The Anthrax Planning Documents Found On Zawahiri's Computer

Ross Getman

The Sunday Times (January 2, 2005) has a story "Al Qaeda seeks toxins for biowarfare attack." The story reports that "recent intelligence" indicates that the group is turning to chemical and biological weaons. There actually is nothing at all new about Ayman Zawahiri's focus on biological weapons, notably anthrax. Nor is there is anything new about the evidence revealing his intention to use it against US targets.

In a remarkable feat of journalism, Alan Cullison of the Wall Street Journalism obtained the computer used by Zawahiri and other Al Qaeda officials. It was looted after a US bombing raid and Cullison bought it from a dealer. The documents evidence Zawahiri's thinking on the subject of anthrax.

On February 1, 1999, Ayman wrote this email:

To: Yemen Cell Members

From: Ayman al-Zawahiri Folder: Outgoing Mail—To Yemen

Date: February 1, 1999 *** I would like to clarify the following with relation to the birthday [probably an unspecified attack]:

a) Don't think of showering as it may harm your health.

b) We can't make a hotel reservation for you, but they usually don't mind making reservations for guests. Those who wish to make a reservation should go to Quwedar [a famous pastry shop in Cairo].

c) I suggest that each of you takes a recipient to Quwedar to buy sweets, then make the hotel reservation. It is easy. After you check in, walk to Nur. After you attend the birthday go from Quwedar to Bushra St., where you should buy movie tickets to the Za'bolla movie theater.

d) The birthday will be in the third month. How do you want to celebrate it in the seventh? Do you want us to change the boy's birth date? There are guests awaiting the real date to get back to their work.

e) I don't have any gravel.

This email was the month before the dramatic admissions in the Cairo court by al-Najjar about Ayman's plan to use weaponized anthrax against US targets.

Later in February 1999, a vitriolic message, signed by "Army of Suicidals Group 66, Bin Laden Militant Wing," threatened anthrax attacks against Westerners if they stayed in Yemen beyond a 11-day ultimatum ending February 27, 1999. (Al-Najjar had once served Ayman in Yemen before betraying him.) Egyptians, Algerians and Tunisians, all veterans of the Afghan war, were part of a group calling itself the Islamic Army of Aden and Abyan. Investigators considered a possible connection to the attempted extradition to Yemen of the London-based Egyptian islamic preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri. (Abu Hamzi al-Masri would later be arrested in May 2004.)

The anthrax threat was a bluff. Ayman was still researching the subject. The local boys didn't have the talent.

In an April 1999 memorandum, Zawahiri writes that "the destructive power of these weapons is no less than that of nuclear weapons. *** [D]espite their extreme danger, we only became aware of them when the enemy drew our attention to them by repeatedly expressing concern that they can be produced simply." The memorandum read:

"To: Muhammad Atef

From: Ayman al-Zawahiri

Folder: Outgoing Mail— To Muhammad Atef

Date: April 15, 1999

I have read the majority of the book [an unnamed volume, probably on biological and chemical weapons] [It] is undoubtedly useful. It emphasizes a number of important facts, such as:

a) The enemy started thinking about these weapons before WWI. Despite their extreme danger, we only became aware of them when the enemy drew our attention to them by repeatedly expressing concerns that they can be produced simply with easily available materials.

b) The destructive power of these weapons is no less than that of nuclear weapons.

c) A germ attack is often detected days after it occurs, which raises the number of victims.

d) Defense against such weapons is very difficult, particularly if large quantities are used."

"I would like to emphasize what we previously discussed—that looking for a specialist is the fastest, safest, and cheapest way [to embark on a biological- and chemical-weapons program]. Simultaneously, we should conduct a search on our own. *** Along these lines, the book guided me to a number of references that I am attaching. Perhaps you can find someone to obtain them."

The memorandum goes on to cite mid-twentieth-century articles from, among other sources, Science, The Journal of Immunology, and The New England Journal of Medicine, and lists the names of such books as Tomorrow's Weapons (1964), Peace or Pestilence (1949), and Chemical Warfare (1921).

The April 1999 email to Atef that indicated Ayman had read one USAMRIID's author description of the secret history of anthrax reported by USAMRIID -- the book was called Peace or Pestilence. That was 2 1/2 years before the Fall 2001 anthrax mailings.

Post-9/11, we have had the same history avidly reported to us by critics of the biodefense industry. Ayman, well-aware of USAMRIID"s history with anthrax, may have had US-based operative to obtain the US Army strain that would point the public and authorities to this history -- confounding true crime analysis at the same time providing moral justification for the use anthrax under the laws of jihad. His interpretation -- alluded to in the repeated citation to a particular koranic verse -- is that jihadists should use the weapons used by their enemies.      

According to a May 7, 1999 file, $2,000 to $4,000 had been marked for "startup" costs of the program. A letter dated May 23, 1999 written by one of Zawahiri's aliases mentions some "very useful ideas" that had been discussed during a visit to Abu Khabab. "It just needs some experiments to develop its practical use." Especially promising was a home-brew nerve gas made from insecticides and a chemical additive that would help speed up penetration into the skin.

In May 1999, about the same time, a coded email to Ayman brought bad news about the fate of brothers in Yemen:

"To: Ayman al-Zawahiri
From: Unknown Folder: Incoming Mail—From Yemen Date: May 13, 1999

Dear brother Salah al-Din: ***Forty of the contractor's [bin Laden's] friends here were taken by surprise by malaria [arrested] a few days ago, following the telegram they sent, which was similar to Salah al-Din's telegrams [that is, it used the same code]. The majority of them are from here [Yemen], and two are from the contractor's country [Saudi Arabia]. We heard that al-Asmar had a sudden illness and went to the hospital [prison]. He will have a session with the doctors [lawyers] early next month to see if he can be treated there, or if he should be sent for treatment in his country [probably Egypt, where jihadis were routinely tortured and hanged] *** Osman called some days ago. He is fine but in intensive care [being monitored by the police]. When his situation improves he will call. He is considering looking for work with Salah al-Din [in Afghanistan], as opportunities are scarce where he is, but his health condition is the obstacle."

While Ayman liked Abu Khabab's idea to make a home-brew nerve gas from insecticides and a chemical additive that would help speed penetration into the skin, in a June 1999 memo, he talks about building labs (with one being closed every three months so it can be moved and replaced by another), that are covered with oil paint so they might be cleaned with insecticides. Question: why would you use an insecticide to clean an insecticide? Paraformaldehyde, on the other hand, is commonly used to clean the biological agent anthrax.

Mr. Cullison explains in an Wall Street Journal article:

"Particularly encouraging, the letter in the computer files said, was a home-brew nerve gas made from insecticides and a chemical additive that would help speed up penetration into the skin. The writer said Khabab had supplied a computer disk that gave details of 'his product' in a WinZip file, and 'my neighbor opened it by God's will.'

U.S. officials, citing satellite photos and intelligence gathered from local residents, say Abu Khabab experimented with nerve gas on dogs and rabbits at a camp near the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. The camp, one of several in the area hit by U.S. bombs after Sept. 11, was known as Abu Khabab in honor of the scientist.

In a letter dated May 26 and stored in the computer under the same alias as earlier correspondence, the author says he was 'very enthusiastic' about the Zabadi [yogurt] project and was especially pleased with Abu Khabab's 'significant progress.'

It isn't clear how far al-Qaida got in making nerve gas. A June 1999 memo found on the hard drive and addressed to 'Abu Hafs' Atef's alias gave instructions for building a laboratory, ordering that walls be covered with oil paint and floors with tiles or cement 'to facilitate cleaning with insecticides.' But, noted the memo, 'construction should not start until electricity is installed.'  It also called for evasive action to avoid detection: 'Periodically (for example about every three months) one of the locations is to be canceled and replaced by another.'

A progress report complained that the use of nonspecialists had 'resulted in a waste of effort and money,' urging the recruitment of experts as the 'fastest, safest and cheapest' route. A June 1999 memo said the program should seek cover and talent in educational institutions, which it said were 'more beneficial to us and allow easy access to specialists, which will greatly benefit us in the first stage, God willing.'"

It would appear then that the documentary evidence indicates that beginning in 1999, Al Qaeda sought expertise among the "cover and talent of educational institutions." This possibility was suggested in today's Sunday Times article.

Doing something about this anthrax threat is best left to the CIA and FBI. We should support their efforts.

But what's our excuse, again, for not doing anything about soda in our local schools?

Why spend $5 billion a year in protecting against an uncertain bioterror threat when it would not take any money at all to profit from the sale of healthful beverages instead of caffeinated sugar water?

There is an epidemic of obesity among our schoolchildren that will lead to a deepening (and expensive) health crisis over the years.

We are our own worst enemy.

www.anthraxandalqaeda.com

www.schoolpouringrights.com