WP: Al Qaeda May Have Delayed 9/11 Attack [View All]

Commission Finds Evidence Pointing To Earlier Date

Tuesday, June 15, 2004; Page A01

The independent commission probing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has found evidence suggesting the attacks were intended to be carried out in May or June of that year, but were postponed by al Qaeda leaders because lead hijacker Mohamed Atta was not ready, according to sources privy to the panel's findings.

New evidence gathered by the commission, including information obtained from U.S.-held detainees, indicates that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, mastermind of the attacks, persuaded al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to postpone the attacks by several months because of the organizational problems, according to the sources, who declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the commission's investigation.

That scenario would mark a dramatic revision of the commonly understood narrative of the Sept. 11 attacks and contrasts sharply with prevailing theories of FBI agents investigating the plot. Until now, federal investigators have said the evidence indicates that the attacks were likely planned for a narrow time frame around Sept. 11. If there had been an alternate date, investigators have said, it was probably later in the year.

The possible date postponement is included in a draft report that has been circulated among government and commission officials in recent days, and is expected to be among the topics discussed during a Wednesday hearing focusing on the origins and execution of the Sept. 11 plot. The panel, which is preparing to release its final report in late July, is expected to issue a separate report on Thursday exploring whether U.S. fighter jets may have been able to intercept American Airlines Flight 77 before it struck the Pentagon if they had been dispatched more quickly, according to ccommission sources.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41841-2004Jun14.html