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Zarqawi said to have ‘dirty bomb’

WASHINGTON: Abu Musab Zarqawi, believed to be linked to Al Qaeda, is preparing a radiological explosive - or dirty bomb - for an attack, according to a report published by the Washington Times.

The right-wing newspaper ,which has good sources in the intelligence community, attributes the report to unnamed US officials, who also say that analysts are unable to confirm the reliability of the information’s sources.

According to correspondent Bill Gertz, “The classified reports have been distributed to US intelligence agencies for several consecutive months and say Zarqawi, Al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, has stored the nuclear device or dirty bomb in Afghanistan, said officials familiar with the intelligence. One official said the intelligence is being questioned because analysts think Al Qaeda would not hesitate to use a nuclear device if it had one. However, the fact that the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) has reported the nuclear threat in several classified reports distributed since December indicates concern about it.”

The report said that a DIA spokesman had no comment when approached. Zarqawi is thought to be operating inside Iraq and has specialised in suicide bombings and large-scale vehicle bombings. He has had several close encounters in recent weeks with Iraqi and US forces.

Senior US intelligence and security officials said in congressional testimony in February that a terrorist attack with weapons of mass destruction - nuclear, chemical or biological arms - is likely. CIA Director Porter J. Goss said such a terrorist strike “may be only a matter of time.”

A report by the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction said bin Laden told a Pakistani newspaper reporter in November 2001 that al Qaeda has both nuclear and chemical weapons. The CIA then “speculated” in a report that the group “probably had access to nuclear expertise and facilities and that there was a real possibility of the group developing a crude nuclear device,” the commission said. It added that US intelligence agencies think development of a radiological bomb is “well within Al Qaeda’s capabilities.” khalid hasan

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