Bin Laden Said To Have NukesPosted on 09/12/2001 6:09:38 PM PDT by Uncle Bill
Bin Laden Said To Have Nukes
Report: Extent of fugitive leader's arsenal 'no longer a doubt'
WorldnetDaily
By Jon Dougherty
© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com
April 28, 2001
Fugitive Saudi terrorist-sponsor Osama bin Laden is now known to have nuclear weapons, putting to rest previous speculation that left the possibility open, according to a weekly intelligence newsletter.
A report published in this week’s Geostrategy-Direct.com newsletter, edited in part by Washington Times staffers Bill Gertz and Robert Morton, indicated that bin Laden's possession of nuclear devices "is no longer a doubt."
"Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama bin Laden has nuclear weapons. The question is how many," the report said.
Gertz told WND he didn't write the assessment, but that the newsletter's primary editor, Morton, had a stringer in the Mideast who verified the information. Morton was out of his office and could not be reached for comment.
"Russian intelligence sources who are fighting bin Laden members in Chechnya believe [he] has a handful of tactical nuclear weapons," said the report. "Arab intelligence sources say the Al Qaida head has as many as 20 weapons."
Al Qaida is the name of the terrorist group bin Laden leads.
The report says "both sides agree" that the Saudi terrorist managed to acquire his weapons by supporting the Chechen cause with money and volunteers, in exchange for nuclear materials and technology.
Bin Laden "received [it] from Chechen insurgents who raided [Russian] nuclear installations for fuel and components around the former Soviet Union," the report said.
"With that came the recruits from among scientists from the former Soviet Union. The rest was easy," said Geostrategy-Direct.com.
The report said the actual location of the weapons is unknown, but "the assessment by both Arab and Russian sources is that bin Laden has managed to sneak at least some of the components to his lair in Afghanistan."
Bin Laden is one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. He is wanted in connection with the Aug. 7, 1998, bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa -- one in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and the other in Nairobi, Kenya. Over 200 were killed in the attacks.
He is believed to have a connection to the Oct. 12 bombing of the destroyer USS Cole as it refueled in Yemen, WND reported Oct 26.
The State Department had no comment on the report, but other intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told WND that any reports dealing with bin Laden are taken seriously.
"Reports regarding bin Laden are always taken seriously and investigated," the official said. "He clearly poses a threat to U.S. interests around the world, so you can't dismiss every rumor out of hand. It wouldn't be prudent to do that."
In January, the New York Times -- quoting U.S. officials -- said bin Laden's organization was making attempts to manufacture chemical weapons and "buy enriched uranium," one of the main components of a nuclear device.
But as far back as August 1999, counter-terrorism experts said bin Laden may have acquired "up to 20 nuclear devices."
"Yosef Bodansky, a researcher of the House Task Force for Counter-terrorism and author of a new book on bin Laden, told a news conference on Friday that bin Laden has been seeking to follow up on his bombings of two U.S. embassies in east Africa one year ago. Echoing U.S. officials, Bodansky said bin Laden was thwarted in plans to blow up the U.S. embassy and two consulates in India last December and January," WorldTribune.com reported.
"It was also reported that bin Laden has biological, chemical and nuclear weapons and has received technical help from Iraq, Bodansky said. The nuclear weapons include suitcase bombs acquired through Chechen rebels," the paper said.
"The Russians believe that he has a handful [of nuclear weapons]. The Saudi intelligence services are very conservative. ... They are friendly to the United States [and] believe that he has in the neighborhood of 20," Bodansky said, as quoted by the Internet paper.
Bin Laden reportedly obtained and purchased the suitcase bombs from multiple sources, he said. He has a "collection of individuals knowledgeable in activating the bombs" and "is recruiting former Soviet special forces [to learn] how to operate the bombs behind enemy lines," Bodansky said.
He noted that, according to his research, most of the weapons had been transferred through Pakistan.
Related stories:
Oklahoma City Blast Linked To Bin Laden
Suspect Pegged In Cole Bombing
Bin Laden Calls For War Against U.S.
FBI Admits That Russian Nuclear Suitcases Hidden In Secret Locations In U.S.
Are Suitcase Nukes on the Loose?
FRONTLINE: Atomic Suitcase Bombs
Former Soviet spy: Small nuclear devices planted in U.S. 
"A hooded, former Soviet spy with tales of threats to U.S. security was the star witness at a congressional hearing this week in California. The one-time military intelligence colonel testified that suitcase-sized nuclear devices are hidden on U.S. soil. "
Saudi Money Aiding Terrorist bin Laden
USA TODAY
By Jack Kelley
10/28/99- Updated 11:12 PM ET
WASHINGTON - More than a year after the U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa, prominent businessmen in Saudi Arabia continue to transfer tens of millions of dollars to bank accounts linked to indicted terrorist Osama bin Laden, senior U.S. intelligence officials told USA TODAY.
The money transfers, which began more than five years ago, have been used to finance several terrorist acts by bin Laden, including the attempted assassination in 1995 of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia, the officials said.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is expected to raise the issue with Prince Sultan, the Saudi defense minister, during his visit to Washington next week. Saudi Arabia, the main U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf, has pledged to fight terrorism.
According to a Saudi government audit acquired by U.S. intelligence, five of Saudi Arabia's top businessmen ordered the National Commercial Bank (NCB), the kingdom's largest, to transfer personal funds, along with $3 million diverted from a Saudi pension fund, to New York and London banks.
The money was deposited into the accounts of Islamic charities, including Islamic Relief and Blessed Relief, that serve as fronts for bin Laden.
The businessmen, who are worth more than $5 billion, are paying bin Laden "protection money" to stave off attacks on their businesses in Saudi Arabia, intelligence officials said. Bin Laden, whose family runs the largest Saudi construction firm, has called for the overthrow of the Saudi government.
The money transfers were discovered in April after the royal family ordered an audit of NCB and its founder and former chairman, Khalid bin Mahfouz, U.S. officials say. Mahfouz is now under "house arrest" at a military hospital in the Saudi city of Taif, intelligence officials said.
His successor, Mohammad Hussein Al-Amoudi, also heads the Capital Trust Bank in New York and London, which U.S. and British officials are investigating for allegedly transferring money to bin Laden. Amoudi's Washington lawyer, Vernon Jordan, could not be reached for comment.
Mahfouz's son, Abdul Rahman Mahfouz, is on the board of Blessed Relief in Sudan. Suspects in the Mubarak attack are linked to the charity.
Bin Laden faces U.S. criminal charges for allegedly masterminding the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. Bin Laden, who is in Afghanistan, denies the charges.
Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan declined to comment on the reports.
[End of Transcript]
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2. If Osama got this stuff from Chechen terrorists, why don't the Chechen terrorists use it against Russia?
The term "suitcase nukes" refers to very small nuclear explosive devices. Small nuclear weapons, such as atomic demolition munitions (ADM's), were produced by the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Some of these types of weapons were designed for use by special forces for sabotage in the event of a war. These devices had very low explosive yields (around 1 kiloton), were portable, and may not have had the same security features as larger nuclear devices.
http://www.nti.org/f_wmd411/f1a6_6.html
While it is likely that the Soviet Union produced these small, portable nuclear weapons, it is more difficult to determine whether or not any have gone missing. Those who claim that these nuclear weapons were stolen suggest that the thefts took place in the early 1990s.
If such an attack happened, we would not use nukes on Islamic countries. I doubt it.
tinfoil on/ maybe they are positioning dirty bombs in major cities in the US, very carefully over the years.
They have drugs now that will help with you're paranoia and schizophrenia.
If Abdul will pray, to a glowing crater.
Thanks for letting us in on that, but when you got the briefing didn't they say not to tell anyone?
Stay Safe !
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