WASHINGTON, 4 June 2003 — The Al-Qaeda terror network is poised to unleash chemical, biological and even nuclear attacks, the US Central Intelligence Agency said.
“Al-Qaeda and associated extremist groups have a wide variety of potential agents and delivery means to choose from for chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attacks,” the CIA said in a report obtained by AFP yesterday.
The report — entitled “Terrorist CBRN: Materials and Effects,” referring to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons — noted that several groups associated with Al-Qaeda have tried to carry out attacks in Europe “with easily produced chemicals and toxins best suited to assassination and small-scale scenarios.”
The unclassified report also pointed to training videos uncovered in Afghanistan, which show Al-Qaeda’s tests of cyanide-based chemical agents. It said that radiological dispersal devices, or so-called “dirty bombs,” are also within reach of Al-Qaeda because the components are fairly easy to acquire within industry and the medical community.
And it added that a review of an Al-Qaeda document found in Afghanistan last summer “indicates the group has crude procedures for making mustard agent, sarin and VX.”
