OKC Mideast Evidence Suppressed. (Insider Report).

The Sunday Times of London reported on November 18th that a notebook found in an al-Qaeda safe house in Kabul contained bomb-making instructions and references to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The notebook was found, along with stores of weapons and chemicals, in a Kabul mansion that had been occupied by Osama bin Laden's recruits from Somalia, Algeria, Bosnia, Uzbekistan, Sudan, and the Dagestan region of Russia.

The Times reported: "On one page, under the title 'Explosivija za Oklahomu,' the owner of the notebook had scribbled formulas with inscriptions in English for TNT, ammonium nitrate and nitro-glycerine." "The Oklahoma bomb may have been a topic of study only because it demonstrates how much damage a simple bomb can create. But there is a more intriguing possibility," noted the Times. "Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, his accomplice, were responsible for the Oklahoma bomb. Several investigators pointed out that Nichols had spent time in the Philippines and met members of Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic group connected to Bin Laden. Suggestions that the two bombers had been manipulated by an Arab terror cell were rejected by the FBI, but are still a source of speculation in America."

The evidence amassed concerning a Middle Eastern connection in the OKC bombing (much of which has been reported in these pages) goes far beyond mere "speculation." Many people had held high hopes that this evidence, "rejected by the FBI" under the Bill Clinton-Janet Reno reign, would be acted on under the new Bush-Ashcroft management. But the Department of Justice (DOJ) under Ashcroft is following the Reno script on OKC. On October 29th, Oklahoma Judge Ray Dean Linder ruled that, because of objections from the Bush-Ashcroft DOJ, retired FBI Agent Dan Vogel would not be allowed to testify about evidence he had received concerning Mideast connections to the OKC bombing. Vogel, an Oklahoma City FBI Special Agent, had volunteered to testify in the upcoming state trial of Terry Nichols, who has already been convicted on federal charges as an accomplice with Timothy McVeigh in the bombing.

Among the things that Mr. Vogel could testify about is the fact that he received 22 affidavits and more than 30 witness statements describing sightings of Middle Easterners with McVeigh. The information was transmitted to him at the FBI's Oklahoma City office on January 28, 1999 by Oklahoma City television reporter Jayna Davis, accompanied by her husband, Drew Davis, and her attorney, Dan Nelson.

Mr. Vogel has said that he is willing to testify before a congressional committee if he is subpoenaed to do so. Constituents should demand that members of Congress explain why hearings are not already underway for Mr. Vogel and other FBI agents who have come forward with suppressed evidence on the OKC and September 11th attacks.