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March 17, 2006: Documents confirm Saddam Hussein government knew Zarqawi headed Al Qaeda cell in Iraq in August 2002

By Laura Mansfield

Documents released Thursday by the US government show that less than a year after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Saddam Hussein's government had identified at least one active Al Qaeda cell in his country.

Among the Iraqi documents collected by U.S. intelligence during the Iraq war amd released Thursday is a document, released only in Arabic, which the US government describes as follows:

2002 Iraqi Intelligence Correspondence concerning the presence of al-Qaida Members in Iraq. Correspondence between IRS members on a suspicion, later confirmed, of the presence of an Al-Qaeda terrorist group. Moreover, it includes photos and names.

A translation of the document shows that the Al Qaeda terrorist that Saddam Hussein's government had identified was none other than Abu Mus'ab al Zarqawi, who emerged as one of the leading terrorists in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

The document, dated August 17, 2002, identifies the Al Qaeda member as Ahmed Fadil Nizal Al Khalaylah, the real name of Zarqawi, and includes a series of photos of Zarqawi. (See link at http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/documents-docex/Iraq/ISGZ-2004-019920.pdf)

A memo within the document shows that as early August 8, 2002, Zarqawi was identified as a member of "Tanzeem al Qaeda", or the "Al Qaeda Organization".

This document provides startling documentation that at the very least that Saddam Hussein's government knew that Al Qaeda was active and functioning in Iraq.

Although the document goes on to outline activities of the group, there is no indication that the Iraqi government took any steps to stop Al Qaeda from operating within Iraq, in clear defiance of international law.