Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti
Encyclopedia
Tahir Jalil Habbush al Takriti is a former Iraq
i intelligence official who served under the regime of Saddam Hussein
. He is currently a fugitive.
is mentioned in a letter
allegedly discovered in Iraq handwritten by Tahir Jalil Habbush al Takriti, former chief of the Iraqi Intelligence Service
. Habbush's July 1, 2001, memo is labeled "Intelligence Items" and is addressed: "To the President of the Ba'ath Revolution Party and President of the Republic, may God protect you."
It continues:
The memo is believed to be a forgery. According to Newsweek
, "U.S. officials and a leading Iraqi document expert [say] the document is most likely a forgery, part of a thriving new trade in dubious Iraqi documents that has cropped up in the wake of the collapse of Saddam's regime." In The Way of the World
, author Ron Suskind
alleges that the Bush administration itself ordered the forgery. Habbush then supposedly signed the letter, having already been resettled in Jordan with $5 million from the US.
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i intelligence official who served under the regime of Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
. He is currently a fugitive.
Forged 2003 Habbush letter
According to the London Sunday Telegraph, Mohamed AttaMohamed Atta
Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta was one of the masterminds and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks who served as the hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, crashing the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the coordinated attacks.Born in 1968...
is mentioned in a letter
Habbush letter
The Habbush letter, or Habbush memo, is a handwritten message dated July 1, 2001, which appeared to show a link between al Qaeda and Iraq's government...
allegedly discovered in Iraq handwritten by Tahir Jalil Habbush al Takriti, former chief of the Iraqi Intelligence Service
Iraqi Intelligence Service
The Iraqi Intelligence Service , also known as the Mukhabarat, General Directorate of Intelligence, or Party Intelligence, was the main state intelligence organization in Iraq under Saddam Hussein...
. Habbush's July 1, 2001, memo is labeled "Intelligence Items" and is addressed: "To the President of the Ba'ath Revolution Party and President of the Republic, may God protect you."
It continues:
- ’’Mohamed AttaMohamed AttaMohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta was one of the masterminds and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks who served as the hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, crashing the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the coordinated attacks.Born in 1968...
, an Egyptian national, came with Abu Ammer [the real name behind this Arabic alias remains a mystery] and we hosted him in Abu Nidal's house at al-Dora under our direct supervision.’’ - ’’We arranged a work program for him for three days with a team dedicated to working with him...He displayed extraordinary effort and showed a firm commitment to lead the team which will be responsible for attacking the targets that we have agreed to destroy.’’
The memo is believed to be a forgery. According to Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, "U.S. officials and a leading Iraqi document expert [say] the document is most likely a forgery, part of a thriving new trade in dubious Iraqi documents that has cropped up in the wake of the collapse of Saddam's regime." In The Way of the World
The Way of the World (book)
The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism is a 2008 non-fiction book by Ron Suskind, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, describing various actions and policies of the George W. Bush administration...
, author Ron Suskind
Ron Suskind
Ron Suskind is a Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist and best-selling author. He was the senior national affairs writer for The Wall Street Journal from 1993 to 2000 and has published the books A Hope in the Unseen, The Price of Loyalty, The One Percent Doctrine, The Way of the World and...
alleges that the Bush administration itself ordered the forgery. Habbush then supposedly signed the letter, having already been resettled in Jordan with $5 million from the US.