U.S. Frustrated in Al-Qaeda Anthrax Case

The United States has been forced to suspend the investigation of a Pakistani man believed to have sought to produce weaponized anthrax for the terrorist group al-Qaeda, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, May 23, 2005).

Microbiologist Abdur Rauf apparently remains free in Pakistan, where authorities say they have no basis on which to arrest him.  The FBI has designated its investigation as inactive.

“We will never close the door, but the chances of getting him into the United States are slim to none,” a U.S. intelligence official said.

Coalition soldiers in Afghanistan in December 2001 discovered documents that describe al-Qaeda’s efforts with anthrax.  They documented Rauf’s movement through Europe in search of anthrax spores and technology that would turn the spores into weapons.  His stops appear to have included a 1999 conference at the British Porton Down biodefense research center and a high-containment laboratory that housed anthrax and other pathogens, the Post reported.

In one 1999 note, Rauf told al-Qaeda deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahiri that he “successfully achieved the targets.”  He also noted setbacks in his search, including finding an available supply of anthrax bacteria, only to have it turn out to be harmless.

The extent of his success remains unknown.  The U.S. Robb-Silberman commission on intelligence failures reported last year that al-Qaeda operated an “extensive” and “well-organized” biological operation.

“Al-Qaeda had acquired several biological agents possibly as early as 1999, and the necessary equipment to enable limited, basic production of Agent X,” the report states.  Terrorism experts believe that Agent X is anthrax.

Rauf’s experience as a microbiologist could have opened the door for successful weaponization of anthrax, the Post reported.

“He was someone who at least understood the professional procedures and methods,” said Milton Leitenberg, a biological weapons expert at the University of Maryland Center for International and Security Studies.  “In theory, if he went in the laboratory and tried and tried, maybe he could have gotten it right.”

Rauf’s expertise, though, was in food production.  He was forced to educate himself about bioterror agents such as anthrax, the Post reported.

“He could potentially do a great deal of harm because of his knowledge and skills,” said a U.S. intelligence expert involved in the case.  “On the other hand, he lacked the specific knowledge and training al-Qaeda needed most.”

There is no known connection between Rauf’s efforts and the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five people in the United States, the Post reported.  However, al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have not been eliminated as potential suspects.

Rauf’s complaints about lack of money might have led to a souring of relations with Zawahiri, who seemingly looked to other sources for bacteria and technology, said Rohan Gunaratna, an al-Qaeda expert in Singapore.

“Rauf was financially driven, and al-Qaeda didn’t entirely trust him,” Gunaratna said (Joby Warrick, Washington Post, Oct. 31).

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