9/11 Commission : al Qaida / Iran Ties

Next week's much anticipated final report by a bipartisan commission on the origins of the 9/11 attacks will contain new evidence of contacts between al-Qaeda and Iran—just weeks after the Administration has come under fire for overstating its claims of contacts between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

A senior U.S. official told TIME that the Commission has uncovered evidence suggesting that between eight and ten of the 14 "muscle" hijackers—that is, those involved in gaining control of the four 9/11 aircraft and subduing the crew and passengers—passed through Iran in the period from October 2000 to February 2001. Sources also tell TIME that Commission investigators found that Iran had a history of allowing al-Qaeda members to enter and exit Iran across the Afghan border. This practice dated back to October 2000, with Iranian officials issuing specific instructions to their border guards—in some cases not to put stamps in the passports of al-Qaeda personnel—and otherwise not harass them and to facilitate their travel across the frontier. The report does not, however, offer evidence that Iran was aware of the plans for the 9/11 attacks.

The senior official also told TIME that the report will note that Iranian officials approached the al-Qaeda leadership after the bombing of the USS Cole and proposed a collaborative relationship in future attacks on the U.S., but the offer was turned down by bin Laden because he did not want to alienate his supporters in Saudi Arabia.

Sunni Cleric Calls for Jihad Against U.S.

RAMADI, Iraq (AFP) - A senior Sunni cleric called on his followers to launch a holy war against the US forces in Iraq and threatened to turn the hotspot city of Ramadi into a "graveyard" for American troops.

"I call upon my brothers the Shiites and on all other religious groups to embark on a Jihad (holy war) against the US military to force them out of Iraq," said the cleric, who spent three months in a prison after being arrested by the US military and whose home was also raided last week.

"I urge all the Iraqi people to fight a holy war against the Americans," said the cleric, among the most respected figures in this Sunni rebel bastion.

Using slightly more moderate tones, two other Sunni clerics from the Muslim Scholars' Association spoke out against conditions in military detention centres run by the US-led coalition.

"We have received messages from inmates at Um Qasr (detention centre on the border with Kuwait) describing their suffering during this hot weather," said Ahmed Abdel Gafur Samarrai, addressing a crowd at the Um al-Qura mosque in Baghdad.

Interviews of Muslims to Broaden

U.S. news media report the FBI has begun interviewing Muslims and Arab Americans across the United States in a search for information about possible terrorist attacks during the presidential election year.

A report in the Washington Post newspaper says a few dozen voluntary interviews have been conducted so far, but officials expect to soon significantly expand the questioning.

Sudan Rebels Quit Talks on Darfur

Rebels from Sudan's Darfur region have walked out of a peace effort being mediated by the African Union (AU).

A rebel spokesman said the government had refused to meet conditions set by the rebels to end their insurgency.

These include the withdrawal of government forces from Darfur and an international enquiry into charges of genocide against non-Arabs in Darfur.

The talks collapsed as reports emerged of a riot aimed at aid workers at a camp for Sudan refugees on Friday.

The AU-sponsored talks in Addis-Ababa were aimed at breaking the deadlock between the Sudan government and two rebels groups in Darfur.

However on Saturday a representative of the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), one of two groups, said the talks were "finished".

5 Years Ago Today : JFK Junior Dies in Crash

Flashback : NEW YORK (CNN) -- A plane possibly carrying John F. Kennedy Jr. was reported missing Saturday morning by Massachusetts airport officials, and a Coast Guard search is underway off Long Island.