Does Al Qaeda possess chemical, biological or nuclear capabilities?
When bin Laden was based in Khartoum in 1993, he purchased a canister of uranium for $1.5 million from South Africa through a Sudanese military officer. This information was classified, but it became open during the trial into the bombing of the U.S. embassies in East Africa that was held in New York. Bin Laden was duped; the canister had been radiated from outside, so although a Geiger counter tested positive, there was no weapons-grade uranium. Al Qaeda established contacts with Russian and Ukrainian organized crime groups and was partially successful in purchasing materials, but once again they were duped. On the third occasion, Al Qaeda established links with Pakistani physicists and was in the stage of establishing a number of front companies in Afghanistan for the task of purchasing nuclear and other components to develop chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear capability. We have not before seen a terrorist group express such determination over a long period of time to ac
