RE: Al-Qaida may have nuclear weapons

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@AECL.CA>]

FW FYI.....





NUCLEAR NEWS FLASHES - Thursday, July 22, 2004

U.S. NEWS:

--RAMMING A FULLY FUELED COMMERCIAL JET INTO A NUCLEAR PLANT was rejected by

terrorist plotters as a viable plan for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks because

they were concerned about penetrating security, according to the 9/11

Commission's report, released today. The report said that Khalid Sheikh

Mohammed, described as the "principal architect" of the attacks, had

originally envisioned nuclear power plants among the proposed hit list of

U.S. targets. Another key conspirator, Mohamed Atta, was said to have

suggested a plant near New York, which was unnamed in the report. But the

suicide pilots were said to be opposed to the idea. "They thought a nuclear

target would be difficult because the airspace around it was restricted,

making reconnaissance flights impossible and increasing the likelihood that

any plant would be shot down before impact," the report said. Also, senior

al Qaeda leaders had not given "the requisite blessing" for such a target,

nor was it considered to have "symbolic value," the report said.



--"A PARALLEL VITAL EFFORT" ON NONPROLIFERATION SHOULD BE CARRIED OUT in

conjunction with anti-terrorism measures, the independent commission

examining the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S. said in its

report, which was released today. According to the report, al Qaeda has

"tried to make or acquire nuclear weapons for at least ten years." The

report recommended that the U.S. "work with the international community to

develop laws and an international regime with universal jurisdiction to

enable the capture, interdiction, and prosecution of [nuclear] smugglers by

any state in the world where they do not disclose their activities." 

The commission also called for an upgrade of the Cooperative Threat

Reduction

program with Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union.