Al-Qaeda 'does not have nukes'

2005-04-13 17:34

Berlin - The head Germany's BND intelligence agency, August Hanning, on Wednesday presented a likelihood ranking for weapons of mass destruction which could be in the hands of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Hanning, speaking at a security conference in the German capital, said he did not believe bin Laden had managed to obtain nuclear weapons.

"We don't think al-Qaeda has made any progress here," said Hanning.

But Hanning expressed more concern over radiological weapons which he listed as a "probably" on his WMD listing.

Turning to biological weapons, Hanning said al-Qaeda certainly had access to basic poisons.

Anthrax and plague were ranked as a "maybe" while Ebola and Smallpox were deemed "unlikely".

Regarding chemical weapons, Hanning said basic poison gas was available to al-Qaeda, but he termed deadly Sarin a "maybe."

9/11

Separately, Hanning sought to dampen critical comments he made in a newspaper interview earlier this week aimed at the United States regarding the hunt for bin Laden who masterminded the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

In the Handelsblatt interview, Hanning said the US made a major error in late 2001 by trying to capture bin Laden in the mountainous Tora Bora region of Afghanistan using local militias rather than American troops.

According to Hanning, bin Laden could have secured his freedom by paying off the militiamen.

"I believe it was a mistake that bin Laden escaped," said Hanning at the conference, adding that some media had tried to interpret his earlier remarks as a criticism of the US.

"What the Americans did in Afghanistan was necessary, right and important," stressed Hanning, adding that if the US had not intervened there probably would have been more attacks just as bad as September 11.

But Hanning concluded his remarks with a warning.

"The war against terror has not been won and this encourages terrorism," he said. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA