HUNT FOR THE DIRTY BOMBER

[BEER980]

The word I am hearing is they are searching in the SW area of the US. After reading about alleged SF teams destroying a chem/bio camp in Northern Mexico recently, this may have something to it

HUNT FOR THE DIRTY BOMBER
Al-Qaeda activist may be making a device in the US

By Jamie Livingstone


A MANHUNT for a top al-Qaeda bombmaker is underway after fears of a deadly ''dirty'' bomb attack.

US intelligence agencies are searching for Midhat Mursi, an Egyptian-born chemicals expert who may be carrying nuclear material.

Experts fear he is building a dirty bomb which uses normal explosives to disperse deadly radioactive material in America.

Counter-terrorism agents have already linked Mursi to a security alert on New Year's Eve.

The Bush administration was so worried it secretly ordered radiological detection teams to New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Dozens of scientists used detection equipment hidden inside briefcases and golf bags to check for nuclear material.

President George W Bush also raised the nationwide security alert to Code Orange the second highest level.

The security scare came after an al-Qaeda informant revealed Mursi, who uses the name Abu Khabab, was active again.

Increased intelligence ''chatter'' picked up by the US Department of Homeland Security also pointed to a possible attack.

Officials in the US and Britain believe al-Qaeda has been working towards a radioactive attack for some time.

Unlike a nuclear device, the purpose of a dirty bomb is to contaminate rather than destroy. The contamination can linger for years.

Security agencies fear therelative ease of making a dirty bomb makes it an attractive option for al-Qaeda.

As the head of al-Qaeda's so-called weapons of mass destruction committee, Mursi reports directly to al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Mursi is believed to have directed operations at al Qaeda's Darunta camp, near Jalalabad in Afghanistan. Satellite images revealed the labs were being used to carry out shocking chemical and biological experiments.

In 2002, Mursi's voice featured on video footage of the camp, which was broadcast on CNN.

The tapes showed three dogs going into convulsions after being exposed to a chemical substance.

The cache of tapes also showed terrorists training in both bombmaking and hijacking. Some of the devices are thought to have included bombs which could be carried on board aeroplanes without detection.

Mursi has also been linked to the team who helped design the shoe bomb carried by British-born Richard Reid in 2001.

In the last week, British Airways flight 223 to Washington DC was cancelled for two days running amid security fears.

A ''specific threat'' against the flight was blamed for the disruption.


Source
Another source

[Lindaloo]

Could all the recent airliner hijacking attempts been a diversion? I still believe the WTC was a diversion so they could fly one into the White House. But their plan failed so they hit the Pentagon.

[GalvestonDuck]

Is that an old article, Beer, or have they continued to cancel British Airways Flight 223 several times?

To heck with 'em! I just wanna have at it with them in HTH! They need to quit being such cowards. Fight like real warriors...if they think they're such tough spit!

[BEER980]

I think it is about 10 days old and was burried. I would think it should have been picked up in more mainstream media. I sure hope they are just chasing a dirty bomb and not a real nuke. A small backpack size 10Kt nuke in NYC would kill 100,000.