http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2711645.stm
Al-Qaeda has dirty bomb, UK says
Government says its evidence proves dirty bomb threat
By Frank Gardner BBC security correspondent
British officials have presented evidence which they claim shows that
al-Qaeda has been trying to assemble radioactive material to build a
so-called dirty bomb.
They have shown the BBC previously undisclosed material backing up their
claim.
It includes secret intelligence from agents sent into al-Qaeda training
camps in Afghanistan by Britain.
Posing as recruits, they blended in and reported back.
SAS officer inspects a deserted Afghan camp
They revealed that Osama Bin Laden's weapons programme was further on
than anyone thought.
British officials said on Thursday Bin Laden now has the expertise and
possibly the materials to build a crude radioactive bomb.
The government says evidence suggests that by 1999, Bin Laden's priority
was to develop a weapon of mass destruction.
He had acquired radioactive isotopes from the Taleban to do this,
officials said, adding that development work on the "dirty bomb" had been
going on in a nuclear laboratory in the Afghan city of Herat.
Evidence 'credible'
The government even has al-Qaeda training manuals which detail how to use
a dirty bomb to maximum effect.
For a second opinion, the BBC showed some of the material to an expert on
al-Qaeda.
"I think this is genuine," said Dr Mustafa Alani, of the Royal United
Service Institute.
>From nuclear weapons the threat is very, very slim Gary Samore
"It is credible. This is proof that al-Qaeda put a lot of effort into
collecting information and educating other members of the organisation.
"It is possible to produce this sort of weapon."
British military personnel worked with intelligence officers to gather
material which was taken to Porton Down defence research centre in
Wiltshire.
Their conclusion was that al-Qaeda had a small dirty bomb but probably
not a full blown nuclear device.
"From nuclear weapons the threat is very, very slim," said Gary Samore, a
former US National Security Council member.
Al-Qaeda has built a lab in Herat
To create one, he said, al-Qaeda would have needed to obtain weapons
grade nuclear material - a difficult prospect.
"On the other hand, the threat of a dirty bomb or radiological bomb, is
much more plausible," he added.
British officials say the "bomb" has never been recovered but at least
one leading al-Qaeda weapons expert from Herat is still at large.
Why the British government would release such top secret information has
been questioned by some commentators in the Arabic world.
Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor of Al Quds al Arabi, said it was an attempt
to revive fears in Britain and the US about 11 September.
"They would like to prove their point that there are links between Saddam
Hussein and al-Qaeda," he said.
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