Former Head of Islamic Center in Washington, D.C. on Iranian TV: ‘The 9/11 Events Were Planned by the American Administration’

In a September 10, 2006 appearance on an Iranian Channel 2 TV special, Muhammad Al-Asi, who is affiliated with the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought, accused the U.S. government of carrying out the September 11 attacks.

Al-Asi is active in Islamic organizations and participates in Muslim conferences throughout the world and in the U.S. For instance, earlier this month he presented his paper, titled "Islamophobia: Its Causes and Cures," at the second annual conference of the Muslim Congress. According to the conference's brochure, the Muslim Congress is an "organization of the united Muslims of North America." [1]

Al-Asi has a history of making accusatory statements against the U.S., Israel, and Jews. In remarks he made prior to the Gulf War in 1990, that were aired in the November 1994 PBS documentary Jihad in America with terrorism expert Steve Emerson, Al-Asi said: "If Americans are placing their forces in the Persian Gulf, we should be creating another war front for the Americans in the Muslim world - specifically where American interests are concentrated." [2]

In an undated article on muslimedia.com, Al-Asi wrote about Jewish "control" of Western countries' and the end of Israel, [3] "The Israeli Zionists have convinced themselves that their presence in Palestine is permanent. They have even managed to deceive world public opinion into believing this myth. The brainwashing that has gone into this effort is phenomenal… To bolster their argument, they tell us indefatigably that the Jews are politically as strong as ever because they are in virtual command and control of the American and Russian administrations; not to mention their political and foreign policy clout in the European continent. It is enough to have the Jews running the only superpower in the world, the U.S., to know that Israel is shielded, guarded, and protected from all political angles."

The following are excerpts from Al-Asi's September 10, 2006 appearance on Iranian Channel 2 TV, which also included David Musa Pidcock, leader of the Islamic Party of Britain, and French author Thierry Meyssan, who also accused the U.S. government of involvement in the attacks.

To VIEW THIS CLIP, VISIT: http://memritv.org/clip/en/1264.htm .

Presenter: "According to initial speculations, Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden himself were identified as the main culprits [in 9/11]. Further expert analysis, however, raised other possibilities."

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Muhammad Al-'Asi, former head of the Islamic Center, Washington, D.C.: "The events of 9/11 were planned by the American administration, to be used as a pretext and justification to fight terrorism."

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French author Thierry Meyssan: "Organizing acts of terrorism on such a scale and with such precision would not have been possible without the aid of American administration bodies, such as the White House and the Pentagon."

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"Donald Rumsfeld said, several days prior to 9/11, that a tremendous, unique disaster was going to occur. He said he was wishing for such a thing to happen, so that there would be a national leap and so that he would be able to carry out his policy."

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David Musa Pidcock, leader of the Islamic Party of Britain: "Pearl Harbor was similar to 9/11 in that they were both planned in advance. Twelve days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, [U.S. Secretary of War] Stimson, one of America's lords of war, went to the White House with several navy commanders, and talked about the war against Japan. The question was how they could trick the Japanese into firing the first shot, without any great danger being directed against the Americans. Therefore, the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 was similar to what happened on 9/11. We know very well that it was planned with precision."