Denver-The Denver office of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has sent a letter to farm supply stores across the country warning them to keep a look out for terrorists. One suspicious activity mentioned in the letter was the purchase of large quantities of pesticides, combustibles, or fertilizers containing ammonium nitrate out of season or with cash. On Feb. 23, a 20-year-old college student from Saudi Arabia, Khalid Aldawsari, was arrested on bomb charges in Texas. He had already procured two chemicals to build bombs and had researched the possible targets, including dams and the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush. Two businesses, Carolina Biological Supply, Burlington, N.C., as well as a freight firm, had alerted authorities. Aldawsari had tried to buy phenol, which is explosive when mixed with sulfuric and nitric acids. He had already bought the two acids.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain