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Forum Member Claims 2000 Russian Submarine Explosion Was A Suicide Operation

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Once again, militant Islamist forum members return to the subject of al Qaeda acquiring nuclear weapons, this time through a new post entitled "Facts Revealed for the First Time: What Sheikh Osama Said About Nuclear Weapons."

The writer, who identifies himself as "Abul Aswad al Saffak," claims the explosion of a Russian submarine in August, 2000 was a result of a suicide attack. "The incident of the Russian submarine Kursk that was sunk by the Dagestani suicide bomber is evidence of what I say," he states. The explosion, which called all 118 people aboard, is believed to have been caused by a leak of hydrogen peroxide that led to the detonation of torpedo warheads.

Al Saffak also tells a lengthy story about a man called Thabet al Jeddawi who was believed to have been close to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Al Jeddawi was a Saudi militant who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan in December 2001.

Al Saffak claims al Jeddawi fled to Tora Bora with bin Laden ahead of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and writes that he once mentioned to Bin Laden that there were indications the U.S. would be using nuclear weapons to hit al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Jeddawi later recounted, according to the post, that bin Laden smiled then said "If they bomb us with nuclear (weapons), we shall bomb them with nuclear (weapons)."

The post writer then insinuates that having access to nuclear weapons doesn't necessarily mean possessing them. "Ask yourselves what would happen if one of those who work in your nuclear plants just blew them up? They could be Muslim converts that you believe are still following your faith," al-Saffak said addressing those who took recent claims about al Qaeda's weapons of mass destruction capabilities lightly.

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