“This
accusation is definitely linked to the U.S. blackmail campaign against
Egypt as an additional warning to Egypt to tone down its criticism of
the U.S. plan to strike Iraq, its policies in the occupied Palestinian
territories and in Sudan,” said Dr. Hamed Abdul-Majed, political
science professor in London.
In
the months since September 11, U.S. officials have repeatedly said
publicly that Al-Qaeda was seeking weapons of mass destruction,
including chemical weapons. But, so far, no evidence on tape has shown
that Al-Qaeda has succeeded in obtaining or developing such weapons,
CNN said.
“These
tapes can serve as both the evidence the Americans needs to justify
their foreign policy in the region and as the main tool in their
psychological war against whoever is against their military
campaigns,” Dr. Abdul-Majed said.
In
Texas, and following the releasing of the tapes, the White House said
Monday that newly broadcast Al-Qaeda training videotapes confirm the
"evil intentions" of Bin Laden's terrorist network and
bolster the case for the "war on terrorism."
"This
is consistent with everything we've learned about Al-Qaeda, its
methods, its aspirations," said White House national security
spokesman Mike Anton.
"These
are evil people with evil intentions, and this is further proof of the
urgency of rooting out global terror," Anton told AFP by
telephone, as U.S. President George W. Bush vacationed on his ranch
near this flyspeck town.
Coalition
intelligence sources, who have examined the tape obtained by CNN of
the dying dogs, said this appears to be an Al-Qaeda lethal weapons
experiment at the remote Darunta camp in Afghanistan. The sources said
dead dogs have been seen in past satellite images of the Darunta camp.
However,
when the CNN correspondent in Afghanistan went to this area in which
they believe the experiments took place, he found all the buildings
there destroyed after the U.S.-led coalition forces bombed the area,
leaving no evidence that these tapes were shot in that place.
Experts
consulted by the network said the cache of videotapes demonstrates
that the terror network blamed for the September 11 attacks may be
even more sophisticated than previously thought, adept at handling
chemical agents and possibly making chemical weapons.
"I
think what we have here is a very crude binary weapon," said
Jonathan Tucker, a weapons expert consulted by the network in Monday's
broadcast.
CNN
correspondent Nic Robertson said an Afghan source passed him the tapes
after he spent 17 hours in a car, traveling from the Afghan capital
Kabul to a remote part of the war-torn country.
Rohan
Gunaratna, an Al-Qaeda expert who has addressed the U.S. Congress, the
United Nations and the Australian parliament on the terror group, said
he believed the tapes were intended only for Al-Qaeda eyes.
"The
collection has Al-Qaeda videos taken by Al-Qaeda of events,"
Gunaratna told CNN.
 |
|
These 64 tapes are the only proof Al-Qaeda has chemical
weapons
|
"Whenever
Osama bin Laden met with foreign journalists, he always had his own
cameraman. And it is those tapes that are there, because that itself
shows that this is the Al-Qaeda library.
"This
is not the library of someone else ... This is their history, the
record room of Osama bin Laden."
According
to the source, the tapes had been found in an Afghan house where bin
Laden had stayed.
Some
of the tapes are video training manuals with one showing how to make
purified TNT from easy-to-get materials, AFP said.
Experts
interviewed by CNN say no terrorist organization is ever known to have
put this much knowledge on videotape before. And although it is not
known with certainty that all of the material contained in the tapes
came from Bin Laden's personal library, it includes revealing looks at
the Al-Qaeda leader and his personal security arrangements.
One
scene shows Bin Laden with his security detail firing shots into the
air as they get set to announce their new jihad against Americans in
1998, CNN said.
Experts
quoted by CNN were unsure what kind of chemicals were being tested.
Some suggested cyanide while others suspected some form of nerve
agent, but they said they were alarmed by the tests.
"The
fact that they were able to repeat tests or demonstrations on this
tape indicates that they clearly have a way to produce a predictably
lethal chemical," John Gilbert, a chemical weapons specialist and
arms control expert who advises the U.S. government, told CNN.
A
senior Bush administration official who is intimately involved in
weapons issues said he was "very troubled" by the issues the
video raises, particularly about chemical weapons, CNN said.
The
official said the video of the chemical tests on the dogs suggests a
very strong desire to acquire the capability to use such weapons
against humans. Until now, he said, he had seen nothing that indicated
Bin Laden or Al-Qaeda had the capability.
