(AP/MSNBC) Osama bin Laden approached a leading Pakistani nuclear scientist before the Sept. 11 attacks for help in making nuclear weapons. The scientist, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, is under a gag order from Pakistani intelligence officials, but his conversations with bin Laden in meetings in 2000 and as late as July 2001 were reconstructed by his son. Azim Mahmood said, "Al Qaeda wanted a person who could train their people, and who could get them enriched material for their weapons." Computers found at a variety of facilities in Afghanistan indicated al Qaeda had sought to obtain and develop nuclear and other potent weapons. An AP reporter saw anthrax and other chemical concoctions at an al Qaeda laboratory outside Kabul.
2003-01-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive