U.S.: Al-Qaida nuclear effort is world's greatest threat

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http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162429.html

Last update - 04:04 12/04/2010

U.S.: Al-Qaida nuclear effort is world's greatest threat

By Reuters

President Barack Obama said on Sunday that efforts by al-Qaida to acquire atomic weapons posed the biggest threat to global security, and world leaders meeting this week must act with urgency to combat this danger.

Obama, speaking on the eve of an unprecedented 47-nation summit in Washington aimed at thwarting nuclear terrorism, said he expected "enormous progress" at the conference toward the goal of locking down loose nuclear material worldwide.

"The central focus of this nuclear summit is the fact that the single biggest threat to U.S. security - both short-term, medium-term and long-term - would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon," Obama told reporters.

"We know that organizations like al Qaida are in the process of trying to secure a nuclear weapon - a weapon of mass destruction that they have no compunction at using," Obama said before talks with South African President Jacob Zuma.

Nuclear non-proliferation experts say there are no known For plutonium that could be used to make a crude nuclear bomb but note there have been 18 cases of nuclear material being stolen or going missing since the early 1990s.

"This is something that could change the security landscape of this country and around the world for years to come," Obama said, warning of the potential consequences if a nuclear bomb were detonated.

Obama's goal at the two-day summit is to get nations to agree to secure vulnerable nuclear material within four years and to take specific steps to crack down on nuclear smuggling.

The U.S. president held a series of wide-ranging talks with foreign leaders on Sunday, including the prime ministers of nuclear-armed foes India and Pakistan, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and South Africa's Zuma.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani "indicated his assurance that Pakistan takes nuclear security seriously and has appropriate safeguards in place," the White House said. It said Obama reasserted to Gilani "the importance of nuclear security, a priority he has reiterated for all countries."

Nuclear non-proliferation experts say Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and stockpile of weapons-grade nuclear material is heavily guarded but the threat from al Qaeda and the Taliban make the country one of the areas of greatest concern.

Before leaving for the United States, Gilani assured the international community Pakistan's nuclear program was in "safe hands."

Pakistan is still trying to move out from the shadow cast by scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who was at the center of the world's biggest nuclear proliferation scandal in 2004. He has confessed to selling secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya.

In his 50-minute meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Obama heard a litany of concerns about India's neighbor Pakistan, according to Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who briefed reporters.

Singh talked to Obama about the activities of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant group responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, "and also the fact that unfortunately there was no will on the part of the government of Pakistan to punish those responsible for the terrorist crimes in Mumbai," Rao said.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947 and several smaller conflicts, including one in 1999. Both nations conducted nuclear tests in 1998 and are not signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

White House officials said Obama praised Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev as a model leader in their meeting for the steps he has taken to denuclearize his central Asian nation.

The former Soviet Union carried out nearly 500 atmospheric and underground nuclear test explosions in Kazakhstan between 1949 and 1989. Nazarbayev closed the testing site in 1991 and gotten rid of more than 100 nuclear warheads.

The Kazakh government has erected posters around Washington ahead of the summit highlighting the country's decision to get rid of its nuclear arsenal, once the world's fourth largest.

White House officials also said Obama would meet Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the summit. A U.S. congressional committee last month voted to label the World War One-era massacres of Armenians by Turkish forces as genocide, angering Ankara and prompting it to recall its ambassador from Washington.

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Another similar article.

Obama: Al-Qaida would use nuke if it could; terrorist access 'biggest threat' to security

ANNE GEARAN AP National Security Writer

9:41 p.m. CDT, April 11, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) — If al-Qaida acquired nuclear weapons it "would have no compunction at using them," President Barack Obama said Sunday on the eve of a summit aimed at finding ways to secure the world's nuclear stockpile.

"The single biggest threat to U.S. security, both short-term, medium-term and long-term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon," Obama said. "This is something that could change the security landscape in this country and around the world for years to come."

"If there was ever a detonation in New York City, or London, or Johannesburg, the ramifications economically, politically and from a security perspective would be devastating," the president said.

"We know that organizations like al-Qaida are in the process of trying to secure nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, and would have no compunction at using them," Obama said.

The Nuclear Security Summit of more than 40 world leaders in Washington this week is aimed at securing "loose nuclear material," Obama said. He was holding one-on-one meetings Sunday with several of those leaders.

He said other world leaders have offered "very specific approaches to how we can solve this profound international problem."

Obama singled out South Africa for giving up its nuclear program, and said it "has been a strong, effective leader in the international community on nonproliferation issues. South Africa has special standing in being a moral leader on this issue."

South African President Jacob Zuma was among the leaders Obama met with Sunday at Blair House, across from the White House. Others included Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

"I feel very good at this stage in the degree of commitment and a sense of urgency that I have seen from the world leaders so far on this issue," Obama said. "We think we can make enormous progress on this, and this then becomes part and parcel of the broader focus that we've had over the last several weeks."

Last Thursday, Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev signed a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that reduces each side's deployed nuclear arsenal to 1,550 weapons. Earlier in the week, Obama approved a new nuclear policy for the United States, vowing to reduce America's nuclear arsenal, refrain from nuclear tests and not use nuclear weapons against countries that do not have them.

Obama said securing loose nuclear arms is "a central part of the process, but probably the most urgent one and the one we are most concerned with in the short term."

After his remarks, Obama met with Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. The White House said Obama praised Pakistan for its quick reaction to an attack by Islamic militants against a U.S. consulate in northwestern Pakistan last week. Obama also reiterated that the U.S. and Pakistan are facing a common enemy.

Pakistan has a troubled history with the United States, and anti-American sentiment runs high among ordinary Pakistanis. U.S. leaders go out of their way to assure Pakistan that the United States will not walk away from the improving relationship with Pakistan, and Congress has committed billions in new aid to the country.

Reagrding the purpose of the summit, the White House said Galani assured Obama that Pakistan takes nuclear security seriously and has appropriate safeguards in place.

Obama wrapped up his Sunday schedule by meeting with acting Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan before returning to the White House.

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White House officials said Obama praised Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev as a model leader in their meeting for the steps he has taken to denuclearize his central Asian nation.

The former Soviet Union carried out nearly 500 atmospheric and underground nuclear test explosions in Kazakhstan between 1949 and 1989. Nazarbayev closed the testing site in 1991 and gotten rid of more than 100 nuclear warheads.

The Kazakh government has erected posters around Washington ahead of the summit highlighting the country's decision to get rid of its nuclear arsenal, once the world's fourth largest.

There's one bit of information that will not become widespread. People don't believe there are protocols that are followed by a country to certify they have gotten rid of their nuclear arsenal.

Edited April 12, 2010 by alienlovechild