December 22, 2001	Saturday	Shawwal 6, 1422

WASHINGTON, Dec 21: The US Defence Department denied charges on Friday that there had been any attempt to conceal information in its incomplete English translation of an Osama bin Laden videotape released last week.

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke stressed the tape was of poor quality and proved a difficult task for independent translators used by the department. But she said again that it clearly showed the Saudi-born knew in advance about — and was responsible for — the Sept 11 attacks on America.

“We have said all along (that) there have never been any doubts in our minds as to Osama bin Laden’s direct responsibility for killing thousands of people. This tape is what it is — you judge for yourself,” she told reporters, noting that the Arabic tape itself had also been released.

“Absolutely not,” Clarke responded when asked if any attempt had been made to conceal any hint of a Saudi connection to the hijackers or to limit awareness of additional details of Osama’s knowledge of the attacks.

The Pentagon released the videotape on Dec 13 accompanied by an official English translation. Officials say it incriminated Osama, now being sought in Afghanistan for allegedly planning the hijacked airliner attacks.

MORE EXTENSIVE TRANSCRIPT: Independent reviews by the Washington Post and television networks of a more extensive transcript suggested that more quotes could have been made available in the Pentagon’s text, including Osama’s use of the names of additional hijackers used in attacks on the Pentagon and New York City’s World Trade Center.

ABC claimed that its analysis of the tape suggested that a sheik present at a dinner in Afghanistan where the tape was made indicated he had been smuggled into the country from Iran with the help of Iranian religious police. That detail was not mentioned in the Pentagon’s translation.

“In general, where they (the translators) were unsure about something, they would put ‘unintelligible’ or just wouldn’t have a translation,” said Clarke, stressing that accuracy and fairness were the benchmarks used in translating the tape.

The spokeswoman said the Pentagon never claimed that the translation that it released with the nearly hour-long tape was complete. She denied the four analysts used by the Pentagon were rushed, although she said that more time could have been provided.

“They did the best they could in the time we had,” Clarke said. “And I’m sure that if somebody had a week or 10 days to sit down and go through it, they could probably get more of the words and syllables.”

“There was a lot of interest in it. There was a lot of interest from your organizations, so we wanted to get it out there,” she added.

SEVERAL HIJACKERS: According to the Pentagon transcript of the tape, bin Laden mentioned only the suspected ringleader of the hijackers, Mohamed Atta.

But ABC and CNN reported that, according to translators they hired, bin Laden made references to several of the 19 hijackers who carried out the attacks on Sept. 11.

CNN said its translation of the video showed bin Laden named nine hijackers and both networks said the Saudi-born militant mentioned, by name, the al Hazmi brothers.

“So these young men, may God accept their action, Nawaf al Hazmi, Salem al Hazmi,” ABC’s translation cited bin Laden as saying.

CNN said its review of the videotape caught bin Laden telling a visitor what he had told his followers just before the attacks that brought down the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon.

“When you hear a breaking news announcement on the radio, kneel immediately, that means they have hit the World Trade Center,” CNN quoted him as saying.

ABC and CNN said bin Laden’s visitor told him that several prominent Saudi clerics, some with connections to the Saudi government, had made speeches supporting the attacks on America.

ABC said it was told by government sources that its translation was consistent with portions of a more extensive government translation of the videotape not yet released to the public.

GERMAN TROOPS: The German government decided on Friday to send up to 1,200 soldiers to Afghanistan to serve in the international security force, Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping said.

Speaking after a German cabinet meeting, Scharping described the figure as an “upper limit” and said that the Netherlands and Denmark were prepared to send a total of 250 soldiers for the force.

The lower house of the German parliament is expected to approve the participation of German troops in the force for Kabul and the surrounding area during a vote scheduled for Saturday.—Reuters / AFP