1/25/1995

“The failure to list al Qaeda [as a terrorist group officially targeted for sanctions in Executive Order 12947 on January 23] 1995 is difficult to understand, given the steady stream of reporting then in hand at the CIA about bin Laden’s contacts in Khartoum with anti-Israeli groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Algeria’s Armed Islamic Group, and some even more radical Egyptian factions. At that point, however, al Qaeda had not formally declared war on the United States or Israel, and it had not been directly implicated in any terrorist attacks.”

 – Steve Coll, Ghost Wars, Page 622