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| Terror Networks |
| More on Khalid, Hanbali, and anthrax |
| 2003-12-28 |
| Two years after the anthrax letter attacks, senior administration officials say they have fresh concerns about the nation’s vulnerability to terrorist attacks with the deadly germ. The officials said their fears had intensified in part because they now recognized that anthrax spores could be more widely dispersed than previously believed. In addition, they said, terror suspects with ties to Al Qaeda have told questioners that the group has been trying to obtain anthrax for use in attacks. One indication of concern was a secret cabinet-level "tabletop" exercise conducted last month that simulated the simultaneous release of anthrax in different types of aerosols in several American cities. Another factor fueling concern about anthrax is the questioning of senior Qaeda agents now in United States custody, administration officials said. One official said that after his arrest in March, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, one of Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenants, confirmed to American officials earlier reports that Al Qaeda, and particularly its second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, a physician, had long been eager to acquire biological agents, particularly anthrax. The official noted that Qaeda agents had inquired about renting crop-dusters to spread pathogens, especially anthrax. According to an article by Milton Leitenberg, a biological warfare expert at the Center for International and Security Affairs at the University of Maryland, computer hard drives and handwritten notes seized at the home where Mr. Mohammed was arrested included an order to buy anthrax, along with other evidence of an interest in acquiring anthrax and other dangerous germs. "Nothing so far translated implies access to the most dangerous microbial strains or to any advanced processing or delivery methods," Mr. Leitenberg concluded in a survey of recent developments in bioterrorism published in the journal Politics and Life Sciences. American officials also said in interviews that Mr. Mohammed had told questioners that until the American invasion after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Al Qaeda’s anthrax program was based in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and was led by two men: Riduan Isamuddin, known as Hambali, and Yazid Sufaat, a Malaysian member of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Qaeda-affiliated group. Mr. Sufaat, who received a degree in biological sciences in 1987 from California State University, was a technician in the Malaysian military. In 1993, he set up a company to "test the blood and urine of foreign workers and state employees for drug use," Mr. Leitenberg wrote. Government officials say his company appears to have been involved in transferring money and buying ammonium nitrate for explosives for Qaeda groups in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Although Mr. Sufaat tried to acquire anthrax, there is no evidence that he was able to procure the appropriate strain used for attacks, officials said. Mr. Sufaat was arrested in 2001 as he tried to enter Malaysia and is being held at an undisclosed place, officials said. He has reportedly confirmed numerous details about Al Qaeda’s effort to develop anthrax and other biological agents. So, too, has Hambali, who like Mr. Sufaat fled to neighboring Pakistan after the United States invaded Afghanistan. He was arrested last August in Thailand and has been cooperating with American officials, several officials said. CBS News reported in early October that Hambali had been trying to open a new biological weapons program for Al Qaeda in the Far East when he was arrested. Officials said recent notices from the Department of Homeland Security also reflected the concern about a bioterror attack. A Nov. 21 warning from the department to law enforcement agencies states that while Al Qaeda is not known to have executed an attack using chemical or biological agents, "the acquisition, production or theft of these materials and subsequent dissemination is a top Al Qaeda objective." Jerome Hauer, a former acting assistant secretary of health and human services for biodefense who now heads a biodefense center at George Washington University, said it was "no secret that Al Qaeda wants to use anthrax." He said, "If they get to the point where they have the technical sophistication to execute an attack, I think they would do so." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 You're right, here it is: Link. |
| Posted by: Dan Darling 2003-12-28 10:15:15 AM |
| #1 Your link doesn't lead to the original article. |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2003-12-28 9:28:11 AM |