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Bin Laden Seeks Nuclear Weapons, Canada Says
Canadian intelligence has warned that terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, the Canadian Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 29). The assessment is included in a June report, entitled Al-Qaeda Possessing Russian Nuclear Briefcases: Fiction or Fact?, prepared by an agency within the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The report addresses long-standing concerns that al-Qaeda may have obtained Russian “suitcase” nuclear bombs, CP reported. “Al-Qaeda is interested in acquiring nuclear capabilities in order to expand its attack arsenal,” the report states. Russian officials and scientists have said that a suitcase nuclear weapon would be too difficult for terrorists to maintain and have a lifespan of no more than three years, the report states. University of Toronto history professor Wesley Wark said that it was unlikely that al-Qaeda had been successful in obtaining such devices. “I think that there’s great confidence that those kinds of weapons are accounted for and under control,” he said. A “dirty bomb” combining radioactive material with conventional explosives could be a “feasible” alternative for terrorists to a suitcase weapon, according to the report. “Except in the most extreme circumstances, it is unlikely that a radiological ‘dirty bomb’ would result in more casualties than could be achieved with a comparable conventional weapon,” the report states. “However, a contaminated area would pose long-term health concerns and could cause panic within the population” (Jim Bronskill, Canadian Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 3).
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