CIA obstructed 9/11 investigations: report

[Aarwaa]

CIA obstructed 9/11 investigations: report

* Former members of the 9/11 Commission say the agency withheld information despite repeated requests in 2003 and 2004

WASHINGTON: The CIA obstructed an official US commission investigating the September 11 attacks by withholding tapes of interrogations of Al Qaeda operatives, according to former panel members quoted in a report on Saturday.

A review of documents by former members of the 9/11 commission revealed the panel made repeated, detailed requests to the spy agency in 2003 and 2004 for information about the interrogation of members of the extremist network but were never notified of the tapes, the New York Times reported.

The review of the commission’s correspondence with the Central Intelligence Agency came after the agency earlier this month revealed it had destroyed videotapes in 2005 that showed harsh interrogations of two Al Qaeda members.

The review, written up in a memo prepared by Philip Zelikow, the former executive director of the 9/11 commission, said that “further investigation is needed” to resolve whether the CIA’s failure to hand over the tapes violated federal law.The memorandum does not assert that withholding the tapes was illegal but states that federal law penalises anyone who “knowingly and wilfully” withholds or “covers up” a “material fact” from a federal inquiry, the newspaper said.

The revelation adds to pressure on President George W Bush’s administration, already under fire over the affair by human rights groups and lawmakers who allege it has tried to cover up proof of torture. The CIA responded that the panel never specifically asked for interrogation videos.

CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield told AFP the agency had gone to “great lengths” to satisfy the panel’s requests, and that commission members had been provided with details from interrogations of detainees. “The 9/11 Commission certainly had access to, and drew from, detailed information that had been provided by terrorist detainees. That’s how they reconstructed the plot in their comprehensive report,” he said. “Because it was thought the commission could ask about tapes at some point, they were not destroyed while the commission was active.”

The two chairs of the commission, former Democratic lawmaker Lee Hamilton and former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean, told the newspaper the review showed the CIA had actively tried to obstruct the panel’s work. Kean said the panel would give the memorandum to federal officials and lawmakers in Congress who are investigating the destruction of the tapes. Hamilton said the CIA “clearly obstructed” the panel’s probe. afp


http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-12-2007_pg4_1