that agency officials had always been candid with
the commission and that information from the CIA proved central to their
work.
"We weren't playing games with them, and we weren't holding anything back,"
the paper quoted him as saying.
The memo draws no conclusions about whether the withholding of the tapes was
unlawful, but notes that federal law penalizes anyone who knowingly
withholds or covers up a material fact from a federal inquiry or makes a
false statement to investigators, the Times reported. (Editing by John
O'Callaghan)
dednWgwCZQTN_PanZ2dnUVZ_tijnZ2d@giganews.com...