Saturday October 13, 4:28 AM

U.S. says al Qaeda has some biochemical arms ability

By Charles Aldinger

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fugitive Osama bin Laden's guerrilla network probably has the ability to make crude but deadly chemical weapons and could possibly use biological agents such as anthrax, a senior U.S. defense official said on Friday.

"This could be a bucketful. This could be a tonne," the official said of the chance that bin Laden's worldwide al Qaeda group had produced simple chemical arms such as phosgene and chlorine gases, which burn the linings of the lungs.

The official, who asked not to be identified, told reporters at a Pentagon briefing that U.S. intelligence believed al Qaeda has at the very least an ability to make simple chemical arms and possibly biological weapons.

"I am not going to say that they do not have a nuclear weapon. But at the baseline, what we believe is that they have a crude chemical and possibly biological capability," the official said. "Of course, anthrax is a possibility."

"If there is any nuclear capability, it is liable to be more radiological than fissile (explosive)," he said. Radiation can cause fatal poisoning in tissues and lungs.

The comments came as concerns rose in the United States over the possibility of attack by weapons of mass destruction by supporters of bin Laden, the Saudi-born fugitive accused by Washington of masterminding the Sept. 11 attack on America using hijacked airliners.

One person died from anthrax in the United States in the past week and at least three others are known to have been exposed to anthrax. The deadly disease infects cattle, but can be produced in a laboratory and made into weapons.

Bin Laden is believed to be in Afghanistan, which has been under attack for nearly a week by U.S. and British forces. But the defense official refused to discuss reports that al Qaeda might have at least one underground production facility there for chemical or biological weapons.

Asked what chemical or biological weapons might be in the hands of al Qaeda, the official said: "Poisons, possibly chlorine, phosgene. We are not talking up to sarin."

He noted that chlorine and phosgene were simple chemicals that did not require mixing. The deadly gases were used decades ago in World War One as military weapons along with mustard gas. Sarin is a much more sophisticated but very deadly chemical compound.

"I can't say anything except toxins possibly," he said when asked about biological arms.

The official was vague about any ability of anti-western guerrillas to strike with chemical or biological arms. "Certainly the delivery means, although they could be innovative, would probably not be sophisticated."

The FBI has cracked down sharply on control of small chemical crop-dusting aircraft in the United States, which might be used to spray aerosol versions of poison weapons.

That crackdown followed indications that suspects in the hijackings of commercial airliners that were crashed into the Pentagon and World Trade Center on Sept. 11 had expressed interest in crop-dusting aircraft.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

Answers

http://www.boston.com/news/daily/12/chemical_weapons.htm

Al-Qaida believed to have crude chemical weapons, but no high-tech means to deliver them

By John J. Lumpkin, Associated Press, 10/12/01 WASHINGTON -- Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida organization is believed to have crude chemical weapons such as chlorine and phosgene poison gases, but lacks high-tech means to deliver them, a senior defense official said Friday.

Instead, the group would have to use primitive but "innovative" methods to attack people with them, said the official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. He cited as possibilities crop- dusters and hand sprayers.

Chlorine and phosgene are industrial chemicals that were used as weapons in World War I. Al-Qaida isn't believed to have any more complex chemical weapons, such as sarin nerve gas, the official said.

It's unlikely an attack with these low-tech poison gases would kill mass numbers of people, although they would create widespread fear, said Gary Ackerman, a terrorism expert with the Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Doctors can treat victims with oxygen.

"These are your basic kindergarten-version chemical weapons," Ackerman said. "They are the easiest to get a hold of and produce. They are also the least fatal ones."

However, al-Qaida may also have acquired biological toxins, the defense official said, without providing detail. Toxins are poisons like botulism that are created by plants or animals. The official said it is less likely they have developed disease weapons like anthrax.

The defense official said that if the terrorists have obtained any nuclear material, they may be able to make a radiological weapon, rather than a vastly more complex nuclear device. Radiological weapons spread radiation without an actual destructive explosion, the official said.

Together, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons are classed as weapons of mass destruction.

Bin Laden has said acquiring these weapons is "a religious duty" and that all Americans are targets.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, U.S. officials have had little doubt he would try to use them.

Last year, CIA Director George Tenet told the Senate Intelligence Committee that bin Laden's "operatives have trained to conduct attacks with toxic chemicals or biological toxins."

"Although terrorists we've pre-empted still appear to be relying on conventional weapons, we know that a number of these groups are seeking chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear agents," Tenet said. "We are aware of several instances in which terrorists have contemplated using these materials."

Both chlorine and phosgene poison gas can cause people to choke to death. Several hours after exposure, fluid fills the lungs, essentially drowning the victim.

It took 160 tons of greenish-yellow chlorine gas, released by the Germans from canisters at the battle of Ypres in 1915, to kill 5,000 Allied soldiers during World War I. Ackerman didn't believe a terrorist could sneak this much near a target in the United States.

Today, chlorine is used in industrial cleaners and water purification.

U.S. industry produces over a billion pounds of phosgene annually, according to a military handbook, "Medical Management of Chemical Casualties." The Germans used phosgene as a weapon in 1917 at Verdun by launching artillery shells full of the liquid at troops. It began as a white cloud of gas that dispersed and became invisible.

Phosgene smells like freshly cut hay or grass. Symptoms of exposure sometimes take hours to appear.

Botulism, a toxin created by a microbe, is thought likely for use as a biological weapon. It is usually encountered as severe food poisoning that is 30 percent to 40 percent fatal.

As with chlorine and phosgene, it would easy to create a scare but difficult to kill mass numbers of people with botulism toxins, Ackerman said.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001