FBI Warns That Terrorists Could Make Simple, Deadly Chemical Weapon

AP -TampaBayOnline ^ | March26, 2003 | Curt Anderson

[FairOpinion]

WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI is warning police that terrorists could construct a simple but deadly chemical weapon out of materials readily available. "Little or no training is required to assemble and deploy such a device due to its simplicity," the FBI said Wednesday in its weekly intelligence bulletin to about 18,000 law enforcement agencies.

The bulletin provides no details of a specific threat or possible location of an attack. It does say that terrorists could take advantage of building ventilation systems, air intakes or enclosed areas to disperse toxic chemical gas.

Law enforcement officials previously have warned that al-Qaida or other terrorist groups might target subways and targets such as hotels and office buildings rather than heavily guarded government installations.

In addition, material collected in Pakistan after the March 1 capture in that country of senior al-Qaida planner Khalid Shaikh Mohammed provided further proof that operatives experimented with various forms of chemical, radiological and biological weapons, law enforcement officials say.

The FBI bulletin says hydrogen cyanide or chorine gas could be produced by combining liquid and solid materials, possibly using a canister such as a paint can with holes pierced into it. The materials could be combined using either a blasting cap or some kind of delayed switch.

"When combined, this creates the toxic gas that would emerge through the holes," the bulletin says.

Such a device would be most effective in an enclosed space, the bulletin adds, because it would be dispersed too quickly in larger areas or out in the open to kill or injure many people. But police, firefighters and medical personnel could be imperiled when responding to an attack because "the device may reactivate when it is disturbed."

In January, the FBI told police to beware of possible attacks using ricin, a toxic substance derived from the castor bean plant. That warning followed the arrests last year in Britain of 11 North African men on terrorism charges stemming from an alleged attempt to develop a ricin weapon.

The bulletin came as the FBI continues to interview Iraqis living in the United States at the rate of about 1,000 a day, with a goal of reaching 11,000 by the end of this week.

The interviews, focused on those who have recently traveled to Iraq or have ties to the Iraqi military, are intended to discover the identities of any terrorists and spies in the United States and also to find any information that might be helpful to U.S. forces in Iraq.

The bulletin also repeated the FBI's search for Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, a 27-year-old Saudi-born man who may be an al-Qaida operative. El Shukrijumah left the Miami area in May 2001 for Morocco, according to his family, but law enforcement officials say they do not know his whereabouts.

El Shukrijumah was identified in part by information collected after Mohammed's capture in Pakistan.

In addition, the bulletin asks police to look for Dr. Mohammed Khan, 33, and his estranged wife, 31-year-old Aafia Siddiqui, both of whom the FBI wants to question about possible terrorist ties.

Siddiqui, who has a doctorate in neurological science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, may be in Pakistan, FBI officials say. She lived in Boston while attending MIT and also recently traveled in Maryland.

The bulletin provided no further information about Khan.

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On the Net:

FBI: http://www.fbi.gov

[FairOpinion]

Note that some of these terrorists are very educated, Siddiquihas a Ph. D.in neurological science from MIT.

[FairOpinion]

"In addition, the bulletin asks police to look for Dr. Mohammed Khan, 33, and his estranged wife, 31-year-old Aafia Siddiqui, both of whom the FBI wants to question about possible terrorist ties. "

More about these two in an article from a Pakistani paper:

Pakistani couple sought in Qaeda hunt
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_27-3-2003_pg7_56

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: The FBI is seeking a Pakistani couple for its links to a Saudi resident of South Florida with suspected Al Qaeda connections.

The Bureau’s Baltimore office said it was looking for Dr Aafia Siddiqui, 31, and her husband Mohammed Khan, 33, about possible terrorist activities.

The couple is suspected of having links with Adnan G El Shukrijumah, 27, who once lived in Miami but has since disappeared. The US agency believes he has links with Al Qaeda.

The FBI is looking for El Shukrijumah after an alias he used turned up in various places, including during the interrogation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Dr Siddiqui, a resident of the Boston area, is said to have visited Gaithersburg, Maryland, in December last year or January, but the FBI would not say what significance that visit had and whom she met. The agency believes she may have valuable information.

Dr Siddiqui has a PhD in neurological science and has studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, Massachusetts, as well as at Houston, Texas. The FBI believes Dr Siddiqui is now in Pakistan. While at MIT, she wrote a paper on the mechanics of setting up a Muslim student organisation. Both she and her husband were office-bearers of the Institute of Islamic Research and Teaching Inc.

In another development, the authorities announced this week that they would be interrogating 11,000 Iraqis living in the US, most of them American citizens. The move was immediately denounced as ‘racial profiling’.

[FairOpinion]

"The Bureau’s Baltimore office said it was looking for Dr Aafia Siddiqui, 31, and her husband Mohammed Khan, 33, about possible terrorist activities. " Dr. Mohammed Khan Aafia Siddiqui

[FairOpinion]

Adnan G. El Shukrijumah

[Highest Authority]

I'll never forget .. (way back in the early 60s) when most of America hadn't even heard of LSD, Life magazine did a huge pictured piece showing in detail how to make it. That article helped set off about ten years of insanity in this country.

[eno_]

That article helped set off about ten years of insanity in this country.

Do you really believe that?

You can google up 1000 insane things to make. Is the next decade going to be 1000 times as insane? Maybe Tom Ridge should decide what we all should know and not know.

[firewalk]

.

[nina0113]

Did you keep a copy? ;-)

[LadyDoc]

The FBI bulletin says hydrogen cyanide or chorine gas could be produced by combining liquid and solid materials,

Mix chlorox and draino to clean your sink and you release chlorine gas. We see it in the emergency rooms once in awhile.

[sam_paine]

It's important to include step by step details for WMD construction. Also it should be multi-lingual, and handicap accessible. The Fedgov must subsidize the materials if terrorists cannot afford them. How dare we spend money on a war abroad when we must meet these domestic funding needs at home. Raise taxes.

[The Great Satan]

Such a device would be most effective in an enclosed space, the bulletin adds, because it would be dispersed too quickly in larger areas or out in the open to kill or injure many people. But police, firefighters and medical personnel could be imperiled when responding to an attack because "the device may reactivate when it is disturbed."

More goofiness.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

According to the report, simple household chlorine, when added to a crusty black pantsuit, would give off toxic fumes capable of producing severe nausea and vomiting in anyone within a 2-square mile area.

[MizSterious]

FYI

[thinden]

I'll never forget .. (way back in the early 60s) when most of America hadn't even heard of LSD, Life magazine did a huge pictured piece showing in detail how to make it. That article helped set off about ten years of insanity in this country.

far out

[archy]

The FBI bulletin says hydrogen cyanide or chorine gas could be produced by combining liquid and solid materials, possibly using a canister such as a paint can with holes pierced into it. The materials could be combined using either a blasting cap or some kind of delayed switch.

Or a plastic bag with one end frozen in an ice cube. Just like the way the military taught us in our improvised weapons classes.

-archy-/-

[Eva]

I was researching a statement by Jonah Goldberg, that Saddam Hussein had weaponized aflatoxin, whose only purpose would be to cause painful liver cancer in children, and I came across this website. It seems to discuss all types of bio-weapons on a page that uses gas masks for wall paper and has a missile at the bottom. The page seems to be hidden in a veternary website. Anyway it's mostly in Arabic, so take a look. CLICK HERE

[Eva]

That was supposed to be veterinary.

[Eva]

How 'bout ammonia and chlorox?

Anyway, could you look at my link on post 16?

[Eva]

I investigated the site a little more and it appears to be an Israeli site, dedicated to protecting Israelis from WMD. It really is scarey, though with missiles and gas masks all over the place.

[LadyDoc]

aflatoxin is the yellow rain suspected in cambodia. Didn't know SH was into it, but the Russians were.

It occurs naturally. see

http://www.usda.gov/gipsa/newsroom/backgrounders/b-aflatox.htm

This is one of the fungi that grow in grain and causes liver cancer. Liver cancer is common in many parts of Africa from this and similar molds.

What people don't realize is that, like Anthrax, there are legitamate reasons that SH would be doing such research. (i.e. as a public health prevention program).

He is a dictatorial bastard, but like Hitler and Stalin, he took care of his people in other ways.

But as a war weapon, it would not be very useful. Takes too long to work. Lots of easier stuff to use.