In April 2003, a document, dated February 19, 1998, was found in the bombed-out headquarters of the Mukhabarat (Iraqi intelligence), which contained evidence of Iraqi agents planning to host high-level al Qaeda members in Baghdad. “The document was passed along to the deputy director of Iraqi intelligence, with a recommendation that ‘the deputy director general bring the [al Qaeda] envoy to Iraq because we may find in this envoy a way to maintain contacts with bin Laden.’ Handwritten notes on the third page of the memo indicate that the envoy arrived on March 5, 1998, and stayed as a guest of the Iraqi regime at Baghdad’s Mansur Melia Hotel. Additional margin notes suggest that the meetings were extended by a week–for a total of sixteen days.”
– Stephen F. Hayes, The Connection, Pages 101-102