References Supporting Shaykh Kabbani's Speech

[March 29, 1999]

Re: Extremeists speak on behalf of Muslims

CAIR and the other organization say in their press release:

[Shaykh Kabbani] claimed that "there are many, many Muslim organizations, that they speak on behalf of the Muslim community, but in reality they are not moderate, but they are extremist....These people are very well supported, very well affiliated with outside regimes, that they have been sponsored by billions of dollars to be active within the United States.…"

FACTS: These are actually parts of two different paragraphs joined together only in this letter. They are actually paragraphs apart. Here is more context:

SHAYKH KABBANI: "...there are many Muslim organizations that claim to speak on behalf of the Muslim community but that in reality are not moderate, but extremist. They hijacked the mike, or they were elected because they are good speakers, but they give a wrong idea about Islam."

The most recent example of this extremism came in Madison Square Garden in a conference organized by Imam Siraj Wahhaj. Speaking by telephone from England, Mr. Bilal Philips, a speaker promoted by several of the groups that issued the condemnation, defamed a scholar of traditional Islam, Nuh Ha Mim Keller, for his work on The Reliance of the Traveller. Philips accused Shaykh Keller of kufr and shirk [disbelief and idolatry --corporal crimes under Islamic law] stating that in his book was, "the greatest evil." Scholars of Ahl al-Sunna stood up and debated Phillips to defend Keller and his work from this slanderous and dangerous attack of haram, shirk, kufr, bida. (forbidden, idolatry, disbelief and innovation). [See a partial transcript of Bilal Philip's talk.]

 

Re: Militant extremists are working on US soil

FACTS: The US government is well-aware of the militant extremist movements working under the name of Islam on US soil.

• FBI has held extensive investigations into the threat posed by Islamic extremists.
• Increased Counter-Terrorism Efforts by the United States government.
• The mainstream, national media has reported many cases revealing investigations into U.S. Islamic groups on the federal level.
• Both President Clinton and Members of Senate have voiced their concern for American security in the face of Islamic extermists.

 

Re: Bin Laden Poses a Nuclear Threat

CAIR and the other signed organizations say in their Action alert

Mr. Kabbani raised the bizarre specter that the Bin Laden organization was "able to buy more than 20 atomic weapons, atomic nuclear heads, from some Mafias in the ex-Soviet Union... and now they are hiring thousands of scientists from the ex-Soviet in order to make these atomic warheads into smaller partitions, smaller particles, in order to be, like small chips to be put in any suit case, even in a handbag, and be shipped anyplace, anywhere in the world...

FACTS: Many articles, magazines, commentators, National News stations have commented on the scenario that Bin Laden obtaining nuclear war heads and about the suitcase bombs. Latest release from a leading Arabic Newspaper was from Al-Ahram Newspaper (from Egypt) dated March 2, 99 issue# 40993.

Other references

1. RUSSIAN ROULETTE - PBS' FRONTLINE PROGRAM, MARCH 29, 1997
   
   This examination of Russia's nuclear arsenal includes the story of missing Russian nuclear suitcases, the dangers of Russia's eroded nuclear command and control systems, and warnings about Russia's disintegrating nuclear early-warning systems. It also reports on security failures at Russia's nuclear facilities, and attempted theft and smuggling of Russian nuclear weapons and material.
   
   A Nuclear Smuggling Scenario: "Then came the bombshell. If that missile deal went through, asked the Lithuanians, was there interest in small nuclear devices? The undercover cops said they would be very interested. They nicknamed this new deal 'Project 2'."
   
   Do "backpack" nuclear weapons exist?
   
   Dr. Alexei Yablokov: "Yes, small atomic charges exist. They are very small. Several dozen kilos, thirty kilos, forty kilos. I spoke with people that made them, I saw them. The American specimens can be seen on the Internet, they can be seen on photographs, they can even be seen in the movies....Their power is about one kiloton, possibly less, but it's significant power. One kiloton is a powerful charge. You cannot destroy Moscow or London, but the Kremlin, you can destroy ... Capitol Hill can be wiped out by such a bomb."  

   Matthew Bunn, former science advisor at the National Security Council: "... But I think if you ask the question: 'What is the probability that one nuclear bomb might go off somewhere in America--maybe a crude bomb from a terrorist or a rogue state--is that probability higher today?' I think the answer is definitely yes."
   
   Admiral Stansfield Turner: "The second is the 'loose nukes' problem, and that materials or weapons are taken out of Russia, and they end up in a Iraq, Iran, a North Korea. And we have it then where an irresponsible Saddam Hussein has these weapons, and the likelihood of their being used goes up."
   
   Ashton J. Carter & William Perry: "The widening availability of destructive technology ...suggest that terrorism might make a quantum leap in the decades ahead, ... to attack with nuclear, chemical, biological, and cyber weapons of enormous destructiveness. Terrorism with such weapons could cross borders as easily as people, goods, and capital do, bringing the threat directly to the U.S. homeland for the first time."
   

   Russian Roulette

   Frontline PBS Newsprogram, 03/29/99

2. LOOSE NUKES - PBS' FRONTLINE PROGRAM, NOVEMBER 19, 1997
   
   Yuri Smirnov is the first known thief of bomb grade nuclear materials in Russia. He worked as an engineer at the Luch plant near Moscow in a laboratory handling highly enriched uranium. From May to September 1992, while his co-workers were taking smoking breaks, Smirnov skimmed off roughly 1.5 kilograms of highly-enriched uranium.
   
   Q: How did it feel at the moment that you were arrested for handing over a sample of this highly enriched uranium to Mr. Boden?
   
   Gustav Illich: You know what? It ran through my mind like a bad movie, a bad dream. At that second, the entire episode rushed through my mind. I was saying to myself: Oh boy! I couldn't believe it.
   
   Vaclav Havlik became involved in international trade shortly after the Berlin Wall fell, ...he realized that demand for Western goods and money was so strong, that people were willing to offer virtually anything in exchange, including nuclear materials. Havlik was arrested near Landshut, Germany for smuggling uranium and sentenced to 13 months in jail. He served his time, and now runs a bar in Prague. This interview was conducted in 1996.
   
   Q: How much material was there, what kind?

   Gennady Pshakin: Well, in terms of nuclear material there is plutonium, which is a very, very high grade material, and also highly enriched uranium, in a form which is really very sensitive. The United States classification system calls it special nuclear material. And we have the same. ...Did you see those disks? Quite easy to carry, quite easy to hide if you have no special technical means of detection available. And before, the system for access control was quite weak.

   Loose Nukes

   Frontline PBS Newsprogram, 11/19/97

3. "the United States considers as its greatest threat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to what she termed rogue states or to terrorist organizations."

   U.S. underestimated scale of Russian diversion of nuclear materials

   World Tribune, 4/30/99

4. "With the growing numbers of extremist terror groups …the threat of a nuclear attack in the US or the UK by means of a small 'suitcase bomb' has significantly grown in the past 18 months."

   Evening Herald (Plymouth) pg 3. 12/19/98

5. "Now Bin Laden is suspected of paying two million pounds to an intermediary in the former Soviet republic of Kazakstan as part of a two-year quest for his own tactical nuclear weapon…sources said Bin Laden was looking for a tactical nuclear weapon, or "suitcase bombs," the weapon every intelligence agency dreads falling into the hands of a terrorist."

   Times Newspapers Limited 8/16/98

6. "…With regard to where these nuclear suitcases were and are now, and how many there are, Professor Yablokov does not know. He quotes General Lebed who investigated this when he was secretary of the Russian Security Council. And in May, an American delegation gave the exact figure. There are altogether 132 nuclear suitcases in Russia, 84 OF WHICH HAVE DISAPPEARED -- where Lebed did not have time to find out.

   Scientist Confirms Missing Nuclear Suitcase Bombs Exist.

   Moscow NTV 1800 GMT 9/22/97

7. "The danger of terrorists getting their hands on a suitcase bomb is real, but lower. Arming the mini-nukes takes 30 minutes, the colonel revealed, and can only be done by trained specialists. The weapons are designed to self-destruct if improperly opened. Unless, of course, terrorists or the Russian mafia manage to buy a nuclear specialist, or open the weapon's locks."

   Missing Nukes Pose Dilemma; Suitcase Bombs Could Fall into Hands of Terrorists

   Eric Margolis, Calgary Sun, 11/1/98.

8. "Lunev said there is no way to determine if those devices have been placed in the US for future use, but about 84 remain unaccounted for in Moscow."

   Former Russian spy details threat of nuclear 'suitcase bombs.'

   Aerospace Daily. Vol. 187, No. 26; pg 208 8/6/98.

9. "But the worst case scenario is the [nuclear] suitcase bomb in New York City or elsewhere for blackmail or other purposes."

   Nuclear threat growing, not fading- experts.

   Reuters World Service. 8/4/95

10. "At least 3,000 unpaid and disillusioned Russian scientists with expertise in weapons of mass destruction have left the country in the last seven years, according to U.S. intelligence estimates."

    Nuclear proliferation a desperate situation, authorities warnThe Toronto Star, 1/23/99

     

11. "The Mafia boasted of possessing a long list of nuclear materials, including eight missiles from the former Soviet Union. ...What they uncovered stunned them: An organized-crime syndicate not only had managed to obtain a cache of nuclear material but also was boldly trying to sell it to anyone willing to pay $170 million."

    The Mafia joins the nuclear club

    The Toronto Star, 1/24/99

     

12. "An alleged top aide to the man suspected of masterminding U.S. embassy bombings in Africa was held without bail Monday after appearing in a U.S. courtroom. ...U.S. officials claim Salim served as the finance chief for Osama bin Laden... The complaint... also alleges that Salim attempted to obtain conventional weapons and components of nuclear weapons."

    Terror suspect with bin Laden ties held without bail

    CNN, 12/22/98

13. "Q: If the stuff's getting out, where is it going?"

    "A: The most important potential buyers are Iraq and Iran. North Korea was in the market for a while. Nigeria was mentioned as a potential buyer in one of the deals. Or it could be nongovernment terrorist groups. The usual suspects, like Hizballah and Islamic Jihad,.."

    Andrew Cockburn interviewed by Paul Klebnikov

    Forbes, 12/01/97
    

    Loose Nukes - more references

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    Re: Muslim extremists run prostitution ring

    CAIR and the other signed organizations allege in their Action alert:

    Adding insult to injury, Mr. Kabbani even promoted and generalized an allegation that Muslim women in Europe "who are during the day, covered from top to bottom and, during the night, have dates. They are dating high officials in many countries around the world to take the information from them and to give it to the extremists."

    FACTS: The article on "a network of women" was featured on the cover of Al-Watan Al Arabi Magazine issue 1127 - Oct. 9, 98 Main offices in Paris, France and Saudi Arabia.

    Other references related but not specific to this story, are published by MSANEWS March 2, 99

    Cover	T.O.C	Page 1	Page 2

    Al-Mujahidaat Brigade - English translation

Loose Nukes - more references
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