Abdul Quddoos Khan

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For Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani scientist and metallurgical engineer involved in nuclear weapons technology proliferation, see Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Abdul Quddoos Khan (Urdu: عبدالقدوس خان) is a Pakistani microbiologist.[1][2] Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, widely considered one of the masterminds of the September 11, 2001 al Qaeda attacks in the United States, was captured in Khan's home on March 1, 2003.[3][4][5]

According to an article published in the Washington Post on March 23, 2003 unnamed officials believe "handwritten documents and computer hard drives" found in Khan's home suggest that al Qaeda had a program to develop biological weapons.[1][4] The Washington Post reported that Khan had "disappeared".[1]

According to Terrorism Today, published in 2007, when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was captured in Khan's home, Khan's notes and files showed advanced work on Salmonella and Botulin bacteria, and that he was trying to acquire anthrax bacteria.[3]

A monograph published by the Strategic Studies Institute, by Milton Lietenberg, questioned the threat US intelligence officials attributed to Khan.[6] Lietenberg wrote that Pakistani press reports indicated that Khan was a Pakistani microbiologist captured in October 2001. Lietenberg wrote that Khan had been "incapacitated".

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Barton Gellman (March 23, 2003). "Al Qaeda Near Biological, Chemical Arms Production". Washington Post: pp. Page A1. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20121103200405/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/09/AR2006060900918.html. Retrieved 2011-08-19. 
  2. David Rennie (2003-03-24). "Al-Qa'eda close to making anthrax, says US". The Telegraph (Washington DC). https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1425477/Al-Qaeda-close-to-making-anthrax-says-US.html. Retrieved 2020-03-20. "Now digital copies of the incriminating papers have been unearthed on the hard drive of one of the al-Qa'eda leader's computers. The documents include detailed production schedules and inventories of the equipment needed to produce bio-chemical weapons. The papers also include orders to obtain bacillus anthracis, the bacterium that causes anthrax." 
  3. 3.0 3.1 Michael D. Feldman (2007). "Terrorism Today". Routledge. p. 116. ISBN 9781135979188. https://books.google.ca/books?id=zV2SAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA116&dq=%22Abdul+Quddoos+Khan%22+-wikipedia&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwisg4ax6KnoAhXQVN8KHWuwCfEQ6AEIMDAB#v=onepage&q=%22Abdul%20Quddoos%20Khan%22%20-wikipedia&f=false. Retrieved 2020-03-20. "However, this changed when further al Qaeda documents on bio-war were captured along with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Pakistan in March 2003. His whereabouts alone was frightening: the home of a bacteriologist, Abdul Quddoos Khan. Notes, plans and computer files show advanced work on making salmonella and botulin and a plan to purchase bacillus anthracis. Al Qaeda's former chief of operations, Mr. Mohammed, is now in U.S. custody, but his bacteriologist host has disappeared." 
  4. 4.0 4.1 R Pita; R Gunaratna (2009). "Revisiting al-Qaidas anthrax program". Counter-Terrorism Center Sentinel 2 (5). https://ctc.usma.edu/app/uploads/2010/06/Vol2Iss5-Art4.pdf. Retrieved 2020-03-20. "KSM declared before a military court at Guantanamo Bay on March 10, 2007 that he was involved in al-Qa'ida's BW program after Muhammad 'Atif's death. KSM was arrested on March 1, 2003 in Rawalpindi at the house of Pakistani microbiologist Abdul Quddoos Khan, and in subsequent interrogation sessions explained that there was a B. anthracis program for which Yazid Sufaat, a member of JI and of Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM), was responsible.". 
  5. "Jane's Terrorism & Security Monitor". Jane's Information Group: p. 64. 2003. https://books.google.ca/books?id=xvzcAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Abdul+Quddoos+Khan%22+-wikipedia+biological+OR+bio-war+OR+bacteriologist&dq=%22Abdul+Quddoos+Khan%22+-wikipedia+biological+OR+bio-war+OR+bacteriologist&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjJtJic96noAhVic98KHTsUDzYQ6AEIOTAC. Retrieved 2020-03-20. 
  6. Milton Lietenberg (2005). Assessing the Biological Weapons and Bioterrorism Threat. Strategic Studies Institute. p. 32, 33, 38. ISBN 9781428916265. https://books.google.ca/books?id=pDserh5GkOsC&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32&dq=%22al+qaeda%22+OR+%22al+Qaida%22+bacteriologist+khan&source=bl&ots=AwTrTTR0z2&sig=ACfU3U0TMvUObo-TWDqe02uF1F12oy4Z1g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi6qun4gqroAhWCZs0KHVyIC2YQ6AEwBnoECGIQAQ#v=onepage&q=khan&f=false. Retrieved 2020-03-20. "Pakistani press reports indicate that the Pakistani microbiologist who had assisted al-Qaida in information gathering, as well as an alleged "Yemeni...studying microbiology at the University of Karachi" were arrested in October 2001. If this is te case, with the facility overrun by U.S. forces in December 2001, Sufaat also arrested in December 2001, and the two above individuals arrested in October 2001, even before US/UK forces had found the documentation in Kandahar, it would appear that the al-Qaida BW program may have been dismantled at the end of 2001. The location of Dr. Khan, in whose home K.S. Mohammed was captured, is known to the Pakistani government. He is incapacitated and is therefore reportedly not a factor of concern."