FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
07/01/2003

9-11 Commission to Hold Third Public Hearing on Al Qaeda

July 1, 2003 - The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States will hold its third public hearing on July 9, 2003 beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the Russell Senate Office Building (Room 253) in Washington, DC.

The one-day session will focus on "Terrorism, al Qaeda, and the Muslim World." The Commission will hear testimony from experts on the character of the transnational terrorist threat, the relationships of Arab states to these groups, and the phenomenon of violent extremism within the Muslim community. An agenda and list of panelists accompanies this advisory.

In announcing the hearing, the Commission's Chair, former New Jersey Governor Thomas H. Kean, said: "A key Commission responsibility is to understand the enemy. Good policy recommendations will depend on a clear understanding of al Qaeda's emergence and strategy."

The Vice Chair, former Indiana Representative Lee H. Hamilton, added: "There is considerable knowledge of al Qaeda and terrorist groups outside the government. This session will enable us to achieve a better understanding how the Arab world has viewed this danger, before and after September 11."

The hearing will be open to the public and members of the media. Seating will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Members of the media must register in advance on the Commission's Web site, http://www.9-11commission.gov.

Additional information, including prepared testimony of witnesses, will be posted on the Commission's Web site as it becomes available. Archived video and complete transcripts of hearing proceedings will be posted on the Commission's Web site one week after the hearing's conclusion.

Chairman Kean and Vice Chair Hamilton will be available to the press at the conclusion of the hearing.

Terrorism, Al Qaeda, and the Muslim World
9:00 AM	Hearing Commences Opening Statement from Chairman Kean PANEL ONE: Al Qaeda Rohan Gunaratna, Head of Terrorism Research and Associate Professor, Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies, Singapore and author of Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror Mamoun Fandy, Senior Fellow, United States Institute of Peace and author of Saudi Arabia and the Politics of Dissent Marc Sageman, Lecturer, Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict, University of Pennsylvania
11:0 AM	PANEL TWO: States and Terrorism Laurie Mylroie, author of Study of Revenge: Saddam Hussein's Unfinished War Against America Judith Yaphe, Senior Research Fellow and Middle East Project Director, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University Murhaf Jouejati, Adjunct Scholar, Middle East Institute and Lecturer, George Washington University Mark Gasiorowski, Professor of Political Science, Louisiana State University
1:00 PM	Break
2:00 PM	PANEL THREE: The Challenge within the Muslim World Richard Murphy, Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for the Middle East at the Council on Foreign Relations Gilles Kepel, Professor, Institute of Political Studies, Paris and author of Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam Steven Emerson, Executive Director of the Investigative Project and author of American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us
4:00 PM	Hearing Concludes. Press availability to follow.