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Al-Qaeda Seeks Nuclear Material: Experts
There is evidence that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network has sought to procure nuclear materials for a terror strike, and was ready to use them, experts in the field have warned.
Their comments backed up a warning by US President George W. Bush Tuesday that al-Qaeda, blamed for the September 11 terror attacks in the United States, was "seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons."
At a conference on nuclear terrorism in Vienna last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned that nuclear terrorism had become far more likely since September 11.
"There is evidence that bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization has been... seeking to purchase stolen nuclear material from the Soviet Union for use in nuclear explosives," said George Bunn of Stanford University.
Post, a US expert who gave evidence at the trial over the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, linked to bin Laden, added that September 11 had shown that al-Qaeda would not balk at mass casualty terrorism.
"From a psychological point of view, the thresholds have already been crossed. There is no reason to think that the choice of weapon would be a constraint, except insofar as (he) lacks the required technical expertise."
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