FACTORY'S TALIBAN BOSS HATED THE WEST
EXCLUSIVE: He disappeared 7 months ago with half his staff
From Gary Jones in Kabul
A deadly Taliban anthrax factory was found in Kabul by The Mirror yesterday.
The two-storey lab was used to create vaccines from highly dangerous wild bacteria. Its discovery fuels fears that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror group is behind the US anthrax alert.
A source who worked at the plant said: "There's no doubt the Taliban were planning chemical or biological warfare against the West. I believe anthrax may have been first on their list."
The factory, which was bombed by US B-52s, was headed by anti-West mullah Qari Abdullah. He and about half of his staff vanished seven months ago. They are now believed to be in the US and Europe.
On a tour of the plant The Mirror saw an incubator to develop the bacteria, hundreds of test tubes ready for samples and the word "anthrax" scribbled on a container.
Yesterday in Washington the FBI were urgently investigating a suspected anthrax letter sent to Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy. Four people have died from the bug.
The factory, discovered by The Mirror yesterday, was officially set up for the production of vaccines for cattle using wild anthrax bacteria. But we learned that the Taliban became extremely proficient in using the bug.
It is now feared that rogue Talibans linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror group could have developed anthrax spores into the form being used to terrify the US where four people have died from the bacteria.
Dr Abdul Quader Raoufi, 58, current vaccines chief at the Afghan factory, told us: "We'd rather have been running the labs on our own.
"But the mullahs were in charge of everything and we couldn't stop them learning about our activities. There was always a danger information could get into the wrong hands."
A source who worked at the factory added: "There's no doubt the Taliban were planning chemical or biological warfare against the West.
"I believe anthrax might have been first on their list."
We were alerted to the factory - the Institute of Veterinary Vaccine Production - by a highly-placed source in the Northern Alliance.
After being directed there by an official of the Ministry of Agriculture we were ushered through locked gates for a guided tour by Dr Raoufi. During US air strikes, 13 B-52 bombs landed all around the premises at Badram Bagh, outside Kabul, although none scored a direct hit.
It is not clear if the fighters deliberately targeted the lab. All the equipment needed to make vaccines was hidden away the day before the bombardment began.
Photographer Andy Stenning and I were shown every room. Glass was scattered throughout the building and doors blown off their hinges.
At the end of one corridor on the second floor we were led into a small office where our eyes were immediately drawn to the word "Anthrax", scribbled on a test-tube.
Hundreds of glass vessels were kept in a large cabinet in readiness for the latest batch of vaccines.
Elsewhere, there was a walk-in incubator to develop bacteria, a cold-room where vaccines were stored, a viral vaccine store and an expensive French-made viral vaccine harvesting machine.
On one door were the words "to be safe than sorry", the word "better" having fallen off.
The lab was first built in Charikar, in the northern province of Parwar, in 1993/4 with equipment from India.
A number of experiments were carried out, including the development of wild bacteria.
Three sheep were infected to study the results. Their carcasses were buried 30ft in desert land on the Shomali Plains away from possible contamination of water supplies.
Our source, who refused to be identified, said: "This was very dangerous work, though we knew what we were doing.
"We developed the technology of how to keep anthrax bacteria and how to develop it for use in vaccines.
"At the time, we created three million doses. It was essential work to keep our country's cattle healthy." The source said the present anthrax alert was "especially worrying", and added: "Someone with the necessary technical expertise is behind this evil."
Taliban political chiefs were quick to realise the potential of the lab after they came to power in 1996.
The following year they moved it from Charikar , where the Alliance had a stronghold, to Kabul.
At the time, the move surprised many as it was thought the Taliban had little interest in developing vaccines for use by the nation's farmers. In fact, Taliban soldiers destroyed huge tracts of fertile land so they could set up military bases without interference from a hostile local population.
Our source said: "The Taliban were very keen to take control of the laboratory.
"They moved the staff and all equipment down to the capital without warning. They wanted the laboratory there very badly."
Ten different kinds of vaccine were made at the unit. They were divided into four sections - pox vaccines, Newcastle, anaerobic and aerobic. Mullah Abdullah, previously famed for his ability to recite from the Koran, was brought in to head the operations.
Dr Raoufi said: "He and his Taliban superiors were interested in the technical detail of what happened here, although they had no background in science.
"They were also keen on the laboratory making money. Their priority was certainly not the interests of the people and the farming community at large.
"Sometimes many of their officials would turn up unannounced to see what we were doing.
"The minister himself would look round, then go away."
Dr Raoufi revealed that the vaccine institute, set up with help from the Red Cross and one of Afghanistan's most modern buildings, once had 45 staff.
But more than half left, many saying they meant to work abroad.
Dr Raoufi said: "I don't know what happened to these people.
"I'm told most went to work in America and Europe. They knew their skills were in demand elsewhere in the world." Referring to the disappearance of Mullah Abdullah, he added: "I've no idea what happened to him. He wasn't well liked. We didn't have a lot to do with him.
The production of vaccines at the Kabul factory was so successful that some samples were sent to Geneva where the Red Cross congratulated the Taliban on their work.
Veterinary expert Dr Raoufi - who was anti-Taliban but forced to wear their traditional turban and long beard - is dedicated to improving livestock conditions.
Yesterday he was at pains to reassure the West as it remained in the grip of bio-terrorism fears.
He said: "Anthrax production is under control. There is no danger because the vaccine is inactivated.
"These vaccines are to help people, not endanger them. I want to tell the world that what we are doing is safe. We are responsible."
However, he admitted that the Taliban could have obtained the knowledge to handle and develop anthrax. Dr Raoufi said: "Sadly, some use what is meant to be good for their own destructive ends."
