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In Morocco's "Chemist," a Glimpse of Al-Qaeda

[Washington Post] Craig Whitlock - On March 6, Moroccan police arrested a fugitive in a cybercafe in Casablanca who many people assumed had fled the country or was dead. Saad al-Houssaini, known as "the Chemist" because of his scientific training and bombmaking skills, had vanished four years earlier after he was accused of helping to organize the deadliest terrorist attack in Moroccan history. It turned out that Houssaini had remained underground in Casablanca as he rebuilt a terrorist operative network and recruited fighters to go to Iraq. He also spent time designing explosives belts that investigators believe were used in a string of suicide attacks this spring. "The Chemist" provides a vivid example of how veteran members of al-Qaeda's central command have continued to plot major terrorist attacks around the world despite the capture or deaths of many of the network's top operatives since Sept. 11, 2001.
2007-07-09 01:00:00
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