Release: No. DITA-81
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 Hatfill-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 narcotics 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 substantial 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. Evidence indicates Dr. Patrick, who holds
several secret patents on America's anthrax weapons, worked closely with Dr. Alibekov in
developing the anthrax that was mailed.
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, DynCorp, and BMI lead the pack of corporate and institutional
suspects, the investigators say. A revelatory organizational chart prepared by Dr. Horowitz
depicting the leading 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 and
contractors. 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 on October 1, 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
Hatfill.
Detective Ruppert, collaborating with investigative journalist Michael Davidson,
followed their suspicions to Hadron and DynCorp through court records pertaining to a secret
pirated military software program called PROMIS. They 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 including Dr.
Alibekov's former boss, Dr. Vladimir Pasechnik." Dr. Pasechnik-the Soviet Union's top
biological weapons director-was most likely murdered, according to Ruppert and Davidson. His
demise immediately followed his volunteering to help solve the anthrax mailings mystery.
Dr. Pasechnik defected to Great Britain three years before Dr. Alibekov defected to
America, Mr. Ruppert recalled. Pasechnik abandoned his work in biological weapons development.
Dr. Alibekov, contrary to his stated reason for defecting, continued to work in this field.
Pasechnik's death, according to British intelligence officer Christopher Davis, was reportedly
due to a stroke. Ruppert and Davidson remain 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."
NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: For interviews with the independent investigators named, contact: