Arab League think thank: U.S. military behind September 11

By MEMRI, May 23, 2002

On April 8, an Arab League think tank – The Zayed Center for Coordination and
Follow Up (ZCCF) – hosted a lecture titled “Who masterminded the attacks of
September 11th?” The guest speaker, Theirry Meyssan, was described by the
center as “the famous French author and writer.” The event served partly to
promote Meyssan’s book, “The Appalling Fraud,” in which he accuses the U.S.
military of being behind September 11. The following are excerpts from the
center’s summary of the lecture as well as from the Arab media’s favorable
coverage of the event:

The ZCCF Summary[1]

The Zayed Center for Coordination and Follow Up was established by the Arab
League in 1999. Notable speakers at the center this year include former vice
president Al Gore, former secretary of state James Baker, Professor Shebley
Telhami of the University of Maryland and President George W. Bush’s brother,
Neil Bush. The center publishes summaries of its lectures.

The ZCCF’s summary detailed Meyssan’s argument as follows:

. Both Congress and the U.S. media covered up the truth by not investigating
events.

. It was not reported that the White House’s Old Executive Building was
bombed, as was a third building in Manhattan.

. Bin Laden’s involvement: “this myth, also does not stand analysis,” since he
was a previous CIA agent who was visited by the head of the CIA in a Dubai
hospital in July.

. The 1200 detainees held in the U.S. knew nothing of the attacks and their
names are kept secret so that they cannot be charged.

. The American military – to further its interest and hegemony over the world -
was responsible for the attacks.

. It is a possibility that the planes of September 11 were remote controlled. For
two hours before the attack waves from a homing device were recorded
transmitting from, and interfering with transmission from, the twin towers and
such a device could be used to direct airplanes. If the planes were controlled by
remote, no highjackers were needed, thus the passenger lists were fake.

Saudi Government Daily Reports the Event

On April 10th, the Saudi government daily The Saudi Gazette ran a story on the
lecture titled “U.S. military officials behind 9/11 attacks – French Author.” The
article detailed Theirry Meyssan’s proposal that a United Nations panel be
established to find those really behind September 11 and until this happens, all
American military operations, including any against Iran or Iraq should be
considered illegal. The Saudi Gazette quoted Meyssan as stating the following:
“…[T]hose who masterminded the operations and led them were American
terrorists.”

“The fact that [presidential] communication codes were decoded by the
attackers proves that at least one of the masterminds of the attack was an
American military official.”

“…Commenting on the assumption that American military officials had planned
the attacks, [Meyssan] said that such an assumption could be true as a similar
thing happened in 1961 when the American command planned internal attacks
against American citizens.”

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Daily Reports the Event

On April 9, the UAE daily Khaleej Times, ran a story on the event authored by
Mu’awiya Ibrahim, titled, “French author calls for probe into September 11
attacks.”

Ibrahim quoted Meyssan’s statement referring to the list of kidnappers shown in
the airline documents, and said there were actually only three passengers
identified in flight 11 and two in flight 93: “It is ridiculous enough to believe the
story of the passport that was found in the debris of the World Trade Center
amid such horrible fire and smoke.”

[1] www.zccf.org.ae/LECTURES/E2_lectures/e201.htm.