Al Qaeda Has Tactical Nukes?

Dar Al Hayat is a "Pan-Arab independent daily published from London. Also printed in Lebanon for local distribution." Thei english site can be found here. Haaretz, a Tel Aviv daily, reports that Al-Hayat's Sunday London edition reported that Al Qaida has possessed tactical nuclear weapons for about six years:

The Arabic daily reported that sources close to Al-Qaida said Osama bin Laden's group bought the nuclear weapons from Ukrainian scientists who were visiting Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 1998.

The report has not been confirmed.

However, the sources said Al-Qaida doesn't intend to use the weapons against American forces in Muslim countries, "due to the serious damage" it could cause. But that decision is subject to change, the sources said, if Al-Qaida "is dealt a serious blow that won't leave it any room to maneuver."

The possibility of detonating the nuclear devices on American soil was also raised in the report, although no details were given.

The sources were quoted as saying that Al-Qaida actvists have hidden the weapons - each of which is about the size of a suitcase - in "a safe place."

I've checked Al-Hayat's english site and the article doesn't appear there. The report has been picked up by other agencies, including Reuters and Al Jazeera.

World Net Daily adds more fuel to the fire with stories here, here, and here, (oldest to most recent.)

WorldNetDaily first broke the story of al-Qaida's purchase of suitcase nukes Oct. 3, 2002. Paul Williams, an FBI consultant on international terrorism said then bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network purchased 20 suitcase nuclear weapons from former KGB agents in 1998 for $30 million.

His book, "Al Qaeda: Brotherhood of Terror," also says this deal was one of at least three in the last decade in which al-Qaida purchased small nuclear weapons or weapons-grade nuclear uranium.

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"By 1990 bin Laden had hired hundreds of atomic scientists from the former Soviet Union for $2,000 a month – an amount far greater than their wages in the former Soviet republics," Williams writes. "They worked in a highly sophisticated and well-fortified laboratory in Kandahar, Afghanistan."

This work continued throughout the 1990s, the author says.

In 1993, according to the book, Jamal Ahmed al-Fadl, a bin Laden agent who turned into a Central Intelligence Agency source, purchased for al-Qaida a cylinder of weapons-grade uranium from a former Sudanese government minister who represented businessmen from South Africa. The purchase price was $1.5 million and the uranium was tested in Cyprus and transported to Afghanistan.

Al-Fadl reported that, at the time of this transfer, al-Qaida was already working on a deal for suitcase nukes developed for the KGB.

Williams says the Russian Mafia made another mysterious deal with "Afghani Arabs" in search of nuclear weapons in 1996. The Russians who sold the material now live in New York.

Then again in 1998, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim was arrested in Munich and charged with acting as an al-Qaida agent to purchase highly enriched uranium from a German laboratory.

That same year, according to Williams, bin Laden succeeded in buying the 20 suitcase nukes from Chechen Mafia figures, including former KGB agents. The $30 million deal was partly cash and partly heroin with a street value of $700 million.

"After the devices were obtained, they were placed in the hands of Arab nuclear scientists who, federal sources say, 'were probably trained at American universities,'" says Williams.

Though the devices were designed only to be operated by Soviet SPETZNAZ personnel, or special forces, al-Qaida scientists came up with a way of hot-wiring the bombs to the bodies of would-be martyrs, according to the book.

If there were a well fortified laboratory in Kandahar, I would think U.S. forces would have discovered it by now. I'll admit this scenario is a possibility, but I'm not convinced of the credibility of the sources. Until we have further evidence, I think we have to consider it propaganda.

Specail thanks goes out to The Beagle Express, a very interesting read, for an e-mail regarding the breaking story and Aaron' Rantblog for providing multiple links.

Comments

[Aaron's Rantblog]

Thanks for the shout out. Just added you to my blogroll. Wondering if I merit Cerebrum or Brain Stem status.

[JT_Hunter]

Thanks for the link. Aaron has much more on this issue. I was surprised when I first saw the ticker on FOX. Also thanks to Aaron for his help.