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CIA BRIEFING REQUEST No. 1

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
Thomas H. Kean Commission staff whose dominant focus is this issue. We would
ike to meet with members of the DCI Review Group and the
CHAIR 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
Lee H. Hamilton directed at information obtained by the United States, not on the
means and methods byJ which it was obtained. We see no reason
VICE CHAIR why any information on U.S. covert actions need arise in this
discussion.
Richard Ben-Veniste
Among the issues we will discuss are:
Max Cleland
1. Current thinking on whether major terrorist attacks from the
Fred F. Fielding early and mid 1990s, including the first World Trade Center
bombing and the aborted Bojinka plot, were al Qaeda
Jamie S. Gorelick operations. For example, was Ramzi Yousef .an al Qaeda
operative, and, if so, when did he become such?
Slade Gorton
2. Al Qaeda's development and evolution, including various
John Lehman ties with other foreign terrorist organizations worldwide.
We are interested in obtaining as comprehensive a picture
Timothy J. Roemer 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.
James R. Thompson
3. State sponsorship of al Qaeda. In addition to the obvious
Philip D. Zelikow examples of Sudan and Afghanistan during the periods that
al Qaeda was headquartered in those countries, there have
EXECUTIVE been allegations that foreign governments, in particular Iraq
DIRECTOR 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

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TEL (202) 331-4060

FAX (202) 296-5545

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