Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 26, 2001)
lone School receives excellence award Eo-jio .: o t z s ll U oT j w o ..j .n p o < I L * , * , I V J 3 ass . lorrison from the Oregon Department of Education presents the state school excellence award flag p ' . ! ,0 r'Unt> lone Elementary School Representative Beth Morter. lone Middle School Student Bods l resident Jennifer (.ritlith and lone High School Student Body President Salli McElligott. 120______ NO. 52______10 Pages Wednesday, December 26,2001 Morrow County. Heppner, Oregon “Osama Files'” include lone woman INVESTIGATION Ibrahim ui»n iccallN V * **i •'■**■* ~ •?>*■- ' w u ■ u - ^ < U L » i o - wA*,.. c? - Gì Aio? wsih Os.:nu :> Aigaaüi-UiH. c»\ hi' jCo. ^ *^4 ::lc wh-.Ti hi d i'llW tS hîS tiKN>.J{?C • on TV." H ovs t urlìi I minili the files •>n U'icvfi have boon? Viv me /V 4 * ^ 4 ^ pool m the Khartoum HiKoii I I h son: >r ofliv...' Horn Fc> p- iwii ifncliiKv'iu e. who has worked ciosclv with the Mukhoharm. and who asked iiot to be named. He sal i. "They knew about them, who they were, where they came from. Iltey had copies pass ports. (Heir tickets; they knew whew they went Ot umrtc that mibnint- tton conic hasc Weiped enornousty it :s The hasten \ ‘o f those people There un: .il a» vaine inescapable specif ies Dunn# the New Y>ik iri.iJ oS ;h bur men uvemly trutvicted ol'the I99K bornlv m»?:-. the court heard a lot about a mar called l*«tAtl Abdullah Mohammed, who .tiso appear* ;>r- t:ie mosuwanL.d list He sci ih» embassy plot toll mi; >s rrsakmj! two at:mess u* N. hu I- k \ the sprmg of j998 Von: Kharioum when-. »1». Mukhabar.il believed. he was xvmlong for al-Qaeda If I IVI. Pilic:;:l> h.itl •vWplCsl me oiler made by alM ahdi U ct February. they wou\l this, too, and M some poitv have lutin“ known lot suNequcm iKxnthrrtH t« .sU sso . when hr cove.I .1 villa to keneti. rwjj • & r*4b, **•‘1 * '' , "If [the F.B.I.] had taken up my offer in February 1998, they could have prevented the bombings," says Gutbi al-Mahdi. Ì vop,!> micosi ])v jx by iliL'ii :t luit too lair There .ire untomtbrtahlc htsiorira: p.u :ilrl.. Bv ;ho tprir.g < l«4l the Soviet Janet McElligott of lone was featured in an article in January Vanity Fair about efforts to turn over files on Osama bin Laden to the US before the Sept. 11 terror attacks According to the January issue o f Vanity Fair magazine, former lone resident Janet McElligott was involved with failed efforts by the Sudanese government to turn over intelligence information to the US that may have helped prevent the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The six-page article by reporter David Rose lays out a compelling story of how the Sudanese intelligence agency. Mukharbarat. tried on many occasions to turn over files and information on Osama bin Laden and the al- Qaeda terrorist network which, the magazine says, may have prevented the terror attacks. McElligott was cited as a go- between taking messages and attempting to arrange meetings between the FBI and state department officials and the Makharbarat. Because of her contacts in the middle east, and her background as a Washington lobbyist who had worked at the White Mouse under George H. W Bush, McElligott became a central figure in attempts to turn over the intelligence material, efforts which to her, and the magazine reporter's dismay, failed. “...she assumed that rational statecraft would, in the end. prevail,” the magazine says. “In this she was mistaken. On February 5, 1998. her efforts helped produce perhaps the smokiest of all the smoking guns in this story; a letter direct from Gutbi al-Mahdi of the Mukhabarat to David Williams, chief of the F B I's Middle Fast and Africa desk It read. I would like to express my sincere desire to start contacts and cooperation between our service and the F B I I would like to take this opportunity with pleasure to invite you to visit our country. Otherwise, we could meet somewhere else. Till then I remain, yours truly.’ “Eighteen days later, (the article says on February 23, 1998. Osama bin Laden issued his bloodcurdling fatwa from his hideout in Afghanistan, calling on all Muslims to kill Americans and Jews, adding that civilians were now to be regarded as targets. McElligott followed up the letter with a personal appeal: T told them, ‘You do realize bin Laden lived there (in Sudan) and they (Mukhabarat) have files on his main people?' There is simply no doubt the F B I . knew what was available. The guy I dealt with said, ‘I'd give anything to go in there, but they’- meaning the State Department- “won't let us.'" McElligott quoted the F B I. as saying. The article went on to detail how McElligott tried on other occasions to set up the transfer of bin Laden and al-Qaeda intelligence information from the Sudanese to the US government, each time being rebuffed. On one occasion she arranged for the outgoing Sudan ambassador to meet with a senior FBI official at her home, at which time the official “expressed his deep regret for what had happened and said he hoped that in time the politicians would allow his agency to examine the Sudanese intelligence.” How useful might the files have been to the US? “They knew all about them: (the al-Qaeda) " the magazine quoted a senior Egyptian intelligence officer who worked closely with the Mukhabara as saying, “w ho they were, where they came from They had copies of their passports, their tickets; they knew w here they went. Of course that information could have helped enormously.” Vanity Fair’s investigation into what it calls “The Osama Files” caused the magazine to say: “September 11 might have been prevented if the U.S. had accepted Sudan's offers to share its intelligence files on Osama bin Laden and the growing al-Qaeda threat.” WCEDG annual meeting Jan 23 The Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group will hold its annual meeting Wednesday. Jan 23 at 12 noon at John's Other Place in Heppner. The public is invited to attend. Last meeting At its last meeting Dec. 19, the group voted to write a letter of support to the Heppner City Council in favor of the City I tail Library project. It also voted to endorse the ATV project put forth by the county, and send a letter of support to the county court. The group also agreed to send a letter of support to the Morrow County Planning Commission in favor o f land use approval for the proposed race tract project at Boardman Correction A public meeting will be held to gather input from Heppner residents on the proposed library city hall joint project on Hiursday. Jan. 3 at St Patrick's Senior Center in Heppner. not Jan. 5 as stated in last week's Gazette. The lone School was honored Thursday as the recipient of the coveted "excellence" award from the Oregon Department of Education. Tass M o rris o n , representing the Oregon State Department of Education and herself an lone graduate and the first female IMS student body president at lone (class of 1963). was on hand to present the award and a Hag to the school. Oregon State Representative Greg Smith. Heppner, delivered an address commending the school and community. "It's truly an honor to be here." said Smith."Your school, your community are truly exceptional. You can see you have pride in your community and your school. O f 1028 schools, only 44 received this award and for that you ought to be commended." Smith went on to note a "correlation between small town living, community pride and academic success." "It's because you folks step up to the plate and make sure every child has access to an equal education," he said. "You folks are standing up and fighting for your community and youi school." continued Smith. "You folks have your priorities right." Smith also took the opportunity to criticize the state school funding program. "There is something wrong with our state school funding program when our teachers have to use their own money for their classrooms." he said to applause from the assembly. Current lone Principal Mike Stuart commended the lone students, saying. "You are by far the hardest working students I've ever encountered in my 24 years in education," and noted their "work ethic, diligence and perseverance." He also recognized the students, the staff, the community and former Principal Dick Allen for the achievements made under his leadership. "I’ve never considered m yself a leader, but a partner w ith the students, the staff and the community." replied Allen. Jo h n R ie tm a n n . representing the Morrow County School Board, read a letter of congratulations from school board chair Julie Weikel. who said. "All o f Morrow County is proud o f you and your accomplishments." L e t t e r s of congratulations were received from U.S. Representative Greg Walden and U.S. Senator < iordon Smith. After Morrison presented the "excellence" flag to student body representatives, the assembly adjourned to the llag pole for the raising of the flag. Public meeting set on library/city hall project A public meeting will be held to gather input from Heppner residents on the proposed library' city hall joint project on Hiursday. Jan. 3 at St. Patrick's Senior Center in Heppner. Ylary Nixon, w ho w orks tor Rural Development Initiativ es and has been hired to facilitate the public meeting, explained that the audience at the public town meeting will he asked to recommend names of individuals to serve on a w orking committee. The working committee will be comprised o f a member from the city council and the Oregon frail Library Board, an individual who supports the project, an indiv idual w ho opposes the project and a citizen at large. This group will address the issues/coneems from the public meeting. It will also develop an objective survey and compile the results of the survey. Nixon said that officials hope that the surv ey and the public meeting comments will prov ide the city council and library hoard with a clear message as to how the community feels about the *'• ’L, project. The committee meetings will be com ened and facilitated by Nixon. When asked why a community resident would attend the town meeting when there w ill also he a surv ey. Nixon replied. 'The public town meeting is an opportunity for community members to hear both sides of the issues as well as the background information. Participants at the public meeting will also he invited to submit names of people for the working committee. A survey, w bile another valid too! tor gathering input, does not allow participants tilling out the survey to express then- opinions in a detailed fashion or to hear w hat other community members are feeling and thinking." Nixon is a community development coordinator tor Rural Development Initiatives Inc. (RDI) She lives in Pendleton and serv es small rural communities in Morrow. Umatilla. Union. Wallowa, Baker. Malheur. I lamcy and Grant counties RDI is a private non-profit organization, which since its incorporation 10 years ago. has w i i . i . helped over 200 communities in Oregon with leadership dev elopment, project assistance, facilitation and mediation, planning and regional initiatives, said Nixon. Nixon and other RDI staff members see themselves as" facilitators, teachers, project managers and most importantly as advocates tor the success of rural communities". Funding for Nixon's facilitation services are provided by the < )regon Economic and Community Development Department. G-T deadline Friday 1 he deadline for news and advertising for the Wednesday. January 2. i ia/ette- I lines will be Friday. December 28. at 5 p.m. I he G- l office w ill be closed Monday . December 31. and 1 uesday. January 1 I he new spaper will be published as usual on January 2. i t i : ... I 1 T H News deadline 5p.m. Friday The Oregon Department of Education excellence award Hag was raised at the lone School in a ceremony Thursday. A i V o E \ A i > H i A i , P P Y i » i : < Ü E W . : i I Y E A R ! M orro w County G rain G row ers Lexington 989-8221 • 1 -800-452-7396 i» « m • «t «* * •»« 7 w
