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Laden's group experimenting with chemical weapons

Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda group operates about a dozen Afghan camps that have trained as many as 5,000 militants who have created cells in 50 countries, the New York Times newspaper reported Monday quoting intelligence sources.

In highly disturbing development, the sources revealed that the militant group was experimenting with chemical weapons in one of its camps and American prosecutors were quoted as saying that Al Qaeda has even more grandiose plans.

They said Mohdiuh Mahmud Salim, an Iraqi member of the organization set up 13 years ago, even tried to buy enriched uranium in Europe.

The group, according to the newspaper, has become a beacon for Muslim Malaysians, Algerians, Filipinos, Palestinians, Egyptians and even Americans who have come to view the United States as their enemy.

In a story which traced the growth of 'jihad' against Soviets in Afghanistan, which was encouraged by the US and other western powers, to include American interests and moderate Islamic governments across the world, the Times said Al Qaeda has now expanded its war to include Israel which, until recently, considered it to be Washington's problem.

American and Middle East officials were quoted as saying that Al Qaeda had financed and trained an anti-Israeli group, Asbat al Ansar, that operates in the Palestinian camps.

The story quoted a French scholar Olivier Roy, who follows Islamic activities, as saying that Al Qaeda's biggest asset is thousands of jihadis around the world who no longer see their struggle in strictly local or even national terms.

The group, investigators say, plans attacks months or even years in advance.

They say the internal crackdown on Muslim militants in different countries fuel the international jihad.

American officials admit that Al Qaeda and Laden have proved resourceful and resilient adversaries. Much of the wealth of Laden, a Saudi dissident millionaire who has taken refuge in Afghanistan, has now been spent, or is in frozen bank accounts.

But he is raising money through network of charities and businesses. His group reconstitutes networks as quickly as they are discovered.

The officials were quoted as saying that Laden's business venture in Sudan raised money and served as cover for travel by his confidants. He had also invested 50 million dollars of his family money in a new Islamic Bank in Khartoum.

Laden, the Times said, has not achieved his more ambitious goals -- He has not brought more Muslims under the rule of Islamic law, topped any of the Arab governments he took aim at, or driven the US out of the Middle East.

But he and his small inner circle have preoccupied American officials, paralysing embassies, thwarting military exercises and making American abroad feel anxious and vulnerable.

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