WASHINGTON?In presenting its case against Osama bin Laden to U.S. allies, the Bush administration said some of the same terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attack have also been linked to the East Africa embassy bombings and the attack on the USS Cole.
Two senior administration officials said this point was part of a presentation made Tuesday by State Department counterterrorism chief Frank Taylor to NATO allies in Brussels, Belgium.
The presentation was part of the U.S. campaign to garner international support for its contention that bin Laden and his al-Qaida organization were responsible for the deadly attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said information was sent out Monday to a large number of nations which ?powerfully made the case? against the al-Qaida organization for the terrorist attacks three weeks ago.
?We traced the history of this organization, its recent activities and events around the 11th?before and after. I think it?s a persuasive case,? he said, speaking with reporters after a meeting with the Greek foreign minister.
The NATO allies had conditioned material support for the United States under the NATO charter on convincing information pointing to bin Laden as the perpetrator of the attacks.
?Now NATO is poised to receive requests from the United States,? Powell said.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said U.S. ambassadors to friendly nations have been asked to brief their host governments on the administration?s information.
Two senior officials said bin Laden?s involvement became apparent after officials concluded that some personnel involved in the Sept. 11 attacks also took part in the Aug. 7, 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa and the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, Oct. 12, 2000. The bin Laden associates were not identified. Bin Laden has been indicted in the embassy bombings and is thought by U.S. officials to have masterminded the Cole attack.
Different countries are receiving different presentations, based on their relationship with the United States, said one government source, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The British, for example, are receiving the most detail, with other allies receiving less, and other members of the anti terrorism coalition still less.
Other than bin Laden, no one from al-Qaida has been publicly linked to all three attacks. Mohamed Atif, a top bin Laden lieutenant, is believed to have taken part in the embassy bombings. He is one of the few individuals whose assets were frozen by the U.S. government after the Sept. 11 attacks.
A representative of the Taliban in Afghanistan, where bin Laden is believed to be hiding out, called on the United States Tuesday to provide evidence of the exiled Saudi millionaire?s involvement.
In response, Boucher said delivery of bin Laden and his associates to a third country is already required by two U.N. Security Council resolutions based on investigations into the East Africa bombings.
?There should be no further delay,? Boucher said. ?There is no cause to ask for anything else. They?re already under this international obligation, and they have to meet it.?
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, when asked about the administration?s plans for information sharing with other countries, said, ?The evidence is so clear?The relationships among terrorists and terrorist networks are abundantly clear.?