The FBI has stepped up efforts to find Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman suspected of being involved in a plot with suspected terrorist Jose Padilla to build and detonate a “dirty bomb,” the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, March 21).

Siddiqui, who lived in the Boston area for years, is wanted for questioning over her suspected role in providing logistical support for al-Qaeda, law enforcement officials said.  She is also believed to be connected to Padilla through Adnan al-Shukrijumah, a senior al-Qaeda operative, though the extent of the connection is unclear, the Times reported (Jerry Seper, Washington Times, April 2).

New Mexico Radioactive Material Information Stolen

Meanwhile in New Mexico, eight state-owned computers that included information on all companies in the state that used radioactive materials were stolen last week, officials said.

The computers contain the names, addresses and telephone numbers of more than 210 companies, as well as the types of radioactive materials they use, said Bill Floyd, manager of the New Mexico Environment Department’s Radiation Control Bureau.  While the information contained in the computers is a matter of public record, anyone seeking access would first have to file a request under the Freedom of Information Act, he said.

Floyd said he believed the thieves wanted the computers themselves and not the information they contained, noting that a room containing hard copies of licensee files was accessible, but nothing there was taken. 

“We don’t like the fact that this information might fall into the hands of people who have something sinister up their sleeves, but it is public information,” Floyd said (Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press/Newsday, April 2).

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