“A Pakistani newspaper editor who met Osama bin Laden for a rare interview said yesterday that America’s most wanted man denied he was behind the anthrax letter attacks which have shaken the US.”
“US investigators have been baffled by the anthrax attacks, which targeted media groups in New York and Florida and forced the closure of several government offices in Washington. Although it was at first suggested that Bin Laden or even Iraq might be responsible for the anthrax-laced letters, attention now appears to be turning to a US source.”
“In his first accounts of the meeting, the Pakistani editor described how Bin Laden had claimed he possessed nuclear and chemical weapons and might use them against the US. “We have the weapons as deterrent,” he quoted Bin Laden as saying.”
“The defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, said he doubted that Bin Laden had the ability to produce nuclear bombs, though he conceded that al-Qaida was probably in possession of nuclear materials.”
“US officials believe Bin Laden may have had more success in developing chemical weapons. One site at Derunta, near the city of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, is thought to have been a chemical weapons research laboratory. Yesterday the New York Times said that al-Qaida may have produced cyanide gas at Derunta in small quantities.”
“Equipment at the [fertilizer plant in Mazar-i-Sharif] could be used to make biological or chemical weapons, the paper said. Another site in Kabul which made anthrax vaccine and was used by the Taliban was also a worry for intelligence analysts because of the equipment it contained. None of the sites has been bombed.”
“Bin Laden was reported yesterday to have made a separate statement in which he gives the first open admission that his network carried out the September 11 attacks. A videotape said to have been circulating for two weeks among al-Qaida supporters shows him giving his account of the attacks in which he refers to the Twin Towers as “legitimate targets” and the suicide hijackers as “blessed by Allah to destroy America’s economic and military landmarks”.”
Editor’s note: It’s not my intention to claim bin Laden was not responsible, but nevertheless in my reading he does NOT admit a connection to the attacks. The video was not made for public release via the al-Jazeera television network used by bin Laden as at other times, but the Telegraph obtained access to it and published some of the transcript. Here is what we can know from it:
“In the video, bin Laden says: “The Twin Towers were legitimate targets, they were supporting US economic power. These events were great by all measurement. What was destroyed were not only the towers, but the towers of morale in that country.””
“The hijackers were “blessed by Allah to destroy America’s economic and military landmarks”. He freely admits to being behind the attacks: “If avenging the killing of our people is terrorism then history should be a witness that we are terrorists. Yes, we kill their innocents and this is legal religiously and logically.””
“In a contradictory section, however, bin Laden justifies killing the occupants of the Twin Towers because they were not civilians – Islam forbids the killing of innocent civilians even in a holy war.”
“He says: “The towers were supposed to be filled with supporters of the economical powers of the United States who are abusing the world. Those who talk about civilians should change their stand and reconsider their position. We are treating them like they treated us.””
“Bin Laden goes on to justify his entire terror campaign. “There are two types of terror, good and bad. What we are practising is good terror. We will not stop killing them and whoever supports them.””
“He directly threatens the lives of President Bush and Mr Blair. “Bush and Blair don’t understand anything but the power of force. Every time they kill us, we kill them, so the balance of terror can be achieved.” He also calls on all Muslims to join him. “It is the duty of every Muslim to fight. Killing Jews is top priority.””
“Bin Laden warns other nations to keep out of the conflict, implying that they could face terror attacks if they do not.”
“In the video, he also claims responsibility for an unspecified terrorist outrage in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which he claims was sparked by secret messages in one of his videos.”
“He admits for the first time using public pronouncements on video to whip up terrorism – a danger about which the British and American governments have warned broadcasters.”
“Bin Laden has publicly issued four previous videos since September 11, always denying carrying out the atrocities.”
Read more: Bin Laden denies anthrax attacks and Bin Laden: Yes, I did it
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