- ISRAEL - Israeli security
last month arrested a man linked to suspected terrorist coordinator, Osama
bin Laden, armed with a radiological backpack bomb.
-
- The man was arrested in the last week of September as
he attempted to enter Israel from the Palestinian Territories at a border
crossing point at Ramallah, according to U.S. government officials.
-
- "There was only one individual involved. He was
from Pakistan," a government official said.
-
- An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
declined
to give the exact date of arrest. Two other sources interviewed by United
Press International confirmed the incident, but also declined to give
further
details.
-
- "People know how to walk a dog back," one said,
meaning that relating too exact an account could lead to the identification
of the source of the information.
-
- Another source said U.S. officials believed that the
suspect had probably reached the territories by way of Lebanon.
-
- Information on the arrest went immediately to President
Bush and a close circle of advisers, another U.S. official said. He
described
the appearance and character of the top-secret report circulated among
the Cabinet members and signed by each official present.
-
- Former Pentagon terrorism expert Peter Probst described
a radiological bomb as a device with a small explosive core that is encased
in radioactive material. "It would not kill a great many people, but
it would contaminate a considerable area with radiation," he
said.
-
- A U.S. government expert said that the weapon captured
by Israel was a backpack device that CIA officials learned about through
Russian intelligence agents in place in 1995. He emphasized it was not
a so-called nuclear suitcase bomb.
-
- Backpack bombs were designed for Russian Spetznaz special
forces and have such an intricate and complex system of activation that
the ability of a terrorist to detonate one would be incredibly limited,
according to one U.S. government official.
-
- "There is such a complicated sequence you have to
perform that some terrorist isn't going to be able to get it to work. You
have to be very highly trained," an intelligence official agreed,
describing the chances that the device could have been activated as
"practically
miniscule."
-
- Probst is nevertheless convinced that radiological bombs
are still a danger for New York City. "Bin Laden is fascinated by
Wall Street. My fear is that he will attempt to smuggle in some
"dirty"
bomb that wouldn't kill many people but would dangerously contaminate the
area," he said.
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