This one's a stretch. As the man points out, all they have is one common name. And there's no evidence, even after having all the Iraqi records for over a year, of any operational cooperation. And it could have been an al-Qaeda mole in Saddam's security force.

I'd sure think any significant evidence would have shown up much sooner. Anything now is suspect, and even if true, this sure seems like grasping at straws.

"But Mr. Lehman said the intelligence has not been confirmed, and some terror analysts cautioned that the connection might be nothing more than coincidence.

"Shakir is a pretty common name," said terrorism analyst and author Peter Bergen. "And even if the two names refer to the same person, there might be a number of other explanations. Perhaps al Qaeda had penetrated Saddam's security apparatus."