Claims nuclear blueprints were found in a Kabul safehouse
During a November 15, 2001, press briefing by Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Energy, and Tom Ridge, Director of Homeland Security Ridge confirmed a report published by The Times that the U.S. had captured nuclear blueprints in an al Qaeda guest house in Kabul.[1][2][3]
Ridge stated that the capture of the nuclear blueprints in this al-Qaeda guesthouse was consistent with Osama bin Laden's plans to become a nuclear threat.
David Rohde, writing for The New York Times News Service, reported on November 17, 2001, that in addition to nuclear plans, safe houses contained flight simulator programs, documents about the handling of biological and chemical weapons, and information about flight training schools in Florida.[3]
CNN claimed to have found and gone through the Kabul safe house used by Abu Khabbab, who they described as "Osama bin Laden's top chemical and biological weapons commander."[4][5]CNN hired the Institute for Science and International Security to examine the documents they found, and its president, David Albright, confirmed the abandoned documents included plans for a nuclear bomb, and extensive training notes on the handling of radiological material.
The Combating Terrorism Center reported that Abu Hafs al Masri (aka Mohammed Atef), al Qaida's military chief, was killed in an air strike on an "al Qa'ida safehouse" in Kabul, in November 2001.[6]
Alleged to have stayed in Kabul safe houses associated with the Taliban or al-Qaeda
American counter-terrorism analysts called many of the houses "safe houses", even when the captives stayed in these houses during the time the Taliban was in power.
Individuals alleged to have stayed in Kabul safe houses associated with the Taliban or al Qaeda include:
Musa Ali Said Al Said Al Umari,[7]Ridouane Khalid
Abd Al Rahman Al Zahri[8]Mamdouh Habib.[9]
Alleged to have stayed in Kabul guest houses that had ties to terrorism
Some Guantanamo captives were alleged to have managed guest houses or safe houses on behalf of the Taliban, al Qaeda, or other organizations American counter-terrorism analysts asserted had ties to terrorism.
On January 19th, 2009, FBI interrogator Robert Fuller testified during a hearing before CanadianOmar Khadr's Guantanamo military commission that Khadr, during interrogations in October 2002, confessed to staying at a Kabulguest house run by "Abu Musab al-Suri".[29] Fuller testified that Khadr said he saw fellow Canadian Maher Arar at this guest house. This report stirred controversy in Canada, because an official inquiry had cleared Arar of all the US justification for his extraordinary rendition to Syria, where he was tortured. In particular, his assertion that he had never been to Afghanistan.
One of the allegation on the Summary of Evidence memo prepared for Maasoum Abdah Mouhammad's (aka Kari Bilal) Combatant Status Review Tribunal was:[30]
The detainee operated a safe house where 5-20 personnel armed with AK-47 rifles could be found at any given time.
"A Federal Bureau of Investigation source stated he met the detainee in July–August 2001 at the al Qaida guest house in Kabul, Afghanistan. The same source also stated the detainee managed the guest house, and the guest house also served as the Kabul communications hub for Al-Qaida."
The detainee worked as a guard at the Kandahar airport from 12 September 2001 until sometime in November 2001. The detainee identified a man who was a group leader of about 10 people at the airport area in Kandahaar.
The airport group leader is an al Qaeda leader, a veteran Afghan fighter and head of the Kabul, Afghanistan guesthouse named Khan Ghulam Bashah.
Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi was a veteran Afghan fighter who was the head of the Kabul, Afghanistan guesthouse named Khan Ghulam Bashah and who later took charge of the Northern front in Kabul in 2000.
During his 2006 annual review Mohammad Ahmed Abdullah Saleh Al Hanashi faced the allegations that:[35]
Upon the detainee's arrival in Kabul, the detainee stayed in another Taliban house called Darol Alaman House, where he became aware that he would be fighting against the Northern Alliance.
While fighting for the Taliban, the detainee was under the leadership of Abdul Salam and saw Abdul Hadi Al Araqi whom the detainee describes as the General of the non Afghan Taliban troops positioned on the front line.
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Alison Mitchell (2002-11-16). "Ridge Agrees Taliban Losses May Lead to New Terrorism". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-26. Mr. Ridge confirmed reports that designs for missiles, bombs and nuclear weapons were found in a Qaeda safe house in Kabul, but played down their significance. He said he was told that much of the information was widely available. Mr. Ridge said a report in The Times of London that the information was found half-burned in Kabul was certainly consistent with other signs that Mr. bin Laden wanted to obtain nuclear weapons.
^"Abu Hafs Al Masri"(PDF). Combating Terrorism Center. Archived(PDF) from the original on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-29. Fortunately, Abu Hafs was killed in an al-Qa'ida safehouse in Kabul, Afghanistan, in November of 2001, when it was bombed by coalition aircraft. This was a significant blow to al-Qa'ida, as they lost one of their most stalwart and capable members. Moreover, it was a huge loss to bin Laden who lost not only his senior military commander, but also a close companion who had been with him since the very beginning of the al-Qa'ida organization.
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Omar el Akkad, Colin Freeze (2009-01-19). "Khadr said Arar was at Afghan camp, court told". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 20 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-20. Robert Fuller, who interrogated Mr. Khadr in October of 2002, while the then-15-year-old was detained at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, testified that Mr. Khadr said he saw Mr. Arar in a Kabul guesthouse run by a suspected al-Qaeda operative known as Abu Musab al-Suri.
