Obscure al-Qaida Chemist Worries Experts

Chemical Jihad Update. OK, I'll admit it: I too am somewhat worried by the Obscure Al-Qaeda Chemist (which is not to say that I am going to allow any of these murderous creeps to compel me to live in fear). I mean that I am less worried by him than by other developments: I think it is fairly obvious by now that the primary weapon of choice for jihadists in the United States, at least at this point, is sand-in-the-eyes -- confusion and subversion from within. Brand as bigotry any examination of the Islamic roots of jihad violence, so that jihadists can continue to operate more or less freely in the West under the indifferent eyes of law enforcement officials beguiled by multiculturalism.

From AP, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt - He's a mystery in a red beard, with a strange alias and a degree in chemical engineering. In the hands of this alleged al-Qaida operative, it's a specialty that summons visions of poison gas and mass terror.

Al-Qaida is "wedded to the spectacular," notes U.S. counterterrorism analyst Donald Van Duyn, and elusive Egyptian chemist Midhat Mursi was said to be exploring such possibilities when last seen, brewing up deadly compounds and gassing dogs in Afghanistan.

Charming fellow. Sounds as if he and Mengele would have had a lot of fun together.

Van Duyn's FBI and other U.S. agencies are interested enough in Mursi to have posted a $5 million reward this year for his capture. Egypt's government reportedly is interested enough to have seized and locked up his two sons in an effort to track down the father.

The U.S. reward poster says the alleged bombmaker, also known as Abu Khabab, literally "Father of the Trotting Horse," may be in Pakistan. But "we don't think there's really a good fix on where he is," Van Duyn said in a Washington interview.

"Nobody knows," said Mohamed Salah, a Cairo expert on Islamic extremists. "He could be in any country, under another ID. Or he could be on the Afghan-Pakistani border, with Zawahri."