FRIDAY OCTOBER 26 2001
Bin Laden's nuclear threat
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: �I 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.�
There has been clear evidence for several years that bin Laden�s agents
have been trying to buy, steal or smuggle nuclear systems in order to
attack the West. He has said that it was his �religious duty� 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 �terrifying� 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 �dirty bomb�. 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 Pakistan�s 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 �suitcase bomb�. 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 Laden�s 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 �The Nuclear Bomb of
Islam�, which said: �It is the duty of Muslims to prepare as much force
as possible to terrorise the enemies of God.�
Copyright 2001 <http://www.thetimes.co.uk/section/0,,97,00.html> Times
Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided on Times Newspapers'
<http://www.thetimes.co.uk/section/0,,92,00.html> standard terms and
conditions. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from The
Times, visit the <http://www.syndication.newsint.co.uk/> Syndication
website.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001350025-2001372097,00.html
THE END
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