10 years since 9/11

In 2 days it will be the 10 year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. I will continue to highlight those events of 2001 and beyond.

May 28, 2004
The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Dr. Iyad Allawi to be Prime Minister when sovereignty begins on June 30.



May 30, 2004
Militants attack two oil industry office compounds in the Saudi Arabia town of Khobar, killing 22 and taking more than 50 hostage. After a 25-hour standoff, a raid by Saudi security forces frees the hostages and kills the operation's leader, said to be a senior al Qaeda operative. The other three gunmen escape.



June 2, 2004
In a major expansion of the military's "stop-loss" program, the Pentagon announces that thousands of soldiers in units less than 90 days from deployments in Iraq or Afghanistan will be forced to remain in the Army past the end of their service terms, for the duration of their units' deployment.


June 12, 2004
Bassam Kubba, Deputy Foreign Minister in the Iraqi Interim Government set to take control on June 30, is killed by gunmen while driving in the Adhamiya neighborhood of Baghdad. Two days earlier, Deputy Health Minister Ammar Al-Safar had narrowly avoided an assasination attempt.



June 16, 2004
A report by the staff of the independent 9/11 commission finds "no credible evidence" that Iraq had cooperated with al Qaeda in staging the attacks. According to the report, Osama bin Laden had approached the Saddam Hussein regime, but had been rebuffed.