<

CIA Chief Says Al Qaeda Still Greatest Threat to U.S.
Wednesday, February 6, 2002
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON -- AFIS
Despite the progress in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda terror network remains the greatest danger confronting the United States, CIA Director George Tenet told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Tenet said his agency has evidence indicating that Al Qaeda is actively trying to gain weapons of mass destruction – including nuclear or radiological weapons.

The director said that in 1998 Bin Laden publicly declared that acquiring unconventional weapons was "a religious duty." He said U.S. officials know that al Qaeda was working to acquire some of the most dangerous chemical agents and toxins.

"Documents recovered from Al Qaeda facilities in Afghanistan show that Bin Laden was pursuing a sophisticated biological weapons research program," he said.

"We also believe that Bin Laden was seeking to acquire or develop a nuclear device," he continued. "Al Qaeda may be pursuing a radioactive dispersal device -- what some call a 'dirty bomb.'"

Failing this, he said, Al Qaeda or other terror groups might also try to launch conventional attacks against U.S. chemical or nuclear plants to cause widespread toxic or radiological damage. He said that Al Qaeda cells already in place could launch attacks against U.S. targets in Europe and the Middle East.
(More: DoD News Source)
2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

Dan