The Syrian Connection: Since 9/11, we've been uneasy allies with Damascus, and a suspect company may have benefited from the link.

Publication: Newsweek

Publication Date: 26-JAN-04

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Byline: Mark Hosenball

The timing was hardly coincidental. On Sept. 10, 2002, one day before the first anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, police near Hamburg, Germany, staged a dramatic raid on a Syrian-owned company suspected of terrorist ties. The German government was sending a signal to the United States: we're doing our part in the war on terror. But the raid was more than a publicity stunt. For years, authorities had been keeping close watch on the company, a textile business called Tatex. According to German police reports shown to NEWSWEEK, some of the firm's past employees appeared to have Qaeda connections. One was close to Osama bin Laden's personal secretary. Another, Mohammed Haydar Zammar, was believed to have recruited Muhammad Atta and the other September 11 hijackers in Hamburg--then sent them to Afghanistan, where...

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