WASHINGTON – According to senior intelligence sources quoted in The New York Times, two captured high-ranking Al Qaeda leaders deny that the group worked with Saddam Hussein's government.
The leaders, Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, were interrogated separately by the CIA.
According to the Times, Zubaydah told his questioners Al Qaeda considered working with Saddam's regime but that Usama bin Laden nixed the idea.
During the run-up to war in Iraq, the Bush administration pointed to other intelligence reports suggesting a link between Baghdad and the group believed responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks.
One official tells the Times that everything Al Qaeda detainees say should be viewed skeptically.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox