NEWS RELEASE

Release: No. DITA-81
Date Mailed: August, 30, 2002
For Immediate Release
Contact: Elaine Zacky-208/265-2575; 800/336-9266

Investigators Conclude Russian Defector is Lead Suspect in Anthrax Mailings Case

Sandpoint, ID- Three veteran investigators have independently narrowed the field of anthrax mailings suspects to a single Russian defector affiliated with two heavily implicated defense contractors and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Kanatjan Alibekov, alias "Ken Alibek," the President of Hadron Advanced Biosystems, should be re-interrogated by the FBI, according to three researchers who arrived at this conclusion independently. They say Stephen Hatfield-the military virologist cited by FBI officials in recent weeks as a chief subject was not likely involved in the mailings at all.

The three men include: Dr. Leonard G. Horowitz-a public health and emerging diseases expert, Michael Ruppert-a retired Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective, and Stewart Webb-a federal whistle blower credited with supplying key evidence to federal prosecutors during the 1989 Housing and Urban Development (HUD) scandal. All three investigators say overwhelming evidence implicates Dr. Alibekov and the parties he served before and during the anthrax mailings, including the CIA. This, they propose, might best explain why the FBI's inquiry has floundered.

Their compiled evidence is largely public knowledge. Dr. Alibekov was the first Deputy Director of Biopreparat-the Soviet Union's leading biological weapons testing center. He oversaw military anthrax production for nearly 20 years, and was personally responsible for 32,000 employees at 40 facilities when he suddenly defected to the United States in 1992 to begin working for the CIA. According to interviews, Dr. Alibekov allegedly defected to help stop the biological weapons race, not for monetary reward. Yet, his activities in America indicate otherwise.

On May 20, 1998 Dr. Alibekov testified before the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress as a Program Manager for the Battelle Memorial Institute (BMI)-a leading military contractor and one of few institutional suspects identified by the press. William Broad of the New York Times (Dec. 13, 2001), upon Dr. Horowitz's earlier urging, cited BMI as the chief CIA contractor for project "Clearvision"-an effort to produce the deadliest Ames strain anthrax ever developed. It was hyper-concentrated, silica-laced, electro-magnetized, and extremely transmissible. The facts indicate Dr. Alibekov, one of two leading anthrax experts contracted by the CIA at the time of "Clearvision," may have managed the entire program during which the germ was sent from BMI to the BMI administered and supplied Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah. From here or BMI's anthrax lab in West Jefferson, Ohio, the never-before-seen anthrax weapon was transferred to envelopes and mailed from four locations including Trenton, N.J. and St. Petersburg, FL in early October, 2001. The mailings killed five people while scores of others were victimized by the ensuing fright and toxic side effects from taking CIPRO-the "anthrax antibiotic," according to experts and news reports.

More suspicious ties to the Russian defector and Hadron Advanced Biosystems were realized when investigators learned of the second leading BMI and CIA anthrax contractor, and close personal friend of Dr. Alibekov, Dr. William C. Patrick, III. Suspiciously, Dr. Alibekov and BMI had contracted with this anthrax ace in the Spring of 1998 to predict the dispersal and damage capability of mailing such a hyper-weaponized germ much like the one sent to select members of the media and legislators on Capitol Hill.

The three independent investigators each cite economic and political motives for the targeted anthrax mailings. Given the high grade and technical difficulty in producing and handling this grade of anthrax, they reasoned, "white collar criminals" with access to military or pharmaceutical labs most likely acted on behalf of those who benefited most from the attacks and ensuing fright. Hadron and its affiliates, including DynCorp and BMI, lead the pack of corporate and institutional suspects, the investigators say. A revelatory organizational chart prepared by Dr. Horowitz depicting these corporate and institutional suspects was mailed to more than 1,500 FBI agents late last year along with an extensive 25-page report still available over the Internet (link to http://www.tetrahedron.org/articles/anthrax/anthrax_espionage.html)

Logically, the three investigators reasoned, the media was initially targeted to sway public opinion in support of government orders worth billions of dollars for hyped vaccines and drugs, much of which benefited Hadron, DynCorp, BMI and their directors. DynCorp was the major military and intelligence provider awarded $322 million to develop, produce, and store anthrax and smallpox vaccines for the nation. BMI, a leading defense and energy industry contractor, directed the US military's Joint Vaccine Acquisitions Program. Bioport, LLC became a leading beneficiary. This British-controlled anthrax vaccine maker in Lansing, Michigan was sanctioned repeatedly by federal officials and members of congress for unethical business practices, violating health and safety guidelines, and vaccine contaminations that some researchers say may have triggered the mysterious Gulf War illness.

Corporate profiteering was firmly secured after the mailings to Capitol Hill, the investigators say. The specific targeting of Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), traditionally strong drug and military industry adversaries, reinforced their suspicions.

Dr. Horowitz had been studying anthrax advances since 1989. He correctly diagnosed "the beginning of the anthrax scam" one week before the first mailings were heralded by the media. FBI records show he urged the bureau to begin their ongoing investigation into anthrax-related bioterrorism at the end of September, 2001. It took bureau officials six months to finally respond to his repeated urgent correspondence. "Then, rather than expressing gratitude and following my leads," he said, "my two interrogators were primed to make me a suspect." For this reason, Horowitz says, he can "feel for the plight of the bureau's scapegoat"-Dr. Steven Hatfield.

Investigative journalist Michael Ruppert followed his suspicions to Hadron and DynCorp through court records pertaining to a secret pirated military software program called PROMIS. He learned that Dr. Alibekov's predecessor-Hadron's past director and founder, Dr. Earl Brian-a business associate of former Reagan administration Attorney General Edwin Meese-was convicted of fraud during the 1980s.

"Dr. Alibekov's interrogation and lie detection at Hadron's Advanced Biosystems," Ruppert advised, "may not only solve the anthrax mailings mystery, but also shed light on the recent untimely and inexplicable deaths of several biological weapons experts." The retired homicide detective suspects Dr. Alibekov's "comrade-in-arms," another top Soviet biological weapons director, Dr. Vladimir Pasechnik, was most likely murdered. Pasechnik defected to Great Britain three years before Dr. Alibekov defected to America, Mr. Ruppert recalled. Pasechnik's death, according to British intelligence officer Christopher Davis, was reportedly due to a stroke. Ruppert remains unconvinced.

Stuart Webb has spent more than twenty years investigating "white collar crime" at the highest levels of government. His intelligence sources and leads have proven accurate a number of times, helping justice department officials indict suspects ranging from bankers to drug dealers. He also believes evidence in the anthrax mailings case implicates key CIA and Bush administration officials. For this reason, he says, the crime is unlikely to be solved by the FBI.
"One of my sources, a high ranking intelligence officer, confirmed Dr. Horowitz's conclusion," he said. Hadron and "Dr. Alibek" in particular, are "most heavily implicated as agents for this anthrax devil-doing."

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NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: For interviews with the independent investigators named, contact: Dr. Horowitz, by calling 208-265-2575 or e-mailing tetra@tetrahedron.org; Mr. Ruppert by e-mailing mruppert@copvcia.com; and Mr. Webb by e-mailing stewwebb@sierranv.net.