Al-Qaeda has dirty bomb, UK says

BBC News ^ | January 31, 2003 | Frank Gardner

[MadIvan]

British officials have presented evidence which they claim shows that al-Qaeda has been trying to assemble radioactive material to build a so-called dirty bomb.

They have shown the BBC previously undisclosed material backing up their claim.

It includes secret intelligence from agents sent into al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan by Britain.

Posing as recruits, they blended in and reported back.

They revealed that Osama Bin Laden's weapons programme was further on than anyone thought.

British officials said on Thursday Bin Laden now has the expertise and possibly the materials to build a crude radioactive bomb.

The government says evidence suggests that by 1999, Bin Laden's priority was to develop a weapon of mass destruction.

He had acquired radioactive isotopes from the Taleban to do this, officials said, adding that development work on the "dirty bomb" had been going on in a nuclear laboratory in the Afghan city of Herat.

Evidence 'credible'

The government even has al-Qaeda training manuals which detail how to use a dirty bomb to maximum effect.

For a second opinion, the BBC showed some of the material to an expert on al-Qaeda.

"I think this is genuine," said Dr Mustafa Alani, of the Royal United Service Institute.

"It is credible. This is proof that al-Qaeda put a lot of effort into collecting information and educating other members of the organisation.

"It is possible to produce this sort of weapon."

British military personnel worked with intelligence officers to gather material which was taken to Porton Down defence research centre in Wiltshire.

Their conclusion was that al-Qaeda had a small dirty bomb but probably not a full blown nuclear device.

"From nuclear weapons the threat is very, very slim," said Gary Samore, a former US National Security Council member.

To create one, he said, al-Qaeda would have needed to obtain weapons grade nuclear material - a difficult prospect.

Saddam might have that sort of material. Hmmm. - Ivan

"On the other hand, the threat of a dirty bomb or radiological bomb, is much more plausible," he added.

British officials say the "bomb" has never been recovered but at least one leading al-Qaeda weapons expert from Herat is still at large.

Why the British government would release such top secret information has been questioned by some commentators in the Arabic world.

Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor of Al Quds al Arabi, said it was an attempt to revive fears in Britain and the US about 11 September.

"They would like to prove their point that there are links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda," he said.

[Dog]

Something for Hugh to ponder...

[meenie]

This one reason holding off and allowing the inspectors more time is critical. Sadaam will have another month or two to deliver a weapon to his henchmen in the US.

[Myrddin]

The Hajj: AC130 bait. Followed by a 75 KT on top of Mecca.

[backhoe]

A let's get them before they get us bump.

A-dam'-men. "Fustest with the mostest..."

[Dog]

If its this easy to spy on this group, especially around 1999, then why didn't Clinton direct the CIA to do this

You answered your own question....Clinton wanted no part of this....Sudan wanted to give Bin Laden to us on a silver platter ....but Bubba was to busy finding Monica a job..

[Brad’s Gramma]

You're being sarcastic, right? Right?

[backhoe]

If Saddam truly wants Götterdammerung, he would have a great incentive to get WMDs to Hamas to attempt a no-fingerprints attack on Tel Aviv--hoping to provoke Israel and thus unite the Muslim world.

No doubt. FYI, FWIW, here's the latest info I found:

U.S. Air Force: Israel has 400 nukes, building naval force

World Tribune | 7/4/02

[steveegg]

If its this easy to spy on this group, especially around 1999, then why didn't Clinton direct the CIA to do this and get the same intel Britian did. Instead of fire a couple Tomahawks in the general direction of Bin Laden

You have your choice of reasons:

• S(l)ick Willie just didn't give a damn except when it looked like he would be evicted from the Oval Orifice.
• Klintoon really wants America destroyed, but in a way that wouldn't finger him as the Quisling.
• He has a soft spot in his heart for Islamists.

[Dog]

We will see more stories like this over the next several days leading up to Wednesday. The public is being prepared for something by someone...

[MadIvan]

Thanks to Weird Bill, you had no intelligence assets in Afghanistan on September 11th. Nil. Nada. Zero. MI6, however, did have a presence and is still there.

Regards, Ivan

[steveegg]

That would require too much timing. Better to simply vaporize the place and make it inhabitable for a while.

[roadcat]

Yeah, wish it were that easy, but you know the moderates will never allow the prez to nuke Mecca. Because the Saudi's are our friennnnds...

Better that we ramp up covert activities before any strikes against us happen, like a bunch of random bombings thruout the world against arab terrorist targets. Let them scratch their heads for a change, wondering what the hell they did to deserve that and how they should try to better understand the Americans. Of course, we should then deny having anything to do with it and then suggest maybe the French did it... (what the heck, maybe the arabs will take it out on them).

[Brad’s Gramma]

I'm with ya, Kiddo. President Bush knows more than I EVER want to know...you can see it all over his face. Plus, it doesn't take a rocket scientist (ahem!) to figure this out.

[MadIvan]

Well we do need to get over this idea that the Saudis are our friends. They are like the gangster with a bankroll who pays hitmen to do his dirty work. The gangster himself may not get into the fight, but without his cash, the hitmen would have no impetus to do their dirty deeds.

I think this is partially why Bush is pushing fuel cell research. The best long term strategy is to bankrupt Saudi Arabia.

Regards, Ivan

[AF68]

I just listened to an fascinating interview of a former UN weapons inspector on the radio. He detailed how the Iraqis duped the inspectors time after time. Some inspectors went along with the deceit. He is convinced that Saddam Hussein has several nuclear weapons and will probably launch them in a preemptive strike against Israel.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Pardon me for being obtuse and voicing wonder at why this is news other than to add to the body of evidence that most rational people already accept. For conservatives world-wide, the Islamofascist intent has been clearly demonstrated for months, if not for years.

From my memory, I recall news stories showing that the pieces and parts have been demonstrated to be floating in this theater for years. China seems to be currently in the business of helping rogue states overcome technological hurdles in all sorts of spheres including nuclear. Europe has been selling seriously compromising technology to Saddam for a good while now, and Clinton, helped out to no small degree as well. Specific, controled, scientific technology for nuclear weapons development has been shown to have been ordered by Saddam. The Iraqi know-how and documentation has been clearly demonstrated. After the Gulf War, US experts upgraded their estimates of where Saddam was in the Nuke timetable to less than three years out - that was ten years ago. Episodes like the Pakistani terrorist that was caught by the Israelis last summer with a radiological bomb have already occured. Hundreds of kilograms of enriched, weapons grade plutonium have been missing from Soviet stocks and a smuggling dry-run was exposed last fall. A key Soviet defector maintains that perhaps as many as two dozen "back-pack" nuclear devices are floating about unaccounted for and some of them, according to this agent, are cached in North America for use by Spetznaz and other sleeper agents.

I guess I can see that more information may be needed to awaken some, but I fear that a preoccupation with finding the "smoking gun" will only yield a mushroom cloud in an American city.

[MadIvan]

I suspect what is going to occur next is that Blair or Bush will reveal that Al Qaeda got the radioactive material for this bomb from Saddam. This would explain why Bush and Blair have been so insistent on getting Saddam. And finally stating this in public will end all opposition - though this period has been indeed been instructive as to who stands for freedom and who does not.

Regards, Ivan

[WorkingClassFilth]

If I recall stories after the Afghan invasion correctly, they found some of those Tomahawk cruise missiles intact in caves. Krinton fired about 75 of them (I think) and, amazingly, one story I read here on FR claimed that only 40% of them functioned by successful detonation. How in the world that would occur still escapes me - munitions that only work 4 out of 10 times they're fired? Oh well, the news at that time said that bin Laden had sold some of them to the Chinese to take apart at their leisure and reverse engineer. How convenient. How Krintonesque.

[jlogajan]

"On the other hand, the threat of a dirty bomb or radiological bomb, is much more plausible," he added.

It's more plausible in that it would be far easier to obtain and build. But it is still a stupid idea for a weapon. If you have dirty radioactive materials, you just go spread them around by hand. Using a bomb is stupid because it isn't particularly targetted, wasting you material and calling attention to the event.

[Diana Rose]

why didn't Clinton direct the CIA to do this

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