Posted on 12/04/2001 7:08:18 AM PST by blam
Fears over bin Laden 'atomic bomb'
US intelligence chiefs fear Osama bin Laden was far closer to a crude atomic bomb than they had previously believed.
American spies have found evidence al-Qaida had made strides towards producing a device known as a dirty bomb.
The bomb does not use a nuclear explosion but conventional means to spread large doses of radiation over a wide area.
The disclosure in the Washington Post comes after the interrogation of captured al-Qaida operatives and evidence gathered in Afghanistan by CIA agents and American special forces troops.
Recent American intelligence reports have described a meeting where one of bin Laden's associates showed him a canister allegedly containing radioactive material.
The American government has now asked some of its allied governments to check if the associate could have entered their countries with the material.
Some countries have taken the report so seriously they are stepping up the use of devices that measure radioactivity at their border, the newspaper reported.
Bin Laden has made it clear in the past he believes it his "sacred duty" to obtain nuclear, chemical and biological weapons to further the "jihad" or "holy war" he has unilaterally launched against America and its allies.
Last month, he told a Pakistani newspaper he had nuclear weapons, a claim which American officials doubt.
Abdul Salam Zaeef, former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, said: "We do not even have modern weaponry, not to mention weapons of mass destruction."
Story filed: 15:58 Tuesday 4th December 2001
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