BIN LADEN'S FIGHTERS TRAIN HARD ON OPIUM

NEW DELHI -- Osama bin Laden's troops have a training regimen as tough if
not tougher than that of the U.S. Green Berets, the British Special Air
Services and the Russian Spetznatz and they do it all on dope. So says an
expert who has tracked bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist group for a decade.

"Mild doses of opium are given to al Qaeda trainees to condition them to
pain and suffering," said Najum Mushtaq, an Islamabad-based independent
defense analyst with expertise in South Asian terrorism. "They are trained
to survive without regular food for days. The training mostly involves use
of small arms, setting up improvised explosive devices and wiring up cars
for suicide-bombing missions."

The trainees go through three to six months of theory and practice in
situations of extreme hardship. This includes leaping from heights and
firing in mid-jump; staying awake for several nights; target practice in dim
light; running up gravel-laden paths on bare feet; and more. The only time
they get to relax is in the evenings, when they recite the Koran and listen
to sermons on waging jihad, or holy war, against the Americans and Israelis,
Mushtaq told Defense Week.

New Video

Meanwhile, the Indian government has released videos seized from al Qaeda
trained militants in Kashmir. The videos, shown on some Indian TV channels
last week, seem to corroborate what Mushtaq has had to say on the al Qaeda
training procedures. One of the video's chilling images a target-practice
session with young recruits in which former president Bill Clinton is the
"target."

In addition, the video shows masked militants in army fatigues swinging from
a rope and firing from an assault rifle at a round target on the ground. The
film demonstrates unarmed combat training, fighting with knives and how to
prepare timed explosives.

Graduates

Mushtaq said al Qaeda "graduates" are the elite among the various factions
fighting in Kashmir. Some of them have been sent to Bosnia, Israel and
Chechnya to help the local Muslim fighters there. They often function as the
"master sergeants," training local militant groups in the art of causing
maximum destruction. The al Qaeda is an all-volunteer force with recruits
picked up from adrasas (religious schools) at a young age. Most of them are
orphans from Afghanistan and have no families to worry about. But in recent
years, well-off recruits from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and
even Britain have been noticed in al Qaeda camps, said Mushtaq.

Mushtaq estimates that no more than 5,000 al Qaeda fighters may be with bin
Laden in Afghanistan. Their job was to fan out to areas where Islam was
threatened and help the local Muslims.

"There are no fixed numbers of how many graduate in each batch, but the
number should be in hundreds, not thousands," said Mushtaq.

Taliban Strength

Contrary to the common western perception that the regular Taliban militia
was a foe with substantial fighting skills, the reverse was true, he said.

"They are your neighborhood bullies with Kalashnikov-AK-47 rifles," he said.
"They have not been trained in a formal way and their only qualification is
unquestioned loyalty to Mullah Omar, the supreme leader of the Taliban."

The regular Taliban militia is not a uniformed force and has no recognized
cadre structure. They also double up as police and have been responsible for
much of the barbarity associated with the Taliban chopping off hands of
suspected thieves, shooting at the legs of women for exposing their ankles
and arresting Muslim men for not growing beards.

Indian intelligence is believed to have given the U.S. information it has
gathered over the last 10 years about al Qaeda activities and that of other
militant outfits operating in Kashmir.

India Cooperates

Meanwhile, India may assist the United States in a possible assault on Osama
bin Laden's hideouts. Last Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to India Robert
Blackwell met Chairman of the Indian Chief of Staff Committee Adm. Sushil
Kumar, sparking speculation that the meeting was related to the use of
Indian facilities by American forces.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi confirmed the meeting but
declined to say whether it had anything to do with using India as a base for
U.S. ground operations against bin Laden. A spokesperson for the Indian
external affairs ministry said "it is known that the Indian government has
offered to help in any way possible to combat terrorism."

A source in India's defense ministry said India may allow U.S. forces to
land troops and fighter aircraft at airfields in Kashmir and Punjab
provinces before taking off for Afghanistan, which is about an hour's flying
time away.