BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON, 10 July 2003 — Three former senior Iraqi officials, including a suspected intelligence operative who may have been in contact with leading Sept. 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta, have been captured by US troops in Iraq, US officials said yesterday. Former Iraqi envoy to the Czech Republic Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir Al-Ani was taken into custody at an undisclosed location in Iraq on July 2, an official told reporters on condition on anonymity.
US Central Command also disclosed the surrender in Baghdad on Tuesday of former high-ranking regional Baath Party leader Mizban Khadr Al-Hadi, who is listed as nine of hearts, or No. 23, on the Pentagon’s deck of cards of most wanted Iraqis.
Also in US custody is former Interior Minister Mahmud Dhiyab Al-Ahmad, known as the seven of spades, or No. 29 on the list, who was seized by force at an undisclosed location on the same day. Officials declined to provide any further details.
But a US government source said the US Central Intelligence Agency was particularly looking forward to questioning Ani, who is believed to have been using his diplomatic post in Prague to conduct covert operations. Ani is suspected to have held a secret meeting with Atta, the alleged ringleader of the 19 militants who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, in Prague in April 2001 to discuss terrorist operations.
Iraq’s US civilian administrator Paul Bremer wants to begin the transitional handover of power to Iraqis with a US-appointed governing council set to be appointed in two weeks. In a brief trip to the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Bremer stressed the need for a unified Iraq but did not meet any of the powerful clergy such as Ayatollah Ali Sistani.
