WASHINGTON – The United States has extensive proof of communication between Iraqi officials and an al Qaeda-affiliated group – but has been reluctant to reveal the information because of its sources, The Post has learned.
A stream of intelligence links Saddam Hussein’s government to Ansar al Islam, which wants a Taliban-style government in Kurdish northern Iraq, sources said.
And a member of Ansar al Islam’s ruling council, Abou Wa’el, has been identified by al Qaeda captives as a present or former Iraqi intelligence agent, said the sources.
The sources said the group has been making ricin – the deadly toxin cops found in London when they busted an Islamic terror cell last month.
But the United States has not destroyed the “camp,” partly because communications to and from it have provided useful data on al Qaeda.
Britain and Germany yesterday announced new arrests of suspected al Qaeda members who may be plotting new attacks to capitalize on the Iraq crisis.
German prosecutors said they are questioning three extremists connected to the infamous Hamburg cell that planned the 9/11 atrocities.
In London, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, British police arrested seven people who may be planning ricin attacks.
Meanwhile, U.S. authorities said yesterday that two women from the Seneca Indians’ upstate Cattaraugus reservation played a key role in a cigarette-smuggling ring that sent thousands of dollars to the Hezbollah terror group.