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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Crawl away on your belly! Go back to your Islamic friends and wait for your doom.
You don't know what you are talking about.
The Soviet Union had many thousand such bombs.
No one knows where they all are now.
Good question, I would suspect that NEST teams are probably combing the cities at night while we prepare our riposte against the terrorists.
You're talking about genocide. I don't know if you're Jewish or not, but you have become one with Hitler.
I won't hit the abuse button on you, because I think it is fitting that your posting stand, as a testament to the moral depravity that I oppose.
Actually, we can't exterminate the Muslims. Their societies are largely agrarian, and they can simply evacuate their cities and live in the countrside -- where even a megaton-class nuke will kill at most a few thousand.
In contrast, even with a handful of suitcase weapons, they could wipe out tens of millions of people in our cities. And without the industrial infrastructure, a hundred million more would starve. It would be the end of the United States.
But you're willing to do that, so that Israel may survive. But then, even if we were to withdraw our support, Israel would probably continue to survive, given that they have nukes of their own. So basically, you're willing to attempt to destroy 400 million Muslims and most certainly end up destroying the United States of America as well, for the sole purpose of ensuring that Ariel Sharon can continue his moral posturing.
Which side are you on?
I know it's not the side that God's on, because he would never be on the side of a genocide. So don't expect any help from his quarter.
I can always tell when I'm blowing away an opponent in a debate, when all he can respond with is a baseless assertion.
Switzerland doesn't support Israel, and they seem to be doing all right.
You are a complete idiot. 20,000 AMERICAN DEAD and you dont have the stones to give them payback .... get out of my country you weakling.
Extermination of the originating countries is actually a pretty good solution. Make sure they NEVER hit us again.
(God bless Uncle Bill.)
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