New intelligence reportedly shows a direct link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda: Iraqi Officer Tied to Al Qaeda - 9/11 Commissioner.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks has been told “a very prominent member” of al Qaeda served as an officer in Saddam Hussein’s militia, a panel member said on Sunday.

Republican commissioner John Lehman told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program that the new intelligence, if proven true, buttresses claims by the Bush administration of ties between Iraq and the militant network believed responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America. “We are now in the process of getting this latest intelligence,” Lehman said.

Commission Chairman Thomas Kean urged the administration to make any such information available to the panel quickly. “Obviously, if there is any information (that) has to do with the subject of the report, we need it, and we need it pretty fast,” Kean said on ABC’s “This Week” program. “We’ll ask for it and see.” He said the final report would be modified to take any new intelligence into account.

Lehman said the information, contained in “captured documents,” was obtained after the commission report was written that stated there was no evidence of a “collaborative relationship” between Iraq and al Qaeda. “Some of these documents indicate that (there was) at least one officer of Saddam’s Fedayeen, a lieutenant colonel, who was a very prominent member of al Qaeda,” Lehman said.

“That still has to be confirmed, but the vice president (Dick Cheney) was right when he said that he may have things that we don’t yet have,” said Lehman, a former Navy secretary.