More Secrets from Saddam's Files

Check out Steve Hayes's piece on the contents of three Iraqi intelligence documents found after the fall of Saddam's regime. The first of the documents shows that Saddam's spooks were in contact with and funding Abu Sayyaf, al Qaeda's affiliate in the Philippines, which was founded by Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law.

Hayes puts the first of these documents in context by reminding us that the second secretary of the Iraqi embassy in Manila, Hisham Hussein, was in regular contact with Abu Sayyaf. He even received a phone call from a Sayyaf terrorist's cell phone less than a day after it was used to kill SFC Mark Wayne Jackson on October 2, 2002.

Many have forgotten the story of Hisham Hussein, but that's not surprising. He was the subject of several press accounts when he and his cronies were deported from the Philippines, but his story quickly faded from public light. (I remember one account on CNN.com, which I couldn't find in a quick search, that was particularly interesting.) But the press's reporting on Hisham Hussein was verified by the testimony of Matthew Daley, a State Department official, before Congress on March 26, 2003. Hayes cites some very interesting quotes from Daley's testimony.

Hayes also reminds us that an Abu Sayyaf leader named Hamsiraji Sali "at least twice publicly boasted that his group received funding from Iraq. For instance, on March 2, 2003, he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the Iraqi regime had provided the terrorist group with 1 million pesos -- about $20,000 -- each year since 2000."

So, to recap, Hayes brings three separate, corroborating pieces of evidence to the table with regards to Saddam's relationship with Abu Sayyaf: (1) Iraqi intelligence files confirm that Saddam funded Abu Sayyaf at one time, (2) The story of Hisham Hussein and his contacts with Abu Sayyaf, and (3) the public statements of one of Abu Sayyaf's leaders. Kind of hard to dismiss that out of hand, no?

The first Iraqi intelligence document Hayes reports on also has a very interesing exchange between two operatives, in which one says to the other: "Do you know that there are more than one thousand Iraqi extremists who perform heroism jobs?"

He then explains, "They are bin Laden's people and all of them are extremists and they are heroes. Do you want me to give you their names?"

Interesting.

The second document Steve reports on recounts Iraqi intelligence's contacts with various Saudi oppositionist groups and leaders, including bin Laden. One of the Saudi oppositionists that Iraqi intelligence was in contact with was Dr. Muhammad al-Massari. (You can read what Massari had to say about pre-war cooperation between Saddam and al Qaeda here.)

The third Iraqi intelligence document was part of the Pentagon's recent document dump and is discussed in most of the links cited here.

There are more pieces of the puzzle to come.