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Lawsuit: Iraq, bin Laden conspired on 9/11

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A $1 trillion civil lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges Iraq knew in advance of Islamic militant Osama bin Laden's plans for terror attacks against New York and Washington and conspired with him to carry them out.

The case -- by Kreindler & Kreindler, a law firm specializing in airline disaster lawsuits -- was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for more than 1,400 victims of the September 11 terror attacks and their families.

The lawsuit points to a July 21, 2001, article written by Naeem Abd Muhalhal, a columnist in an Iraqi newspaper, in which he generally praises bin Laden as he thinks "with the seriousness of the Bedouin of the desert about the way he will try to bomb the Pentagon after he destroys the White House."

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The attacks on Washington and New York took place about seven weeks later.

Newspapers in Iraq are tightly controlled by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the ruling Baath Party. Attorneys argue the newspaper article could not have been published without the advance approval of the Baghdad regime.

"We believe this familiarity with Osama bin Laden's aspirations of violence and his advance knowledge of al Qaeda's specific targets -- the Pentagon and the White House, and very likely the World Trade Center towers -- indicates that Iraqi officials were aware of plans to attack American landmarks," said Jim Kreindler, one of the attorneys bringing the lawsuit. "Further, we have evidence that Iraq provided support for bin Laden and his al Qaeda terror organization for nearly a decade."

The suit also cites the statements of Iraqi prisoners in Kurdistan who claim to have firsthand knowledge of Saddam's cooperation with bin Laden, al Qaeda and the Taliban in the years leading up to the attacks on September 11.

Previously, Iraq has strenuously denied it supports terrorism or has any connections to al Qaeda or the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

In recent months, CNN has reported on the extent of the alleged contact between al Qaeda and Iraq. Coalition intelligence agencies have tracked high level meetings between Iraq and al Qaeda operatives dating back seven years:

The lawsuit comes at a time the White House has stepped up its rhetoric against Iraq.

Calling Saddam a "serious threat," President Bush said Wednesday he would seek approval from Congress about taking action against Iraq and vowed to make the case against the Iraqi leader on the international stage as well.

"At the appropriate time, the administration will go to the Congress to seek approval necessary to deal with the threat," Bush said at a meeting with congressional leaders at the White House.

The Bush administration accuses Iraq of trying to obtain weapons of mass destruction in violation of U.N. resolutions ending the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Generally frustrating the White House is a lack of consensus among international allies for military action against Iraq. Only a small handful is backing the administration call for a regime change in Iraq.