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Suspect: “Taliban Must Approve al-Qaeda Terror”
Thursday, October 18, 2001
(05:32 PM ET)
The Associated Press

"If true, it clearly documents a symbiotic relationship between Al Qaeda and the Taliban."

PARIS -- AP
A leading suspect in a plot to attack the U.S. Embassy in Paris has told a French judge that Afghanistan's Taliban regime made a "pact" with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network and would have had to approve terrorist acts like the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings.

Djamel Beghal, who French authorities believe is linked to bin Laden, told anti-terror Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere of the pact during questioning in Paris on Oct. 1. The case file, which is sealed to the public, was shown to The Associated Press on Thursday.

It is not clear to what extent Beghal had access to top Al Qaeda members and Taliban officials or how he knew about any agreements that may have been made between the two groups.

However, in his first interrogation in the United Arab Emirates, Beghal spoke in detail about being recruited and meeting at bin Laden's Afghanistan home with Abu Zubaydah, one of the suspected terrorist mastermind's top aide. Beghal also said he spent time at training camps in Afghanistan.
(More: TheStar.com News Source)
2001 © The Associated Press.

Dan