(Los Angeles Times) - Josh Meyer After years of experiments, al Qaeda is capable of constructing "dirty bombs" - radioactive materials wrapped around conventional explosives - that can cause contamination over a widespread area. Recent intelligence - gleaned from al Qaeda redoubts in Afghanistan, intercepted communications, interrogations, and other sources - indicates that the terrorist network apparently has succeeded, U.S. and coalition officials said. Last week, British intelligence agencies released documents seized in Afghanistan showing that al Qaeda had constructed a small dirty bomb at a laboratory in the Afghan city of Herat, using radioactive isotopes taken from medical equipment supplied by the former Taliban regime. U.S. officials who had previously said they had no evidence to substantiate that al Qaeda had built such a bomb said they now believe that it has done so, and that it could be planning to use one in the coming months.
2003-02-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive