Posted on 04/24/2003 3:01:42 PM PDT by knighthawk
The recent discovery in London and Paris of small amounts of what is thought to be ricin, a lethal toxin that is one of the most deadly of natural poisons, appears to indicate that terrorists are actively preparing to cross a new threshold by using chemical and biological weapons.
These developments have intensified the hunt for one of the key figures believed to be behind this threat, a Jordanian Bedouin known as Abu Masib Zarqawi (real name thought to be Ahmed Fadil Nazal al-Khalayleh). Zarqawi heads a small organisation called Al-Tawhid, which appears to have cells operating across Western Europe and in parts of the Middle East, including Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.
With the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime and mounting radicalisation of many groups across the Muslim world, there is a risk that major terrorist attacks could yet be unleashed.
On 2 April, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) urged law enforcement agencies to be alert for clandestine laboratories capable of producing chemical and biological agents, including highly infectious bacteria and toxins like ricin, using commonly available materials. The FBI warned in its weekly bulletin that the capture in Pakistan of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Al-Qaeda's operations chief, had provided fresh evidence that Al-Qaeda was still experimenting with chemical and biological weapons.
On 5 April US Marines seized a high-security complex at Salman Pak, southeast of Baghdad, that had been used as a training base for Iraqi special forces, as well as the fedayeen Saddam. It is also reported to have housed a biological warfare centre where dozens of scientists and technicians had worked on ways to deliver ricin, anthrax and other deadly substances - although no evidence has yet been found that these materials still exist in Iraq or have been weaponised.
Ricin is produced from castor beans and experts warn that it is relatively easy to make and stockpile. It has no known antidote. It has been used so far primarily in operations involving the assassination of specific individuals, such as Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov who was fatally stabbed with a poison-tipped umbrella in 1978. To use it as a weapon of mass destruction would require hundreds of litres that could be spread by aerosols.
Zarqawi is regarded as something of an expert on chemical and biological weapons, including ricin, following training he is reported to have undergone in Afghanistan under the auspices of Al-Qaeda in the 1990s.
In the late 1980s, Zarqawi went to Afghanistan to join the jihad against the invading Soviet forces. He is known to have met Bin Laden and when he returned to Jordan in 1992 he established his own militant cells. In 1999, one group he had established was tasked with carrying out attacks against Westerners and Israelis during the millennium. Members of this group were rounded up by Jordanian security forces before they could strike.
Zarqawi managed to evade capture and returned to Afghanistan, where he continued his research into chemical and biological weapons. Jordan's state security court sentenced him in absentia to 15 years' imprisonment with hard labour. He turned up later in western Afghanistan where he was in charge of a guerrilla training camp near Herat, the main training area for Al-Qaeda's Jordanian and Palestinian recruits.
In December 2002, Jordanian authorities identified Zarqawi as having orchestrated the assassination in Amman of US air official Laurence Foley on 28 October last year. In recent months Islamic militants believed linked to Zarqawi have been arrested in Britain, Germany and Spain.
580 of 1,166 words
[End of non-subscriber extract.]
(Excerpt) Read more at janes.com ...
It would hardly be a "new threshold". Japanese terrorists tried to spread sarin, IIRC, in the subway system. Their "means of delivery" left a lot to be desired, and even considering that, they botched it. Thank goodness.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.