Is Al Qaeda Chemical Attack Next?

Sept. 10, 2004 -- A U.S. government surveillance tape obtained by ABC News shows suspected al Qaeda operatives delivering a chemical bomb to the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, this past March. The attempted bombing — which was thwarted by an alert security guard — would have been the terror network's first chemical bomb attack.

The videotape shows an unidentified man leaving a white van outside the consulate and being picked up by accomplices. Inside the van was a large blue vat containing a 200-gallon mixture of easily available chemicals meant to produce a powerful explosion and potentially fatal fumes.

Many experts now regard this to be al Qaeda's greatest threat — the homemade chemical bomb.

"This is no longer theory," said Richard Clarke, who served as a top counterterrorism official under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. "This is something al Qaeda always wanted to do. They wrote about it in their encyclopedia of jihad, they experimented with it in Afghanistan, and now in the last year we see evidence that the new al Qaeda is about the process of collecting these chemicals around the world."

The videotape, obtained by ABC News exclusively, shows a fast, coordinated effort. After leaving the van parked outside the consulate, the driver is quickly picked up by accomplices in a car. But a consulate security guard approached the van and discovered its contents.

Jordan Attack Disrupted

In early April, authorities in Jordan disrupted what would have been an even bigger chemical attack. Officials said that terrorists linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi managed to smuggle three cars — packed with explosives, a chemical bomb and poisonous gas — into the capital city, Amman.

Authorities in Jordan estimate that 80,000 people would have been killed if the chemical bomb had gone off at its intended targets — the Jordanian intelligence headquarters, the U.S. Embassy in Amman and the Jordanian prime minister's office.