Al Qaida 'seeking nuclear weapons'
Press Association
Monday November 13, 2006 8:08 PM
Al Qaida is determined to acquire the technology to carry out a nuclear attack on the West, a senior Foreign Office official warned.
The official said that Osama bin Laden's terrorist network was actively trawling the world for the materials and know how to mount an attack using nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
The latest warning echoes MI5 director general Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller's remarks last week that future terror attacks in Britain could involve weapons of mass destruction.
Asked if she had any doubt that al Qaida wanted to obtain the materials to carry out a nuclear attack on the West, the official said: "No doubt at all".
She said that that terrorists were seeking the means to mount a range of attacks using chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear devices.
"We know that the aspiration is there, we know attempts to gather materials are there, we know that attempts to gather technologies are there," she said.
The latest warning comes as the Government is preparing to make security a key theme of its legislative programme for the forthcoming Parliamentary session, to be set out in the Queen's Speech on Wednesday.
Monday November 13, 2006 8:08 PM
Al Qaida is determined to acquire the technology to carry out a nuclear attack on the West, a senior Foreign Office official warned.
The official said that Osama bin Laden's terrorist network was actively trawling the world for the materials and know how to mount an attack using nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
The latest warning echoes MI5 director general Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller's remarks last week that future terror attacks in Britain could involve weapons of mass destruction.
Asked if she had any doubt that al Qaida wanted to obtain the materials to carry out a nuclear attack on the West, the official said: "No doubt at all".
She said that that terrorists were seeking the means to mount a range of attacks using chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear devices.
"We know that the aspiration is there, we know attempts to gather materials are there, we know that attempts to gather technologies are there," she said.
The latest warning comes as the Government is preparing to make security a key theme of its legislative programme for the forthcoming Parliamentary session, to be set out in the Queen's Speech on Wednesday.
posted by Marko at 11/13/2006 03:27:00 PM
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