From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 11:37:40 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: 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.

(c) Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 1998. Terms & Conditions of reading.
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NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and
educational purposes only. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
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-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@philodox.com>
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'