Posted on 11/28/2001 10:11:15 AM PST by It'salmosttolate
Anthrax plan pops out of Pak scientist's cupboard
EW DELHI: Sketches and calculations to make a helium-powered balloon bomb filled with anthrax have been found from the Kabul office of an NGO headed by Bashiruddin Mehmood, one of the two Pakistani nuclear scientists detained in Islamabad for questioning on their alleged links with Osama Bin Laden, The Economist has said.
Such a balloon bomb was capable of showering deadly anthrax over areas as vast as New York or Washington.
The "most chilling" items found from the Kabul premises included small bags of white powder and the "mass of calculations and drawings" of weather balloons with arrows indicating the suggested height of 10 km or 33,000 feet, said The Economist in its print edition.
The premises located in the "wealthiest district" of Kabul belonged to the Ummah Tameer-e-Nau (UTN), whose president is a leading nuclear scientist and a plutonium technology specialist Mehmood, who along with another scientist Abdul Majid were detained again on Tuesday in Islamabad for questioning, The Economist said.
The two men, who are alleged to have made frequent trips to Afghanistan and met Laden on two occasions, have denied the charges.
"Since UTN was run by one of Pakistan's top scientists, a man with close links to the Taliban and, it is said, close ideological affinities with Laden, the circumstantial evidence points to only one conclusion, the paper said.
"Whoever fled this house when the Taliban fell was working on a plan to build a helium-powered balloon bomb carrying anthrax," the journal said.
In Islamabad, Pakistani authorities ruled out any link between two nuclear scientists and anthrax attacks in the US.
"There are no linkages established at all with any anthrax-related capability between the scientists and those people (al-Qaeda)," military government spokesman Major General Rashid Qureshi told reporters.
Despite the clearance, the two scientists remained in custody on as yet unspecified charges.
Qureshi said there were certain rules retired scientists were supposed to observe, which include "prevention from making certain statements and also travelling."
"Frankly, beyond that I am not privy to any other details."
Qureshi denied any knowledge of reports that US officials had also questioned the two scientists in custody.
"I do know that the investigation is being carried out by Pakistan authorities. I am quite sure that information is being shared if it of any value (with the Americans)," he said. ( AGENCIES )
I love this statement. Case closed. Cut and dried.
What were the pictures for the remaining months of this year on the calendar?
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