News




Title: Bin-Ladin Men Reportedly Possess Biological Weapons  

Document Number: FBIS-NES-1999-0306
Document Type: Daily Report
Document Title: FBIS Translated Text 
Document Region: Near East/South Asia,  East Europe 
Document Date: 06 Mar 1999
Division: Arab Africa,  East Europe,  Balkan States 
Subdivision: Egypt,  Czech Republic,  Albania 
Sourceline: JN0603113799 London Al-Sharq al-Awsat (Internet Version) in Arabic
6 Mar 99 
AFS Number: JN0603113799 
Citysource: London Al-Sharq al-Awsat (Internet Version) 
Language: Arabic 
N/A
Subslug: Report by Khalid Sharaf-al-Din in Cairo 

[FBIS Translated Text] Confessions by defendants in the "Albanian Arabs" 
case, which is being considered by the Egyptian Supreme Military Court at 
Hykstap Base, northern Cairo, have revealed that elements loyal to 
Bin-Ladin have obtained germ and biological weapons by post in return for 
a small sum. Factories in the former [Soviet bloc] eastern countries are 
supplying to whoever wants them viruses causing deadly diseases, such as 
Ebola and Salmonella, without verifying the identity of the importer. 
Thus, a member of the organization has managed to obtain an offer for the 
supply of samples of anthrax and other poisonsfrom a factory in one of 
the East Asian countries. The germs have been made available at a price 
equivalent to $3,695 plus freight charges. At another point in the 
investigation, the defendants pointed out that a laboratory in the Czech 
Republic agreed to supply samples of the deadly gas, Potolinium 
[transliterated as published], for a sum equivalent to $7,500 per sample. 
The laboratory did not inquire about the purposes for using the deadly 
gas. 
Egyptian security agencies have conducted investigations into the case of the 
"returnees from Albania" over the past four months and compiled a 
20,000-page report, parts of which have been examined by Al-Sharq 
al-Awsat. The defendants made full confessions about the nature of their 
activities against the Egyptian regime, such as acts of violence in Egypt 
and plans to destabilize the state. The confessions of the defendants 
revealed many surprises about the full role being played by the leaders 
of fundamentalist groups abroad. 
The first defendant in the "Albanian Arabs" case, Ahmad Ibrahim 
al-Najjar, revealed in his confession, which covers 143 pages of the 
report on the investigations conducted by the higher state public 
prosecution before referring the whole case to the military justice, that 
Ayman al-Zawahiri was declared leader by members of Jihad group abroad 
several years ago; also, that 'Abbud al-Zummar, former leader of the 
group and founder of the Jihad Organization, who is currently serving a 
life sentence for the assassination of the late Egyptian President Anwar 
al-Sadat, is no longer the actual leader of the organization and does not 
have any organizational authority. 
This information explains the conflicting positions of the imprisoned 
group leaders and the absconding leaders abroad on the initiative to stop 
acts of violence, which was announced by the imprisoned leaders and 
rejected by the absconding ones. Al-Najjar says Jihad's organizational 
structure has become very complex since many leaders now live abroad, and 
those who live in Egypt are careful to not expose themselves to danger.