New York, July 07: John Lehman, one of five Republicans on the 10-member panel investigating September 11 2001 terrorist attack on the US, today said he wants both President George W Bush and former President Bill Clinton to cooperate with the Commission. He said he wants them to discuss matters that could include what their administrations knew about the al-Qaeda terrorist network and what they did to combat them before the attacks. With the commission evenly divided between republicans and democrats, Lehman's position makes it all but certain that a majority will support a request to interview both Bush and Clinton, Time Magazine reports. "I don't think any commission should ever formally call a president to testify," Lehman said, "But I think it is very much in the country's interest-and in both president Clinton's and President Bush's interest-to meet directly with the Commissioners." Responding to the statement, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, "The White House has been and will continue to cooperate with the commission."

Bureau Report