We purchased suitcase bombs" 22/03/2004 Speculation grows that al Qaeda bought nuclear weapons on the black market in central Asia.
The biographer of Osama bin Laden's second in command quoted Ayman al- Zawahri during an interview for the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir said Mr al-Zawahri - "the real brain behind Osama bin Laden" - claimed "smart briefcase bombs" were readily available on the black market.
Mr Mir pressed the interviewee over the truth of his claims, to wit Mr al-Zawahri replied: "if you have $30 million, go to the black market in central Asia, contact any disgruntled Soviet scientist, and a lot of smart briefcase bombs are available."
Mr Mir quoted al-Zawahri as saying: "They have contacted us, we sent our people to Moscow, to Tashkent, to other central Asian states and they negotiated, and we purchased some suitcase bombs."
The Egyptian surgeon was dubbed the "real strategist" of al Qaeda by Mr Mir. Osama bin Laden was only the "front man."
Mr Mir said he believed Mr al-Zawahri was more dangerous than bin Laden.
Mr al-Zawahri is believed to be hiding in a remote mountainous region near the Pakistan-Afghan border where a joint US-Pakistani military operation is being conducted against Taliban and al-Qaeda forces
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