The United Nations nuclear watchdog has issued a worldwide high-security alert warning countries, including South Africa, about the dangers of possible nuclear terrorism attacks.
| This is from a South African paper... |
Information given to the Pretoria News shows that the South African government's security agencies, including the police, received several warnings from the International Atomic Energy Agency two weeks ago about the possible threat of a terrorist nuclear attack, either occurring in this country or being launched from it.
| That's interesting. South Africa's kinda off to one side of my radar... |
The warnings were issued by the IAEA on June 2 to all countries using nuclear power, or in possession of or manufacturing nuclear weapons - and gave advice on how to combat the smuggling of nuclear materials for "dirty bombs". The alert comes less than a month after an al-Qaeda terrorist cell was uncovered in Jordan hours before its members were to detonate a biochemical explosive outside that country's military intelligence headquarters. On the same day another al-Qaeda cell was smashed in the UK where police and anti-terrorism authorities, according to national Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi, found "boxes and boxes" of fraudulent South African identity documents and passports. The arrests of the terrorist suspects came three days after four Jordanian nationals were captured in South Africa a week before the elections in April. It is believed that the four, two of whom were deported to Jordan, were members of an al-Qaeda cell operating in South Africa. The cell is believed to have been planning several operations which would have involved blowing up numerous US and UK businesses in South Africa on the day of the elections.
| Hadn't heard about that one... |
In a statement, the IAEA warned that countries throughout the world had to work together to prevent such terrorist attacks from occurring. The IAEA said that top priority had to be given to the theft of nuclear weapons which "represents the most serious threat with potentially devastating consequences". The IAEA outlined several scenarios, including that of a terrorist organisation using "dirty bombs" made from highly enriched uranium. "Although sophisticated equipment and expertise is required to manufacture and detonate a nuclear device, the possibility cannot be discounted," the agency said. It said it was working to promote nuclear security measures considered essential to forestalling such threats. These steps include the physical protection of nuclear materials and related facilities, as well as the control of lost or "orphaned" radioactive material. In addition, the IAEA helps countries to detect any black-market activity through border patrols, training of customs officials, and the maintenance of a database on illicit trafficking. |