Gadhafi (Libya)armed al-Qaeda with germ bombs (bioterror): report

Hindu News ^ | Dec. 28, 2003 | PTI

[FairOpinion]

London, Dec 28. (PTI): Libyan leader Maommar Gadhafi, who recently abandoned his country's weapons of mass destruction programme, had armed al-Qaeda terror network with germ bombs, a report claimed today.

Libyan intelligence chief Musa Kusa told British secret service agency Mi5 that tens of thousands of weapons had been produced at 10 secret sites in the country, the Sunday Express said.

Kusa has named 500 al-Qaeda terrorists in Britain and the information he gave is being checked, it said.

Libya was closer than Syria, Iran and Iraq to producing a nuclear bomb but last week Gadhafi surrendered his weapons of mass destruction and was praised for his "statesmanship and courage" by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush.

He was welcomed back on to the world stage on the agreement that his help to Osama Bin Laden would never officially be mentioned, the report claimed.

"It was a sweetener deal like no other. Gadhafi's links to terrorism have been air-brushed," said a senior British intelligence officer.

Kusa escorted British officials to Libya's secret sites on what was described as "the best bus tour in intelligence history."

[FairOpinion]

That's why Khadaffi/Qaddafi/Gadhafi/etc. came cleam -- he knew that if an AQ attack using WMD would succeed against the US, he and his country would be history.

I also think that the detailed specific info we got from him was one of the major factors in raising the alert.

[FairOpinion]

PING

[Tamzee]

Kusa has named 500 al-Qaeda terrorists in Britain and the information he gave is being checked

Now that Gadhafi turned to the white hats, the blacks hats will consider him an enemy. He has added motivation to help us nail as many Al Qaeda as possible.

[Pubbie]

I wonder what else Gadafi knows about AQ and it's links to Terrorist States.

Gadafi had better watch out, AQ is going to make taking him out a priority.

[FairOpinion]

"I also think that the detailed specific info we got from him was one of the major factors in raising the alert."

==

I was just speculating on this, basically using some common sense and here is an article discussing this in more detail:

Gadhafi armed al-Qaida with bio-chem weapons
U.S. raised terror alert largely due to new Libyan intelligence

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36346


Not only has that new intelligence led to heightened terror alerts in the U.S. and Britain, but the agreement has prompted new threats on Gadhafi's life by al-Qaida terrorists.

In what one intelligence officer later called an "extraordinarily detailed debrief," Kussa revealed to U.S. and Bristish intelligence:


Al-Qaida obtained some of its weapons through a Brazilian arms dealer, Suekdew Siew, travelling on an Australian passport. He used an alias, David Sunkar. Siew spoke fluent Arabic and carried a letter of credit from the Baltic Bank of Reconstruction and Development in Riga, Latvia.

Other al-Qaida weapons purchasers were from the former Soviet Union.

Some weapons were flown out under diplomatic seal to Balkan airports on Libyan airlines. From there, they were transported to Afghanistan.

Other weapons were taken out of Libya through the Sudan and eventually by Arab dhows, small boats, to Yemen.

Kussa said he had "reliable information" that al-Qaida had stockpiled chemical and biological weapons in the Balkans.

[Lazamataz]

Al Qaeda Methodology treasure trove.

[boris]

Let's send more aid to Libya.

[Lazamataz]

Gadafi had better watch out, AQ is going to make taking him out a priority.

They already have.

That's part of the reason he's come around.

He's looking for a Witness Protection Program thing.

[leadpenny]

I agree. We need to put our money (and diplomats) where our mouth is.

[FairOpinion]

"Kussa said he had "reliable information" that al-Qaida had stockpiled chemical and biological weapons in the Balkans."

==

With this new info, another article I found also becomes more relevant and important:

EU prostitute corridor may let in terror bomb

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/387232.cms

ROTTERDAM : Efforts to tighten security for sea-borne containers won't lessen the risk that terrorists could team up with criminal gangs to sneak a nuclear weapon into Europe by land, through the poorly policed Balkans, some security experts warn.

Al-Qaeda or some other terrorist group could send a Soviet-built tactical warhead along the same, well-traveled routes that traffickers use to smuggle prostitutes and drugs into western Europe, said Tom Sanderson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington .

A nuclear artillery shell, pilfered or purchased from the 12,000 tactical weapons stockpiled in Russia , would take up no more space than a slender garbage can. Gangs could even move such a package along with some of the thousands of women from eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union who journey west through the Balkans each year.

"I just can't believe it hasn't happened already," Sanderson said. "There's no reason why a nuclear warhead couldn't go into the same van with those five Romanian girls, using the routes that these guys know."

Chris Wright of the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London agreed that smuggling routes through southeastern Europe are well established and said there is "a lot of scope" for collusion between terrorist groups and criminal gangs.

By bribing underpaid border guards, traffickers based in the Balkans could transport a warhead across the porous frontiers of southeastern Europe and over the Adriatic Sea to Italy , Sanderson said. Once in Italy , they could travel anywhere inside the 15-nation European Union without having to stop for a customs inspection.

"These guys have been running this same gig for 10 to 12 years. They know which Bulgarian guard on the western border is on duty at what time to allow them to penetrate into Serbia and Kosovo. Then they know which Albanian border patrol is on duty at which time to get them to port. And then they know which shipping company or cargo boats are going to Italy and when it's safe to do that," he said.

Terrorists could pay a gang and await delivery of their deadly cargo at a prearranged destination in western Europe, Sanderson said, instead of hiding a bomb inside a container and trying to bring it into Europe themselves through a relatively secure port like Rotterdam .

"This system is already in place. They don't have to create it."

Wright argued that terrorists and criminals would have to overcome mutual distrust. Terrorists might worry that gang members would turn them over to authorities, while smugglers might fear a severe crackdown by European governments if they contributed to a successful attack.

But "a dollop of money" from well-financed terrorists might seal the deal, Wright suggested.

Russia isn't a crucial part of this alarming scenario. If terrorists succeeded in obtaining a weapon of mass destruction elsewhere, they could ship it from a backwater port in Africa or the Middle East to a terminal in the former Yugoslavia , where their Balkan partners could then take over, Sanderson said.

[The Mayor]

Bump!

He is being smart and choosing the right side.

[Defender2]

#1. and #10. thanks for posting this informative and needed post. We have to continue to be on WATCH.

[csvset]

Kusa has named 500 al-Qaeda terrorists in Britain and the information he gave is being checked, it said.

Sounds like a small army. So, how many AQ terrorists are in the US?

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

Gadafi had better watch out, AQ is going to make taking him out a priority.

Yep, and it'll be pretty easy to kill a guy who sleeps in a tent

[sam_paine]

I also think that the detailed specific info we got from him was one of the major factors in raising the alert.

Mebbe so. It could also be a counter-intel tweak to scare certain cells into the light.

I think the primary advantage of a distributed terror network can also be used against it. Osama and/or the centralized leadership of the organization can send out coded messages to Terror Cell A and Terror Cell B, but they are independent groups which cannot rat on the other groups because they have no lateral contact. However, if the CIA announces that Terror Cell X's plot to hijack Air France was broken up, Terror Cells A and B have to be vigilant and concerned that they might also be compromised.

If there really is no lateral communication, Terror Cell A and B can't really know if X was a real cell or a ruse of counter-intelligence. Either way, they may be forced to regroup and re-evaluate their own secrecy and security and thus delay or disrupt any attack.

[myprecious]

The other part of the reason - the AQ check might have bounced. Bush choked off a lot of $$$.

[aculeus]

Khadafi's "surrender" was the really big news, bigger than the capture of Saddam.

He knows lots about AQ and is, I bet, cooperating to the fullest.

Fear is a wonderful motivator.

[FairOpinion]

"Khadafi's "surrender" was the really big news, bigger than the capture of Saddam.
He knows lots about AQ and is, I bet, cooperating to the fullest."
Fear is a wonderful motivator.


===

You are absolutely right. The Bush doctrine is working.

[FreeReign]

Gadafi had better watch out, AQ is going to make taking him out a priority.

It's already happening. Al-Qaida assassins after Gadhafi

[Jammz]

Reading all this makes me wonder... Is it possible that there's about to be an attack and knowing this, Libya decided to come clean so that nothing gets traced back to them the hard way?

I think Libya knows that we'll bomb them to the stone age if something were traced back to them. We've come close to that before. The american public would demand some pretty serious action after a bio attack.