--- begin forwarded text Delivered-To: ignition-point@majordomo.pobox.com X-Sender: believer@telepath.com Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 11:34:26 -0500 To: believer@telepath.com From: believer@telepath.com Subject: IP: Bin Laden aide 'tried to buy atomic arms' Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: owner-ignition-point@majordomo.pobox.com Precedence: list Reply-To: believer@telepath.com 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. ----------------------- 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 ----------------------- ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer ********************************************** --- end forwarded text ----------------- 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'