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Reward Issued for Suspected al-Qaeda Chemist
The United States this year issued a $5 million reward for the capture of an Egyptian chemist believed to have worked for al-Qaeda to develop chemical and biological weapons, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 25). Midhat Mursi, also know as Abu Khabab, might be in Pakistan, according to the U.S. reward poster. However, “we don’t think there’s really a good fix on where he is,” said U.S. counterterrorism analyst Donald Van Duyn. Mursi for years has been suspected as a bomb maker for al-Qaeda, AP reported. He may have provided training for the suicide bombers who killed 17 U.S. sailors in the attack on the USS Cole. Computer files found in Afghanistan after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 indicated that Abu Khabab had by 1999 received up to $4,000 to begin work there on chemical and biological weapons, AP reported. Mursi’s voice was reportedly heard on a videotape found in 2002 by CNN that showed gas being used to kill dogs. The gas is believed to have been hydrogen cyanide, which is not considered a strong candidate for use as a chemical weapon due to its instability and low density, according to NATO chemical weapons expert Rene Pita. The “Abu Khabab laboratory,” in an al-Qaeda complex 70 miles outside of Kabul, was lit by only one light bulb and contained boxes of test tubes, syringes and vials, AP reported. Egypt is holding one or both of Mursi’s sons in hopes of finding their father (Charles Hanley, Associated Press/Contra Costa Times, Dec. 4).
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