background image
been given additional resources for such efforts, both it and the CIA were hav-
ing problems exploiting leads by tracing U.S. telephone numbers and translat-
ing documents obtained in cell disruptions abroad. The Justice Department
reported that the current guidelines from the Attorney General gave sufficient
legal authority for domestic investigation and surveillance.
108
Though intelligence gave no clear indication of what might be afoot, some
intelligence reports mentioned chemical weapons, pointing toward work at a
camp in southern Afghanistan called Derunta. On November 4, 1998, the U.S.
Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed its indict-
ment of Bin Ladin, charging him with conspiracy to attack U.S. defense instal-
lations.The indictment also charged that al Qaeda had allied itself with Sudan,
Iran, and Hezbollah.The original sealed indictment had added that al Qaeda
had "reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that al Qaeda
would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specif-
ically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively
with the Government of Iraq."
109
This passage led Clarke, who for years had
read intelligence reports on Iraqi-Sudanese cooperation on chemical weapons,
to speculate to Berger that a large Iraqi presence at chemical facilities in Khar-
toum was "probably a direct result of the Iraq­Al Qida agreement." Clarke
added that VX precursor traces found near al Shifa were the "exact formula
used by Iraq."
110
This language about al Qaeda's "understanding" with Iraq had
been dropped, however, when a superseding indictment was filed in Novem-
ber 1998.
111
On Friday, December 4, 1998, the CIA included an article in the Presiden-
tial Daily Brief describing intelligence, received from a friendly government,
about a threatened hijacking in the United States.This article was declassified
at our request.
The same day, Clarke convened a meeting of his CSG to discuss both the
128
THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT
The following is the text of an item from the Presidential Daily Brief received by
President William J. Clinton on December 4, 1998. Redacted material is indicated
in brackets.
SUBJECT: Bin Ladin Preparing to Hijack US Aircraft and Other
Attacks
1. Reporting [--] suggests Bin Ladin and his allies are preparing for
attacks in the US, including an aircraft hijacking to obtain the release of
Shaykh `Umar `Abd al-Rahman, Ramzi Yousef, and Muhammad Sadiq
`Awda. One source quoted a senior member of the Gama'at al-Islamiyya
(IG) saying that, as of late October, the IG had completed planning for
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