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| Terror Networks |
| Interpol sez al-Qaeda preparing for biological attacks |
| 2006-03-28 |
| Interpol said the Al Qaeda terrorist group is preparing to engage in biological warfare in urging countries to enact legislation allowing police to investigate scientific activity that can result in the manufacture of a bio-terrorist weapon. Ronald Noble, secretary-general of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), told a conference in Singapore that captured terrorist suspects have admitted that their groups are plotting potential biological attacks. There is enough evidence to show that Al Qaeda is preparing to engage in biological warfare, Noble said. “It can’t be that we as a world community have to wait for a September 11 type of attack in bio-terrorism before we prepare,” Noble told government officials, police and health experts attending the Asian Terrorism Workshop. “Institutions that are engaged in any bioscience need to make sure that the controls they have in place are sure that only legitimate scientific investigative activity is going on,” he said. Police forces worldwide need to be trained, Noble said. They need to know how to investigate bio-terrorism-related cases and how to handle such an attack. Representatives from 26 Asian countries are attending the three- day conference. The law enforcement officers were encouraged to coordinate moves aimed at warding off bio-terrorist attacks or days may past prior to the realization that such a calamity has already occurred. “Unlike other forms of terrorist acts where the impact can be felt almost instantaneously in the aftermath, we may not realize that a biological attack has occurred until perhaps days or even weeks later,” said Ho Peng Kee, Singapore’s senior minister of state for law and home affairs. “By that time, the terrorist may already have fled the country or succumbed to the biological agent, and all the valuable investigative leads may have disappeared,” Ho noted in a keynote address. The after-effects of a bio-terrorist attack may be far more widespread “in this age of easy air travel,” he warned, transcending borders and impacting different continents. Ho called on countries to reach out to one another and increase their level of cooperation and exchange of information. “Time is of the essence,” he said. Networks must be established and strengthened in times of normalcy so that we are resilient enough to confront and overcome crises. The Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a terrorist group blamed for a spate of attacks and plots throughout Southeast Asia, has relied on bombings, including suicide bombers. A manual discovered in the Philippines in 2003 however indicated interest in acquiring chemical and biological agents. Singapore passed a law in 2005 carrying a life-imprisonment term for anyone using biological agents for non-peaceful purposes. As a close ally of the United States, the city-state regards itself as a prime target of terrorists and has uncovered JI plans to attack its infrastructure, transport facilities, the US and Israeli embassies. The US has been urging Asian countries to enact tougher laws against bio-terrorism. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 The Colorado serial bomber used everyday items combined with sophisticated detonators that allowed an aerosol can to spray particles in a large area. This could be devastating with biological or chemical agents in a NCAA arena or any place large groups of people are. |
| Posted by: Danielle 2006-03-28 12:32 |
| #1 All for the false prophet and the religion of satan. |
| Posted by: newc 2006-03-28 06:12 |