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Anthrax I: United States Finds Al-Qaeda Anthrax Laboratory A top U.S. official yesterday confirmed reports the United States has discovered a laboratory in which al-Qaeda attempted to develop anthrax and other biological weapons (see GSN, March 20). There was no evidence al-Qaeda successfully produced the weapons. At the site near Kandahar, Afghanistan, “there was evidence of the attempt by [Osama] bin Laden to get his hands on weapons of mass destruction, anthrax or a variety of others,” Gen. Tommy Franks, head of the U.S. Central Command, said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “What we found in that site, and in fact, what we have found in several sites is evidence of the attempt,” the general said. “We have not yet found a place where we see weaponized weapons of mass destruction.” “The laboratories, based on what we’re able to take from it, documentation, vials and so forth, was dedicated to that purpose [developing weapons of mass destruction] … In hot pursuit was bin Laden and were agents of al-Qaeda, but we have not seen a successful product of their labors up to this point,” Franks said (Meet the Press, March 24). Other officials also confirmed the reports. “U.S. Special Forces operating in the vicinity of Kandahar found a possible al-Qaeda chemical and biological research facility,” said Central Command spokesman Lt. Commander Matthew Klee. The facility “contained some laboratory equipment and possibly was intended for use in a biological warfare production effort,” Klee said (BBC, March 24). The Laboratory Officials did not find any biological agents in the laboratory, which was under construction when al-Qaeda agents left it. U.S. intelligence officials believe al-Qaeda would have needed foreign assistance to turn their research into an effective WMD program, the New York Times reported Saturday. The equipment and documents at the site, however, indicated that al-Qaeda wanted to produce anthrax, the Times reported. The laboratory contained medical equipment and supplies that scientists could have used for legitimate research but also to produce biological warfare agents, U.S. officials said. U.S. officials refused to say whether they had information from a former al-Qaeda agent or local resident who might have provided information about activities at the laboratory. The discovery of the laboratory provides more evidence to support U.S. officials’ belief that al-Qaeda was working to develop weapons of mass destruction but has so far failed, according to the Times. “It is another example that they had an appetite for developing biological agents,” said a U.S. official. U.S. agents have been searching more than 60 sites in Afghanistan where they suspect al-Qaeda had been operating during the Taliban’s rule. Only a few samples showed any possible biological agents in very small amounts. U.S. officials continue to search the sites and investigate evidence, the Times reported (Michael Gordon, New York Times, March 23).
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