Former Egyptian Intelligence Chief Slams El-Adly Over 9/11 Comments
Former head of information authority in the Egyptian General Intelligence, Major General Hossam Khairallah believes that what Habib El-Adly claimed in court on Saturday concerning Egypt’s warning to the United States about 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks ‘lacked objectivity’.
Former interior minister Habib El-Adly claimed that he warned the Americans in 2001 about a terrorist attack twice but that they both ignored his warnings and plotted against his security apparatus in January 2011.
“There was cooperation in counterterrorism efforts between Egypt and the United States, there were warnings from Cairo that something may happen but we did not know what it was or how it would be or who would do it , nobody could have known then,” the former major general told Ahram Online.
In his speech in front of the court, El-Adly said that “In May 2001, we got a tip at the interior ministry in Egypt from a very well-connected informant inside Al-Qaeda that the terrorist group was planning for a huge attack inside the United States,” Habib El-Adly said in statement during his retrial for killing protesters in the early days of the 25 January revolution on Saturday.
“I told president Mubarak after confirming this tip and he told us to inform the Americans so we told the CIA and FBI that there would be a terrorist attack in the United States soon,” he added, saying that the Americans thanked him for the tip.
“Then in August 2001 we got a tip that Al-Qaeda’s attack for the United States was in process, again we informed the Americans and they thanked us for the information,” he said.
According to Mubarak’s longtime interior minister, when Mubarak was visiting the United States in 2002 he asked President Bush why the US ignored the tips allegedly given to American intelligence regarding Al-Qaeda’s threat. El-Adly claimed that Bush denied knowing that he was informed of such tips.
“He then confronted the CIA and FBI and they responded saying that the information was not communicated in a memo. What memo were they talking about?” he said in the court.
Khairallah on the other hand, questions whether Egypt really knew any details about 9/11 and whether the US would ignore such information even if it did. If Egypt truly had details on the attacks, he assumed it would have informed Germany where Egyptian Mohamed Atta was staying.
Khairallah also wondered why the former minister did not mention this earlier in the previous trial in front of the judge.
El-Adly accused the United States of orchestrating the 2011 Revolution to bring down the Egyptian state as well as his security apparatus.
“I warned you about a huge terrorist attack twice and you ignored it, yet you plot against my security apparatus and against my country,” El-Adly said.
He also said that the Arab spring was a plot by the West to destroy Islam.
“El-Adly is using the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood were ousted and that people are still angry with them to claim whatever he wants without anyone paying attention.” Hossam Khairallah told Ahram Online.
Former interior minister, Habib El-Adly was sentenced to life in prison in May 2012 for killing protesters during the early days of 25 January revolution.
In March 2013 the conviction was overturned by the court of cassation and a new retrial was requested.
Source : Ahram online
