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Analysis points to a nuclear dupingCompiled from Times wires© St. Petersburg Times published February 26, 2002 WASHINGTON -- An analysis of suspected radioactive substances seized in Afghanistan has found nothing to prove that Osama bin Laden reached his decadelong goal of acquiring nuclear materials for a bomb, administration officials say. The analysis of suspicious canisters, computer discs and documents conducted by the government suggests, in fact, that bin Laden and al-Qaida may have been duped by black-market weapons swindlers selling crude containers hand-painted with skulls and crossbones and dipped, perhaps, in medical waste to fool a Geiger counter, the New York Times reports. More than 110 government buildings, military compounds, terrorist camps, safe houses and caves in Afghanistan have been searched for clues about al-Qaida's plans and its development of advanced terror weapons. American intelligence officers and Special Forces found three containers with contents worrisome enough to be shipped back for detailed analysis by nuclear scientists. Inquiry under RomeROME -- A hole discovered in a tunnel adjacent to the U.S. Embassy in Rome was large enough to crawl through, and embassy officials said Monday that water pipes leading to the building were circled on a map that was seized along with a cyanide compound in a raid that led to nine arrests. However, the suspects, all Moroccans, have not been cooperating with Italian authorities who lack hard evidence that an attack was being planned on the embassy, the officials said. Security experts from the State Department today will inspect the tunnel that was marked on the suspects' map of Rome's underground utility lines. The tunnel runs under Via Boncompagni, a street flanking one side of the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy complex on the fashionable Via Veneto. More news ...A BULLY-HORN PULPIT: President Bush was presented Monday with the bullhorn he used during his visit to the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 attacks. Bush said the bullhorn will go on display in a father-and-son exhibit at his father's presidential library at Texas A&M University. KARZAI THANKS IRAN: Ignoring U.S. claims that Iran seeks to destabilize his country, interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai on Monday thanked Tehran for helping Afghanistan fight terrorism and throw off the yoke of Soviet occupation more than a decade ago. Speaking to the Iranian Majis, or parliament, in Persian -- the language of Iran and western and central Afghanistan -- Karzai assured Iranians the Afghan people would not forget. WE'RE THE IRS, HERE TO HELP YOU: About 1,000 Internal Revenue Service computers would be shipped to Afghanistan to help that nation's government rebuild its finance ministry under a proposal by the Bush administration. The 2-year-old desktop and laptop computers, which are being taken out of service at the IRS, would enable the Kabul government to better keep track of its finances, including billions of dollars in foreign aid, and monitor the banking system for evidence of money laundering and other terrorist activity. BELGIUM ISSUES WARRANT: Belgian authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Victor Bout, a Russian arms trafficker suspected of helping al-Qaida terrorists and supplying weapons to violent uprisings across Africa. DETAINEE STATUS CHALLENGED: Three human rights organizations Monday challenged the detention of al-Qaida and Taliban suspects without charges or "prisoner of war" protections. The Center for Constitutional Rights, the Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School and the Center for Justice and International Law called the detentions illegal in a petition filed with the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
