OBAMA HIGHLIGHTS THREAT OF NUCLEAR TERRORISM
Independent/uk
Monday, 12 April 2010
President Barack Obama said yesterday that efforts by al-Qa’ida 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 US 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-Qa’ida 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 instances of
terrorist groups obtaining highly enriched uranium or 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 US president held talks yesterday with the prime ministers of
nuclear-armed foes India and Pakistan, Kazakh President Nursultan
Nazarbayev and South Africa’s Zuma. He will see Chinese President Hu
Jintao, Jordan’s King Abdullah and the leaders of Malaysia, Ukraine
and Armenia on Monday.
Signaling the US-led push for new sanctions on Iran is on leaders’
minds even if not on the summit agenda, the White House said Obama
told Zuma a "strong and unified international response" is required
over Tehran’s nuclear program.
The West wants further sanctions to deter Iran from what is seen as
a covert nuclear weapons development drive, while Tehran says it has
only peaceful nuclear ambitions.
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-Qa’ida and the Taliban make the country one of
the areas of greatest concern.
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 has disposed 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 said Obama would also meet Turkish Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the summit. A US 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.