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December 3, 2002 C.I.A. Hunts Iraq Tie to Soviet SmallpoxBy JUDITH MILLER he C.I.A. is investigating an informant's accusation that Iraq obtained a particularly virulent strain of smallpox from a Russian scientist who worked in a smallpox lab in Moscow during Soviet times, senior American officials and foreign scientists say. The officials said several American scientists were told in August that Iraq might have obtained the mysterious strain from Nelja N. Maltseva, a virologist who worked for more than 30 years at the Research Institute for Viral Preparations in Moscow before her death two years ago. The information came to...

Bioterrorism threat said real Oct 17, 2002 12:00 PM, Harry Cline There are 7,000 unaccounted for former Soviet Union biological warfare scientists and technicians in the world today. Before 9/11/01, that fact would be filed away under "So what...just left over Cold War paranoia." Now, though, that fact is cause for considerable concern to Americans, and a panel of experts on bioterrorism and radical environmental groups speaking at the recent California Plant Health Association and CropLife America joint annual convention in Palm Desert, Calif., only served to heighten that concern when they addressed biological warfare issues facing America today. According...

A report published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Monday indicated that, based on satellite imagery obtained by the organization, Cuba has significantly expanded some of its electronic eavesdropping stations with suspected ties to China. The report from the Washington-based think tank said that the satellite imagery reviewed offers an “unprecedented look” at four active bases that the communist regime operates in Bejucal, El Salao, Wajay, and Calabazar. CSIS describes the four listed facilities as among the “most likely locations supporting China’s efforts to spy on the United States.” CSIS explained that one of the four...

The labs in question are part of a network of facilities linked to the Biological Threat Reduction Program, a US-government-funded effortA Twitter thread has gone viral after making eyebrow-raising claims that the Russian government is taking down American biolabs in Ukraine under the pretext of the "special military operation" that has pushed the world to the brink of an all-out war.The claims surfaced shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met recently and issued a joint statement slamming US bioweapons activities. It's worth noting that both Russia and the Soviet Union have a long history of...

The Kazakh Ministry of Health has issued an innocuous disclaimer, denying social media reports about the seizure of a “military biological lab near Almaty by unidentified people.” According to Russia’s Tass news agency, social media had speculated that specialists in chemical protection suits were working near the lab as “a leak of dangerous pathogens” occurred. The carefully worded press release by the Kazakh ministry clarifies: “This is not true. The facility is being protected.” Period. The intriguing report highlights the tip of an iceberg that has implications for public health and holds serious geopolitical ramifications. Since the late 1990s, when...

Trees and wildflowers blossom during all four seasons in Kunming, which is known as The City of Eternal Spring because of its year-round mild temperatures. However, it is also home to something much less natural: a laboratory where scientists have been creating monkey embryos with a mutated gene so that, when born, they will age unusually fast. Such experiments are done to study human diseases such as autism, cancer, Alzheimer's and muscular dystrophy.

New light is being shed on the 2001 anthrax attacks in a fascinating open letter to Ayman al Zawahiri of al Qaeda, written by a jihadi living in London. Numan Bin Uthman, a former leader of an armed Islamic group in Libya, provides yet more evidence that the global Islamic jihad movement is losing its resolve.  But the letter contains a startling admission. Uthman tells us of a conversation he had with al Qaeda leaders before the 9/11 attacks in which he urged them not to use WMD. From AKI News: Uthman also said that he had taken part in...