The al-Qaeda-JI partnership yielded a number of proposals that would marry al-Qaeda's financial and technical strengths with JI's access to materials and local operatives. Here, Hambali played the critical role of coordinator, as he distributed al-Qaeda funds earmarked for joint operations. In one especially notable example, Atef turned to Hambali when al-Qaeda needed a scientist to take over its biological weapons program. Hambali obliged by introducing a U.S.-educated JI member, Yazid Sufaat, to Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kandahar. In 2001, Sufaat would spend several months attempting to cultivate anthrax for al-Qaeda in a laboratory he helped set up near the Kandahar airport.