al-Qaida No. 2: We Have Briefcase Nukes

Yahoo News ^

[sonsofliberty2000]

SYDNEY, Australia - Osama bin Laden's terror network claims to have bought ready-made nuclear weapons on the black market in central Asia, the biographer of al-Qaida's No. 2 leader was quoted as telling an Australian television station.

In an interview scheduled to be televised on Monday, Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir said Ayman al-Zawahri claimed that "smart briefcase bombs" were available on the black market.

It was not clear when the interview between Mir and al-Zawahri took place.

U.S. intelligence agencies have long believed that al-Qaida attempted to acquire a nuclear device on the black market, but say there is no evidence it was successful.

In the interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp. television, parts of which were released Sunday, Mir recalled telling al-Zawahri it was difficult to believe that al-Qaida had nuclear weapons when the terror network didn't have the equipment to maintain or use them.

"Dr Ayman al-Zawahri laughed and he said `Mr. Mir, if you have $30 million, go to the black market in central Asia, contact any disgruntled Soviet scientist, and a lot of ... smart briefcase bombs are available,'" Mir said in the interview.

"They have contacted us, we sent our people to Moscow, to Tashkent, to other central Asian states and they negotiated, and we purchased some suitcase bombs," Mir quoted al-Zawahri as saying.

Al-Qaida has never hidden its interest in acquiring nuclear weapons.

The U.S. federal indictment of bin Laden charges that as far back as 1992 he "and others known and unknown, made efforts to obtain the components of nuclear weapons."

Bin Laden, in a November 2001 interview with a Pakistani journalist, boasted having hidden such components "as a deterrent." And in 1998, a Russian nuclear weapons design expert was investigated for allegedly working with bin Laden's Taliban allies.

It was revealed last month that Pakistan's top nuclear scientist had sold sensitive equipment and nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea (news - web sites), fueling fears the information could have also fallen into the hands of terrorists.

Earlier, Mir told Australian media that al-Zawahri also claimed to have visited Australia to recruit militants and collect funds.

"In those days, in early 1996, he was on a mission to organize his network all over the world," Mir was quoted as saying. "He told me he stopped for a while in Darwin (in northern Australia), he was ... looking for help and collecting funds."

Australia's Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the government could not rule out the possibility that al-Zawahri visited Australia in the 1990s under a different name.

"Under his own name or any known alias he hasn't traveled to Australia," Ruddock told reporters Saturday. "That doesn't mean to say that he may not have come under some other false documentation, or some other alias that's not known to us."

Mir describe al-Zawahri as "the real brain behind Osama bin Laden."

"He is the real strategist, Osama bin Laden is only a front man," Mir was quoted as saying during the interview. "I think he is more dangerous than bin Laden."

Al-Zawahri — an Egyptian surgeon — is believed to be hiding in the rugged region around the Pakistan-Afghan border where U.S. and Pakistani troops are conducting a major operation against Taliban and al-Qaida forces.

He is said to have played a leading role in orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

[Criminal Number 18F]

just wondering what number you estimate those "electric caps" are--

Uh, the caps are inside the ten pipe bombs.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[smith288]

If one goes boom here, you can expect every nation in the world that is currently harboring terrorist to be nuked the same day. This means good by Iran, Syria, North Korea. This is the reason that Kadaffi of Libya decided to "get right" with the United States. We can not fight them everywhere but we can damn sure Nuke them.

Wouldnt happen. Too many pro-Us peons in those countries... I dont know the answer, but that aint it in my opinion. Tactical govt toppling maybe...

[Aquinasfan]

Cut the red wire!

[RightWhale]

Nice touch leaving the ignition cap wires hanging in loose loops. Must be the industry trade show version.

[killjoy]

And I have an enchanted jockstrap.

So you are the #&$*@!& who outbid me on ebay....

[rellimpank]

--good joke--reminds me of an employee of mine twenty some years ago that was caught stealing inch and a half by twelve inch bolts by concealing them in the front of his pants, held up by his belt---had a lunchpail full of them too--never did find out what he wanted them for.

[Andy from Beaverton]

Hard to use them when your dead!!!

[oldleft]

I'm sure the Soviets made "suitcase" bombs, but they're probably large and very, very heavy (about 200-300#) The US did make "backpack" bombs in the '60s and '70s for tactical use in Europe in the event of a Soviet invasion.

To put some minds at ease, it would be next to impossible to get a nuke near a population center in the US. Of note, a man in New York City who was picked up multiple times by the subway cops. He was 50-something, white and had no links to terrorists. He was, however, undergoing radiation therapy. That's how sensitive our stuff is. And I'm sure some old Soviet POS leaks like a sieve.

That really leaves the only way to get a nuke to the US by ship, which is relatively unchecked. For some reason the administration keeps telling us this, but they don't increase funding for the Coast Guard to do something about it. It would be a shame if downtown Long Beach or Savannah got vaporized because we didn't give those guys enough money.

[RightWhale]

you can expect every nation in the world that is currently harboring terrorist to be nuked the same day

No. But you could expect a worldwide house to house search, including your house or apartment.

[openotherend]

"Hello? Hello? Is this Dominoes? I need to order a piiiizzaaaaaa! Hellooho! Somebody pick up please!"

[VOA]

bump

[AmericaUnited]

"Dr Ayman al-Zawahri laughed and he said `Mr. Mir, if you have $30 million, go to the black market in central Asia, contact any disgruntled Soviet scientist, and a lot of ... smart briefcase bombs are available,'" Mir said in the interview.

Looks like Dr Dufus is regurgitating what he read on the INTERNET.

[VOA]

Well, they may have them now but they didn't on September 11, 2001 or they would have used them.

IIRC, in the news-tsunami following 9-11, some bit of news reported that some
Al-Quida rep said that some sort of nuclear angle had been considered for
the 9-11 attack, but was tossed aside because "things might have gotten out of hand".

Of course, who knows about now...as to whether they really have nukes or not.
I pray we never find out (by seeing a mushroom cloud someday).

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

...the "suitcase" weapons don't "keep", but require maintenance largely beyond what the casual possessor can give.

My thought exactly. If they have them and they know this little fact about them...they'll be looking to use them soon.

[traumer]

There was a movie (forgot the name) where a Serbian(?) nationalist brings a nuke in a backpack !!
I believe Nicole Kidman neutralized it.

Holywood is a real ThinkTank - and gives ideas to EVERYONE..

[blackdog]

In order to attain a nuclear chain reaction, the explosives timing needs to be precisely controlled so that all 360 degrees of the core is compressed by the explosion uniformly to within thousands of microseconds. That kind of accuracy requires maintenance or replacement of resistor networks, capacitors, software, firmware, clock oscillators, and the conventional explosives that compress the fissile material.

This is precisely why nuclear testing bans were so scary. A country could have plenty of bombs, but it's uncertain if they still work without testing and the deterioration tables that can be extrapalated from such testing. The replacement components are easy to track too. Resistors and capacitors manufactured to within plus or minus .0002% are not exactly easy to come by. Commercial stuff is plus or minus 5%, and military spec stuff is plus or minus 2%. They perform differently based on outside air temperature, barometric pressure, and age.

Ever try to use a 900MHZ cordless phone or monitor in a below zero environment? If it's commercial, it's worthless in two minutes.

[blackdog]

Thousands should be thousandths......Sorry.

[Twinkie]

Terror reaches the point with a lot of people of
producing a sort of "tired emotion", in other
words people get sick and tired of it and get
just plain mad. One cowboy said, "We haven't played
cowboys and Muslims yet". He has bypassed terror
and gone straight to just plain mad.

[blackdog]

The smallest nuclear bomb available if unmaintained(deliberately by it's seller by the way) would most likely end up exploding with very little force and leave a dirty mess for a few blocks in every direction based on the wind.

You'd be lucky to break the glass in a storefront where it was placed.

Now if it's yield and power was maintained for the life of it's manufacture date, that's a different scenario.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

And I have an enchanted jockstrap.

Does it put a little extra 'spring' in your step?

Or is there something more to it?