UNITED NATIONS, 17 November 2003 — The Al-Qaeda network would like to use chemical and biological weapons but does not yet have the technological expertise to do so, a new UN report obtained by Reuters concludes.
The confidential report, drawn up by an independent panel and distributed to Security Council members on Friday, says the arms embargo against Al-Qaeda is ineffective and global efforts to cut off funds for terrorists are faltering.
The report describes the Middle East as awash with illegal weapons, with many nations unable to control trafficking across their borders. In particular, it says arms smugglers are using Somalia and Yemen as “turntable countries” for business in the area and recommends a regional, rather than only an international approach to curb the weapons.
The five-member panel, without providing concrete evidence, said Al-Qaeda “undoubtedly” was still considering the use of chemical and biological weapons and had “already taken the decision” to do so in their forthcoming attacks. “The only restraint they are facing is the technical complexity to operate them properly,” the panel said.
The lack of know-how in the use of unconventional weapons was the main reason Al-Qaeda was still trying to develop explosive devices such as bombs designed to avoid scanning machines, the report added.
The panel is working under a resolution approved by the UN Security Council within weeks of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and another measure last January. They require 191 UN members to freeze assets, bar travel and arms to individuals or groups on a UN list for suspected ties to Al-Qaeda or Afghanistan’s former Taleban rulers.
The report also traced to Europe the movements of two men, Youssef Nada, an Egyptian, and Ahmed Idris Nasreddin, a construction magnate of Ethiopian descent, whom the US Treasury in 2001 designated as “terrorist financiers.”
Both were directors of the Bank Al-Taqwa and Akida, shell institutions registered in the Bahamas and allegedly established in 1998 with backing from the Muslim Brotherhood. Both were accused by US investigators of ties to Islamic charities and business linked to Al-Qaeda financing.
The report says the two continue to maintain commercial interests and property in Italy and Switzerland, despite the fact that their names are on UN and other global lists. In January, the panel said Nada went from Campione d’Italia to Liechtenstein, where some of his offshore companies are registered. There he tried to change the names of two of his companies but Liechtenstein stopped the liquidation after UN sanctions probers notified them. The two men have in the past said they did nothing wrong, denied links to Al-Qaeda and noted that thousands of businesses use offshore tax havens.
Chilean Ambassador Heraldo Mu?oz, who chairs the council’s committee monitoring the sanctions, told reporters last week that there was a lack of political will to enforce and too many loopholes in the embargoes, which he said needed tightening.
