Posted on 03/20/2004 10:54:05 PM PST by HAL9000
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Osama bin Laden's terror network claims to have bought ready-made nuclear weapons on a Central Asian black market, the biographer of al-Qaida's No.2 leader was quoted telling an Australian television station.In an interview scheduled to be televised Monday, Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir said Ayman al-Zawahri claimed "smart briefcase bombs" are available on the black market.
It was not clear when the interview between Mir and al-Zawahri took place.
U.S. intelligence agencies have long believed al-Qaida attempted to acquire a nuclear device on the black market but said there is no evidence they ever succeeded.
In the interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp. television, parts of which were released Sunday, Mir recalled telling al-Zawahri it was difficult to believe al-Qaida had nuclear weapons when the terror network didn't have the equipment to maintain or use them.
"Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri laughed and he said: 'Mr. Mir, if you have $30 million, go to the black market in Central Asia, contact any disgruntled Soviet scientist and a lot of...smart briefcase bombs are available,"' Mir said in the interview.
"They have contacted us, we sent our people to Moscow, to Tashkent, to other Central Asian states and they negotiated and we purchased some suitcase bombs," Mir quoted al-Zawahri saying.
Al-Zawahri's boast would not in itself prove the al-Qaida has actually succeeded in acquiring nuclear weapons.
Al-Qaida has never hidden its interest in acquiring nuclear weapons.
The U.S. government indictment of bin Laden charges as far back as 1992 he "and others known and unknown, made efforts to obtain the components of nuclear weapons."
Bin Laden, in a November 2001 interview with a Pakistani journalist, boasted of having hidden such components "as a deterrent." And in 1998, a Russian nuclear weapons design expert was investigated for allegedly working with bin Laden's Taliban allies.
It was revealed last month Pakistan's top nuclear scientist sold sensitive equipment and nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea, fuelling fears the information could have also fallen into the hands of terrorists.
Mir describe al-Zawahri as "the real brain behind Osama bin Laden."
"He is the real strategist, Osama bin Laden is only a frontman," Mir was quoted saying during the interview.
"I think he is more dangerous than bin Laden."
Al-Zawahri - an Egyptian surgeon - is believed hiding in the rugged region around the Pakistan-Afghan border where U.S. and Pakistani troops are conducting a major operation against Taliban and al-Qaida forces.
He is said to have played a leading role in orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Something about tritium being used in the trigger?
Here is an interview with Hamid Mir
... and a few choice morsels...
IOL: How well do you know bin Laden?
HM: I know him from last four years. I met him twice, spend many days with him. He is not a scholar, he is a fighter. He wants to liberate Palestine. He wrote many poems against Israel. He is a jihadi [warrior] poet. His poems will come out very soon. I always ask him difficult questions and he answers my questions with patience.
IOL: Do you think that bin Laden is behind the 9-11 attacks?
HM: I don't think a man living in [the] mountains, without any communication facilities inside America can manage such kind of big operation.
They did buy some, and when they tried to use one, it was a dud--nothing happened.
I can not believe that they have nukes and have not tried to use them, but even the islamics realize that testing one would be a give-away. We are constantly on the lookout for nuclear tests, and can detect one anywhere in the world, 24/7.
So, they tried one out untested--probably in a truck bomb. Pushed the button and nothing happened. Probably New York, WTC before 9-11. Possibly Washington, DC. Could probably take out both the White House and congress.
Now they have a problem. If anyone finds out they have them, the western powers (even Spain) will unite and wipe them out. It is far easier to refurbish one that was professionally made than it is to make one from scratch, but it is still very hard.
Nothing worse than the world knowing you have nukes that don't work...
What about NK, where we know they work and still do NOTHING.
We don't know any such thing about NK, but we do have strong cause for suspicion.
The North Koreans are not actively at war with us.
Worse. Mir has been bending over for every jihadist psycho in Pakistan for the last 15 years. In fact, the whole Urdu language press in Pakistan is about as objective as Pravda or TASS in the old days.
Fortunately, he's also a liar and you can safely disregard anything he says.
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