“Stanley Bedington, a senior analyst in the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center until 1994, said in an interview [on November 19, 2001], ‘The Iraqis were active in Sudan giving bin Laden assistance. A colleague of mine was chief of operations for Africa and knew it extremely well. He said the relationship between Sudan and the Iraqis was very, very close indeed. …Basically, the Iraqis were looking for anti-American partners and targets of opportunity in places like Sudan. …But his [Saddam’s] regime is essentially secular. If al Qaeda has established links with Iraq, it’s entirely opportunistic.”
– Steve Coll, Ghost Wars, Page 637