The Hindu : Terrorist n-strike 'imminent'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 18, 2003

International

International

Terrorist n-strike 'imminent'

LONDON June 17. It is ``only a matter of time'' before terrorists stage a biological, chemical or nuclear attack on a Western city, the head of Britain's domestic intelligence agency MI5 said today.

Speaking at a London think-tank, Eliza Manningham-Buller added Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, remained a `deadly' global threat.

``We are faced with a realistic possibility of a form of unconventional attack that could include chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) weapons,'' she told the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). ``It is only a matter of time before a crude version of a CBRN is launched on a Western city,'' she said.

Intelligence suggests ``renegade scientists'' have given terrorists the information they need to create such weapons, though conventional bombs and suicide bomb attacks were still weapons of preference, she said. On Al-Qaeda, Ms. Manningham-Buller said: ``They still remain an organisation capable of deadly terrorist attacks.''

AFP

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