[iwar] [fc:Bin.Laden's.nuclear.threat]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-26 07:43:57


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Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2001 07:43:57 -0700 (PDT)
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:Bin.Laden's.nuclear.threat]
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FRIDAY OCTOBER 26 2001

Bin Laden's nuclear threat
<a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001350025-2001372097,00.html">http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001350025-2001372097,00.html>

BY PHILIP WEBSTER AND ROLAND WATSON

OSAMA BIN LADEN and his al-Qaeda network have acquired nuclear materials for
possible use in their terrorism war against the West, intelligence sources
have disclosed. 

The Western sources say that the suspected mastermind of the September 11
attacks on America does not have the capability to mount a nuclear attack
but fear he would do so if he could.

They believe that he obtained the materials illegally from Pakistan, which
has a nuclear capability.

The knowledge that bin Laden has components for a nuclear weapons device in
his arsenal is believed to lie behind the regular warnings from President
Bush and Tony Blair that he would commit worse atrocities than the suicide
assaults on New York and Washington if he were able to.

They may also explain the speed with which the decision was taken to go
after bin Laden and his terrorist network, even if that meant toppling the
Taleban regime in Afghanistan first.

The disclosure comes as MPs prepare to learn today the details of British
troops earmarked for deployment to Afghanistan. They will include a commando
group of about 1,000 Royal Marines, currently on exercise in Oman, as well
as a large contingent of special forces and specialist support units. The
force will be based on ships that have also been participating in the huge
tri-Service exercise. They are expected to include the aircraft carrier HMS
Illustrious, stripped of her Harrier jets so she can be used as a platform
for helicopters, or HMS Ocean, a dedicated helicopter carrier, two
anti-aircraft destroyers to protect the carrier, the assault ship HMS
Fearless, and two Royal Fleet Auxiliary support vessels.

Yesterday Mr Blair sought to reassure Muslim leaders that the military
action in Afghanistan should be over as quickly as possible. He told the
Islamic Response to Terrorism Conference in North London: ³I hope you
understand that what is important is that we make sure at the same time we
take the action necessary now in order to hold to account those who
committed the actions of September 11.²

There has been clear evidence for several years that bin Ladenıs agents have
been trying to buy, steal or smuggle nuclear systems in order to attack the
West. He has said that it was his ³religious duty² to seek to acquire
chemical, biological and nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

An informed source has told The Times that bin Laden appeared to have
amassed a ³terrifying² range of weapons although he was insistent that he
did not have the capacity to launch a nuclear attack.

Intelligence sources, however, have voiced concerns about bin Laden
obtaining radioactive material for a ³dirty bomb². Rather than being used in
an atomic weapon, the material would be dispersed in a way that would
seriously contaminate a small area. In an urban environment hundreds of
people could die and thousands more be exposed to radiation poisoning.

In 1993 a senior bin Laden operative, Jamal al-Fadi, met a Sudanese military
commander in Khartoum to try to negotiate the sale of a cylinder of enriched
South African uranium for a black market price of $1.5 million (£1.2
million). A separate al-Qaeda attempt to buy weapons-grade nuclear material
through the Russian mafia was foiled in Prague when several kilograms of
highly enriched uranium were seized, according to a German TV report last
week. 

Earlier this week two former government nuclear scientists in Pakistan were
detained amid fears about their links with the Taleban. Bashir uddin Mahmood
was project director in Pakistanıs nuclear programme before its 1998 tests.
Since retiring from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission three years ago,
he ran a group which carried out relief work in Afghanistan, and was known
to be supportive of the Taleban. Chaudry Abdul Majid was a director of the
commission in 1999.

Intelligence officials have long been aware of the potential for contraband
uranium to be turned into an atomic ³suitcase bomb². An easier outcome is a
radiological weapon ‹ a conventional weapon with a radioactive core ‹ which
has the ability to contaminate large areas.

George Tenet, Director of the CIA, told the Senate Intelligence Committee
last year that bin Laden was trying to obtain nuclear materials.

However, some are convinced bin Laden already has a nuclear capability.
According to a book about the terrorist leader, The Man Who Declared War on
America, Chechen rebels facilitated the sale of nuclear suitcase bombs in
the late 1990s from a range of former Soviet republics including Ukraine,
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia.

Quoting Russian and Arab intelligence sources, the author, Yossef Bodansky,
says that bin Ladenıs go-betweens paid the Chechens $30 million in cash and
gave them two tonnes of heroin with a Western street value of up to $700
million for a number of bombs.

In 1998 bin Laden issued a statement entitled ³The Nuclear Bomb of Islam²,
which said: ³It is the duty of Muslims to prepare as much force as possible
to terrorise the enemies of God.²

Copyright 2001 

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