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IP: Bin Laden aide 'tried to buy atomic arms'
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Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 11:34:26 -0500
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Subject: IP: Bin Laden aide 'tried to buy atomic arms'
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Source: London Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=000150689433551&rtmo=f3rowsfs&atmo=99999
999&P4_FOLLOW_ON=/98/9/28/wbin28.html&pg=/et/98/9/28/wbin28.html
Bin Laden aide 'tried to buy atomic arms'
By Hugh Davies in Washington
OSAMA bin Laden, the wealthy Saudi exile sought by the FBI for allegedly
masterminding the bombing of two United States embassies in Africa, has
used one of his top aides to try to procure nuclear weapons, according to
American officials.
Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, 40, was arrested in Munich last week at the
behest of the FBI and CIA. German officials are eager to extradite him to
New York. In a criminal complaint against him, federal authorities accuse him
of plotting with bin Laden since 1992 to murder Americans and use weapons
of mass destruction.
Salim is described as having helped to found bin Laden's terrorist network,
Al-Qaida. He was "particularly influential" with the leader, working as his
senior deputy. He allegedly sat on the group's majlis al shura, a body that
planned all terrorist operations and fatwas, death sentences against anyone
found to have offended Islam.
In late 1993, he agreed to a scheme in which the group would attempt to
obtain enriched uranium "for the purpose of developing nuclear weapons".
The US said that a document in federal hands related to a proposed
purchase. It was sent to Salim for review. After reading the details, he
indicated that the purchases should go ahead. Federal officials did not
elaborate on whether the move was successful.
The Americans claim that Salim was a key advocate within Al-Qaida for
getting Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims to set aside age-old rivalries to join bin
Laden in operations against America and Israel. He was also a main figure in
negotiating an alliance with Iran, meeting Iranian religious officials in
Khartoum
and travelling to Teheran to arrange training for his operatives in bombing
techniques at camps in Lebanon run by Hezbollah.
The link with Iran comes at a sensitive time for bin Laden. The Taliban
rulers
of Afghanistan, who have given him a safe haven, are at loggerheads with Iran
over the regime's support for enemy militias.
Intriguingly, the complaint discloses that the FBI had an informer in bin
Laden's group as early as 1996. He was described as a member for "a
number of years" and "personally familiar" with both the leader and Salim.
This raises questions about how much Washington knew about bin Laden's
activities before the bombings in Africa.
� Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 1998. Terms & Conditions of reading.
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-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: [email protected]>
Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'