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U.S. Says No Evidence bin Laden Has Nuclear Weapons

Aired November 11, 2001 - 17:09   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: The United States repeated today that there is no evidence Osama bin Laden has nuclear weapons. This, after a Pakistani reporter, claimed bin Laden told him that he has nuclear arms. Well, there have been doubts about the interview and the weapons. And our Nic Robertson tracks the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The voice of Osama bin Laden, according to Hamid Mir, recorded he says during his recent interview with the reclusive al Qaeda leader. And in an effort to provide more proof of his claim to be the first journalist to interview bin Laden since the September 11 attacks, he shows photographs and their negatives of him and bin Laden taken, he says, during the interview. To add further credence to his accounts, he shows visa stamps in his passport verifying, he said, he was inside Afghanistan and able to talk directly to bin Laden.

HAMID MIR, JOURNALIST: I put this question that according to some reports in different Western newspapers, you are trying to acquire some nuclear and chemical weapons. He was very brief. He said that if the United States of America is going to use chemical or nuclear weapons against us, then we reserve the right to respond back. And he said that we will not use these kind of weapons first. So this is -- these weapons are just for defense.

While Mir questions bin Laden's nuclear capabilities, he also says bin Laden and his top lieutenant stress that such weapons were only a deterrent. Terrorism experts doubt bin Laden's claim but not his interest.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM EXPERT: His group had tried to acquire bomb grade uranium in the Sudan in the early to mid '90s. So certainly, bin Laden's own statements and the actions of his group indicate that they've had the motivation and actually made attempts to acquire nuclear materials. Whether -- now in terms of getting a nuclear weapon, that's a whole different order of magnitude. And it's not clear to me that they do have that capability.

ROBERTSON: For Mir, however, the key insight was what he calls a reversal of bin Laden's previous statements targeting American civilians.

MIR: He took a U-turn on issue of the killing of Americans. Previously, he was saying or he was quoted in different interviews that he said, "I'm against all the Americans." But this time he said, "I'm not against all the American people. I am only against the American policies."

ROBERTSON: Mir even claims bin Laden says there are good Americans, an apparent reversal that raises as many doubts for analysts as it does answer questions. Until now, bin Laden has only ratcheted up his rhetoric against the United States and American citizens. Mir's own Urdu-language paper "Ausaf," published the full interview Sunday, including bin Laden's denial of involvement in the September 11 attacks.

Interview details are providing experts with fresh insights into how bin Laden is coping with the air campaign, while at the same time executing his own propaganda war.

BERGEN: It seems bin Laden is very much aware of news developments in the story, which is kind of puzzling given the fact he's obviously on the run in Afghanistan. He references statements made by President Bush recently. He seems aware of demonstrations around the world that are in some way supporting him. So obviously, he's got access in some way to news.

ROBERTSON: Access to the news and more importantly, the news media is critical in this war. Mir says bin Laden plans to get his message across to more journalists in the near future. It is a tactic likely to be matched by the Pentagon and British Ministry of Defense in the coming days, when they launch what is expected to be a counteroffensive, debunking bin Laden's new self-professed softer image.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Islamabad, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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