[iwar] [fc:BIN.LADEN'S.NUCLEAR.PLOT:.Al-Qaeda's.men.held.secret.meetings.to.build.'dirty.bomb']

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-13 23:33:58


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Subject: [iwar] [fc:BIN.LADEN'S.NUCLEAR.PLOT:.Al-Qaeda's.men.held.secret.meetings.to.build.'dirty.bomb']
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BIN LADEN'S NUCLEAR PLOT: Al-Qaeda's men held secret meetings to build 'dirty bomb' 

Adam Nathan and David Leppard

(http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/10/14/stiusausa01024.html
)

EVIDENCE has emerged of a plan by Osama Bin Laden to manufacture a
"dirty bomb" that could spray nuclear material over highly populated
areas. 

British intelligence services are investigating claims by a Bulgarian
businessman that he was approached earlier this year by a middleman for
Bin Laden seeking to obtain highly radioactive material. 

The pair discussed setting up an environmental company as a front to buy
nuclear waste that could be combined with conventional explosives to
create a "dirty bomb". 

It is believed to be at least the fourth attempt by Bin Laden to obtain
nuclear material.  The Saudi terrorist has publicly vowed to gain
weapons of mass destruction. 

The latest approach was made in April after Ivan Ivanov, a Bulgarian
businessman with long-standing ties to a Middle Eastern contracting
firm, was invited to Pakistan. 

On his arrival in Peshawar, Ivanov, a former Bulgarian intelligence
officer, said it became clear his hosts were enthusiastic supporters of
Bin Laden.  They apparently saw his political links in eastern Europe as
a "useful asset". 

Speaking in a cafe on the outskirts of Sofia last week, Ivanov recalled
how the men took him to see Bin Laden, who was speaking at a religious
festival on April 10 on the outskirts of Peshawar. 

At the time Bin Laden was wanted for his alleged involvement in the
bombing in 1998 of two American embassies in Africa, in which more than
200 people had been killed.  Yet Ivanov claimed uniformed Pakistani
soldiers armed with M-16 machine guns had provided security. 

A day later, Ivanov said he was taken on a rough mountainous bus ride
along Pakistan's remote border with China.  There he was led to a secret
location, where he was introduced to Bin Laden as "our partner from
Europe". 

When Ivanov discreetly checked his Magellan 310 global positioning
system, it showed the meeting had actually taken place in China. 
Western intelligence sources described the meeting near the Pakistani
border as "credible". 

Ivanov then travelled with his new business associates to a large villa
in Rawalpindi.  The next day he was approached by a Pakistani scientist
who described himself as chemical engineer. 

The scientist, who was highly educated and spoke almost fluent English,
said he was interested in obtaining spent nuclear fuel rods from the
Kozlodui nuclear electricity plant in Bulgaria. 

"He wanted a legitimate way of buying nuclear waste from the power
plant," said Ivanov.  "He was ready to give me money in advance to find
local companies to help him to export this material."

Ivanov was offered $200,000 (£137,000) to help set up an environmental
firm to buy nuclear waste, and asked if he would run the company.  He
declined the offer and, on his return home, informed officials in
Bulgaria of the meeting. 

British authorities in Pakistan later discovered the 49-year-old
scientist had been issued with two six-month visas to visit Britain in
the last two years.  They are now investigating his links with the Bin
Laden network. 

Although his trips to Britain remain a mystery, intelligence officials
believe the scientist may have met sympathisers at British universities
or tried to set up front companies similar to the one planned in
Bulgaria. 

Ivanov's account of the Bin Laden plot has been backed by Velizar
Shalamanov, the former Bulgarian deputy defence minister, who last week
said Ivanov had worked for the government. 

A British diplomatic source in Pakistan said: "This appears to be a
sophisticated plot using a scientist and a credible front company, and
that is a concern."

Although British intelligence believes Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network may
have some crude chemical weapons such as cyanide, there is no evidence
to suggest he has obtained any nuclear material. 

In September 1998 Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, alleged to be a high-level aide
to Bin Laden, was arrested in Germany after trying to buy low- grade
nuclear reactor fuel. 

Jamal al-Fadl, a former Bin Laden aide, told the FBI he had witnessed
Al-Qaeda members trying to buy enriched uranium in the mid-1990s,
according to court documents.  He also claimed to have been to Sudan,
where an associate of an army officer tried to sell him uranium for £1m. 

Bin Laden has never made any secret of his interest in acquiring nuclear
weapons.  In an interview in January 1999, he said: "It would be a sin
for Muslims not to try to possess the weapons that would prevent the
infidels from inflicting harm on Muslims."

Additional reporting: Matthew Brunwasser, Sofia

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