No Information on the Validity of Egypt's Warning to the U.S.

The White House says it has no information to confirm the statements of Hosni Mubarak, the President of Egypt, regarding his warning to the U.S. about the imminent terrorist attacks of September 11. Mr. Mubarak stated in an interview with The New York Times that shortly before the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, his country informed U.S. officials that the terrorist group al-Qaeda was in the final stages of preparing a major attack against American targets. Mubarak claimed that Egypt's intelligence service obtained this information through one of its operatives who had close ties to al-Qaeda. Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesperson, stated that Egyptian and American intelligence officials exchanged information about possible attacks in early 2001, but he believes no information was exchanged a week before the September 11 attacks. The New York Times notes that this is the first time a foreign leader has claimed that their intelligence service had penetrated the al-Qaeda network sufficiently to be aware of a specific attack plan. Mubarak's statements come at a time when more signs emerge in the U.S. of the sluggishness of American intelligence services in analyzing and interpreting information related to al-Qaeda's activities. Mr. Mubarak is scheduled to arrive in Washington this week for discussions with the U.S. President.