- U.S. intelligence agencies have uncovered information
that Russian criminal groups have been supplying Osama bin Laden and his
al-Qaeda terrorist group with components for chemical, biological and even
nuclear weapons, The Washington Times reported. The Foreign Ministry called
the report an attempt to undermine relations between the United States
and Russia at a time of increased cooperation.
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- The Washington Times, citing U.S. officials speaking
on condition of anonymity, reported last Wednesday that bin Laden is believed
by U.S. intelligence to have a secret nuclear-weapons laboratory inside
Afghanistan. This is believed to be one of the sites sought for U.S. military
strikes, the newspaper said.
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- There is no hard evidence that bin Laden or his followers
have actually produced chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. But bin
Laden has worked with Russian mafia groups in obtaining components for
weapons of mass destruction, according to officials familiar with the intelligence
reports.
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- The U.S. State Department's latest report on international
terrorism says that al-Qaeda continued to seek chemical, biological, radiological
and nuclear capabilities, the newspaper said.
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- Intelligence officials say al-Qaeda is probably trying
to produce the nerve agent Sarin or biological weapons made up of anthrax
spores.
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- A former State Department counter terrorism official,
Larry Johnson, said the contacts between the Russian mafia and bin Laden
could be related to drug trafficking and that such cooperation would not
be surprising, the newspaper said.
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- The Foreign Ministry said the new report raises a question:
``Why should such information be splashed out on newspaper pages instead
of discussing it through the channels existing between our countries, including
confidential ones?''
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- ''One may get the impression that some in the United
States oppose the positive tendency in Russian-American relations that
has made itself felt recently,'' the ministry said in a statement carried
by Interfax.
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