“Hundreds of millions of pounds of equipment was imported into the African country over a three-year period before the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington in 2001 and has since disappeared,” according to The Guardian. The paper has been reporting daily on the contents of a leaked European intelligence assessment.
“The suspicion arises that at least some of the machinery was not destined for or not only destined for Sudan,” the assessment says. “Among the equipment purchased by Sudan there are dual-use goods whose use in Sudan appears implausible because of their high technological standard….” Investigators say the machinery has not been found in Sudan. Nor has it been found in Libya, since Tripoli gave up its secret nuclear bomb project in December 2003. Given Osama bin Laden’s long relationship with Sudan, where he lived before moving to Afghanistan, there had been suspicions of al-Qaida involvement. But the goods have not been found in Afghanistan either. “A huge amount of dual-use equipment was bought by Sudan and people don’t know where it went to,” Mr Albright [of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security] said. “It’s a big mystery. The equipment has not been found anywhere.”
