Posted on 09/12/2001 6:09:38 PM PDT by Uncle Bill
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 weeks 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 FBIs 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]
Bin Laden Funneled Money Through UAE Bank
Bin Laden Getting Financial Support - Links
Osama Bin Ladens International Terror Network
Orrin Hatch Was BCCIs Mouthpiece
Gold Depositories Buried Beneath Trade Center Rubble
....
Bin Laden under house arrest: report - September 13, 2001
Bin Laden under house arrest - September 13, 1998
Just curious, I wonder what the odds are that both articles are "September 13th." Satan must be laughing.
Also, if they use a Nuke, will we use ours? If we did use ours, how many would we drop?
Did The Rapist even leave us enough to defend ourselves with by the time he left office?
Otherwise you can kiss the other 98% of New York City good-bye.
Our support for Israel carries a very heavy price.
We are justified to use whatever weapons we have in the inventory. My hope is that our use is liberal. Air burst to minimize fallout.
"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord,
He has trampled out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored,
He has loosed the fateful lighting of his terrible swift sword,
His truth is marching on."
"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Gen.3:19(KJV)
But it's blood and bone now.
Whatever the story on Israel, Muslim pogroms in the 20's or palestinian cleansing in the 40's.
It's time to get it on. A price will be paid. Perhaps the extermination of Islam in the middle east. Perhaps not. Things are inevitable now.
Decide whose side you're on. If you would rather sit this one out doing peyote in the Mexican desert, well whatever.
For the rest of us, the die is cast.
I bet last week you didnt believe 4 terrorists could hijack 4 large aircraft on the same day and dive into the Pentagon, WTC's and aim for the Whitehouse either.
Get it?
If you don't know, then may I suggest just reading the thread and get educated. No offense intended, I am on your side
Well, you hit the World Trade Center, but you missed America. You hit the Pentagon, but you missed America. You used helpless American bodies, to take out other American bodies, but like a poor marksman, you STILL missed America.
Why? Because of something you guys will never understand. America isn't about a building or two, not about financial centers, not about military centers, America isn't about a place, America isn't even about a bunch of bodies. America is about an IDEA. An idea, that you can go someplace where you can earn as much as you can figure out how to, live for the most part, like you envisioned living, and pursue Happiness. (No guarantees that you'll reach it, but you can sure try!)
Go ahead and whine your terrorist whine, and chant your terrorist litany: "If you can not see my point, then feel my pain." This concept is alien to Americans. We live in a country where we don't have to see your point. But you're free to have one. We don't have to listen to your speech. But you're free to say one. Don't know where you got the strange idea that everyone has to agree with you. We don't agree with each other in this country, almost as a matter of pride. We're a collection of guys that don't agree, called States. We united our individual states to protect ourselves from tyranny in the world. Another idea, we made up on the spot. You CAN make it up as you go, when it's your country.
If you're free enough.
Yeah, we're fat, sloppy, easy-going goofs most of the time. That's an unfortunate image to project to the world, but it comes of feeling free and easy about the world you live in. It's unfortunate too, because people start to forget that when you attack Americans, they tend to fight like a cornered badger. The first we knew of the War of 1812, was when England burned Washington D.C. to the ground. Didn't turn out like England thought it was going to, and it's not going to turn out like you think, either. Sorry, but you're not the first bully on our shores, just the most recent.
No Marquis of Queensbury rules for Americans, either. We were the FIRST and so far, only country in the world to use nuclear weapons in anger. Horrific idea, nowadays? News for you bucko, it was back then too, but we used it anyway. Only had two of them in the whole world and we used 'em both. Grandpa Jones worked on the Manhattan Project. Told me once, that right up until they threw the switch, the physicists were still arguing over whether the Uranium alone would fission, or whether it would start a fissioning chain reaction that would eat everything. But they threw the switch anyway, because we had a War to win. Does that tell you something about American Resolve?
So who just declared War on us? It would be nice to point to some real estate, like the good old days. Unfortunately, we're probably at war with random camps, in far-flung places. Who think they're safe. Just like the Barbary Pirates did. Better start sleeping with one eye open.
There's a spirit that tends to take over people who come to this country, looking for opportunity, looking for liberty, looking for freedom. Even if they misuse it. The Marielistas that Castro emptied out of his prisons, were overjoyed to find out how much freedom there was. First thing they did when they hit our shores, was run out and buy guns. The ones that didn't end up dead, ended up in prisons. It was a big PITA then (especially in south Florida), but you're only the newest PITA, not the first.
You guys seem to be incapable of understanding that we don't live in America, America lives in US! American Spirit is what it's called. And killing a few thousand of us, or a few million of us, won't change it. Most of the time, it's a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of Spirit. Until we're crossed in a cowardly manner, then it becomes an entirely different kind of Spirit.
Wait until you see what we do with that Spirit, this time. Sleep tight, if you can. We're coming.
Ah Spiff, just you wait. When you least expect it . . . BOOM!
If he had nukes they might already be in the US. In Washington, in New York . . .
I live within 5 miles of Cheyenne Mountain and have direct line of sight to it from my front door. I'll tell you, it's on my mind.
If he has them, the least of our worries would be him,...it would be the inability to identify who all the other players are at the table, in the room or theater.
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