T1 B19 Briefing Requests Fdr- Entire Contents- Cia Briefing Request 1 596

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CIA BRIEFING REQUEST No. 1

Thomas H. Kean CHAIR Lee H. Hamilton VICE CHAIR Richard Ben-Veniste Max Cleland Fred F. Fielding Jamie S. Gorelick Slade Gorton John Lehman Timothy J. Roemer James R. Thompson Philip D. Zelikow EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States requests a follow-up discussion as soon as possible, not later than June 12, 2003, with a group of appropriate CIA experts on the development and evolution of al Qaeda as a terrorist entity. This would be "off the record," attended by a limited number of Commission staff whose dominant focus is this issue. We would ike to meet with members of the DCI Review Group and the Counterterrorism Center, together with any other appropriate Agency experts as determined by the Agency. We envision an informal discussion rather than a formal briefing. It would be directed at information obtained by the United States, not on the means and methods byJ which it was obtained. We see no reason why any information on U.S. covert actions need arise in this discussion. Among the issues we will discuss are: 1. Current thinking on whether major terrorist attacks from the early and mid 1990s, including the first World Trade Center bombing and the aborted Bojinka plot, were al Qaeda operations. For example, was Ramzi Yousef .an al Qaeda operative, and, if so, when did he become such? 2. Al Qaeda's development and evolution, including various ties with other foreign terrorist organizations worldwide. We are interested in obtaining as comprehensive a picture as possible on the extent and nature of these links, from al Qaeda's early days through its development and evolution while headquartered in Sudan and Afghanistan. 3. State sponsorship of al Qaeda. In addition to the obvious examples of Sudan and Afghanistan during the periods that al Qaeda was headquartered in those countries, there have been allegations that foreign governments, in particular Iraq and/or Iran, or elements of such governments, have supported al Qaeda or turned a blind eye to its operations. We are interested in an assessment of this issue. 4. Al Qaeda and non-conventional weapons of mass destruction. We are interested in discussing the history and development of al Qaeda's attempts to develop or obtain biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear weapons.

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The DCI Review Group informed us at its May 20, 2003, off-the-record briefing of Commission staff that (1) the Commission would be provided access to a CIA-prepared chronology of events relating to the evolution of al Qaeda; and (2) the DCI Review Group would prepare a selected bibliography of classified analytical assessments. We intend to use these materials to focus the discussion that is the subject of this request, and thus will need to receive them before the meeting. As the DCI Review Group is scheduled to brief the

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Commission on June 5, 2003, we believe our shared interests are best served if you can provide these documents to the Commission by that date. May 30, 2003 Daniel Marcus General Counsel CIA Briefing Request No. 1 Page 2

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