U.S. and British officials are expressing concern over the threat of biological weapons from al-Qaida terrorists in Afghanistan. 

In early excerpts of an interview that will air Sunday on the U.S. television show Meet the Press, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan is quoted as saying Osama bin Laden was apparently trying to get his hands on anthrax and other biological weapons, before the U.S.-led attacks against his terrorist bases. 

U.S. forces recently discovered a site near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar that appeared to be an al-Qaida biological weapons laboratory. However, U.S. General Tommy Franks says there is no evidence the terrorist group was able to create a deadly biological agent. 

British officials were recently quoted as saying such concerns prompted their government to rush hundreds more elite troops to Afghanistan to help in the hunt for al-Qaida holdouts. 

Meanwhile, The New York Times reported Saturday one of the alleged September 11th hijackers was treated for a dark lesion in June on his leg by a Florida doctor who says it was consistent with cutaneous anthrax. 

U.S. investigators have repeatedly said they believe domestic terrorists were behind deadly anthrax-tainted letters that killed five people in the United States in October and November. 

Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.

Email this article to a friend.
Printer Friendly Version