Monday, November 29, 2010

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Source: DHS Mubtakar Improvised Cyanide Gas Device Warning.

Ah, the infamous "muktabar of death." This first hit public consciousness in 2006, when Ron Suskind's "One Percent Doctrine' claimed that:

"... [A joint Saudi-US counterterrorist unit] found it [in a jihadist apartment in Saudi Arabia]: plans for construction of a device called a mubtakkar. It is a fearful thing, and quite real….a delivery system for a widely available combination of chemicals--sodium cyanide, which is used as rat poison and metal cleanser, and hydrogen, which is everywhere. The combination of the two creates hydrogen cyanide, a colorless, highly volatile liquid that is soluble and stable in water. It has a faint odor, like peach kernels or bitter almonds. When it is turned into gas and inhaled, it is lethal. For years, figuring out how to deliver this combination of chemicals as a gas has been something of a holy grail for terrorists….Mubtakkar means “invention” in Arabic, “the initiative” in Farsi. The device is a bit of both. It’s a canister with two interior containers: sodium cyanide is in one; a hydrogen product, like hydrochloric acid, in the other; and a fuse breaks the seal between them. The fuse can be activated remotely--as bombs are triggered by cell phones--breaking the seal, creating the gas, which is then released. Hydrogen cyanide gas is a blood agent, which means it poisons cells by preventing them from being able to utilize oxygen carried in the blood...." see 'The Untold Story of al-Qaeda's Plot to Attack the Subway'

Plans for the mubtakar appeared in many places on the web, and "... Thus, it is likely that thousands of jihadis and al-Qaeda sympathizers worldwide also accessed the al-Mubtakkar manual online..." - 'Special Report: Manual for Producing Chemical weapon to be used in New York subway plot available on al-Qaeda websites since 2005.'

Debunked as highly unlikely by Dick Destiny, Stratfor, and others back in 2006, the dreaded mubtakar (reminder:
"It is fairly easy to make. You need someone only modestly skilled to do it.") is resurrected/recycled from time to time (google for numerous links), requiring additional debunking...

And now, November 2010, the DHS in collaboration with ITACG has issued a Unclassified/For Official Use Only Roll Call Release warning about the mubtakar...

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