Al-Qaida tapes show training and poison gas experiments

CNN has been airing excerpts of videotapes purporting to show al-Qaida terror training, bomb-making and poison gas experiments on dogs.

The tapes also show al-Qaida operatives apparently practising ambushes and kidnapping.

Most of the tapes appear to be made before September 11, although some show recorded television coverage of the last of the attacks in New York and Washington.

CNN say its correspondent, Nic Robertson, acquired more than 250 tapes through a source, and he drove 17 hours from Kabul to a remote part of Afghanistan to first see them.

Mr Robinson says CNN did not pay for the tapes.

The network showed the tapes to several experts to verify their authenticity.

The New York Times newspaper, which was shown portions of the tapes last week, quoted an expert who viewed the tapes as saying they suggest Western intelligence agencies may be underestimating al-Qaida.

Marcus Ranstorp, director-designate of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at St Andrew's University in Scotland, said: "In conjunction with the Encyclopedia of Jihad and other written manuals, the tapes show meticulous planning, preparation and attention to the tradecraft of terror."

A CNN spokeswoman declined to say more about how the tapes were obtained, and said it did not believe the network was being used in any way to get by Osama bin Laden message across.

Christa Robinson said: "Obviously, we're always mindful of not airing propaganda. Clearly, this is newsworthy."