From FOXNews.com: <http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,38538,00.html>
Pakistani Nuclear Scientists Admit Meeting Bin Laden ISLAMABAD, Pakistan � Adding to fears that Usama bin Laden might have access to weapons of mass destruction, two Pakistani nuclear scientists admitted meeting the terrorist mastermind at least twice this year, Pakistani officials said Sunday. Sultan Bashir-ud-Din Mehmood and Abdul Majid left their senior positions at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission about two years ago and established a relief organization in Afghanistan, but are now in the custody of Pakistani authorities. The men said they met bin Laden at least twice during visits to Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar in connection with the construction of a flour mill, according to a Pakistani official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Mehmood heads Tameer-e-Ummah, or the Nation Building, a private group involved in rehabilitating war-ravaged Afghanistan. Majid worked for the aid group. The scientists were arrested Oct. 23 and questioned about their work in Afghanistan. They were released after a few days in detention, only to be arrested again a couple of days later. They were questioned by both Pakistani and U.S. investigators, the Pakistani official said. Neither man has been charged with any offense, and Pakistani officials said there was nothing to suggest that the men passed on nuclear information or materials to anyone in Afghanistan. In a newspaper interview published Saturday, bin Laden claimed he had acquired nuclear and chemical weapons and would unleash them if the United States used such weapons against him. U.S. officials have said that bin Laden has attempted to acquire weapons of mass destruction but there is so far no evidence to suggest he has been successful. Pakistan has nuclear weapons, and until the Sept. 11 terror attacks, supported Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement. The Taliban have harbored bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network, suspected in the attacks on New York and Washington. Pakistan insists it has not leaked nuclear information or material, and that its nuclear weapons remain well protected. "Pakistan is fully alive to the responsibilities of its nuclear status," President Pervez Musharraf said Saturday at the United Nations in New York. "Let me assure you all that our strategic assets are well guarded and are in safe hands." Musharraf is a key partner in the U.S.-led military campaign to root out bin Laden and Al Qaeda and defeat the Taliban. The Associated Press contributed to this report
