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CNN Live Today

"Terror on Tape": Chemical Tests

Aired August 19, 2002 - 10:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And as we told you at the top of the hour, CNN has obtained a large archive of al Qaeda terror training and behind-the-scenes videos. Now there's some 64 tapes in all and they were buried in the desert for almost a year before we obtained them. And they offer a revealing look inside al Qaeda's terror training techniques, spanning more than a decade.
Now among the tapes is a how-to guide on making purified TNT from easy-to-obtain materials. Also, ambush training and the testing of deadly chemicals on dogs.

Now it's not exactly clear just where these tapes were shot, but at least some are believed to have been recorded at the al Qaeda remote training camp at Darunta.

CNN's Matthew Chance traveled there and got a closer look and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, a grueling drive to the foothills of Darunta, this now notorious al Qaeda complex of camps and training grounds.

For years, Taliban forces protected this remote site, controlling access and keeping their al Qaeda allies from prying eyes. Guided by satellite images and local militia, we pinpointed the now bombed and abandoned facilities through which hundreds of al Qaeda fighters would have passed.

On this rocky ground, say intelligence sources, weapons were tested and ideology taught to terrorist recruits. Local officials say Kashmiri separatists had a base here alongside al Qaeda members from around the world. But it's these buildings, once occupied by an Egyptian al Qaeda scientist, Abu Khabab, that locals say research using animals was conducted.

(on camera): Well the site in this sweltering landscape is little more than a pile of rubble now, destroyed by coalition bombers. But in its time, little more than a year ago, this was the center of al Qaeda activity in this part of Afghanistan, the scene of some of its most deadly training and perhaps also its most frightening chemical experimentation as well.

(voice-over): And local villagers, former al Qaeda neighbors, showed us chemical and explosives dumps where they say material gathered by U.S. troops in protective clothing was destroyed, including bottles of chemicals. The Arabs had many bottles full of liquid that looked like alcohol, he says. It might have been medicine, or it could have been used to make bombs.

After the intensive Allied bombing, there is nothing here that matches anything on the al Qaeda tapes showing chemical testing on dogs. But this still heavily guarded site, or evidence already collected from it, may yield important answers yet.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Darunta, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Now this is only the tip of the iceberg, folks. Coming up next hour, Nic Robertson is going to join us right here to talk about his perilous journey to retrieve those tapes. And as we say, today is just the first installment of Nic Robertson's exclusive report "Terror on Tape." And each day this week, he'll unveil a new al Qaeda videotape for you. Now experts say that they not only reveal just how much Osama bin Laden's terror network now is capable of but also a glimpse of the future threat that al Qaeda might -- may pose.

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