US steps up border security over al-Qaida nuclear threat
A senior US security official told Time Magazine a recent captive in the war on terror admitted to “al-Qaida’s interest in moving nuclear materials from Europe to either the US or Mexico.”
Sharif al-Masri, an Egyptian, was captured in late August near Pakistan’s border with Iran and Afghanistan.
According to the intelligence report, al-Masri said al-Qaida has considered plans to “smuggle nuclear materials to Mexico, then operatives would carry material into the US.”
Meanwhile, US and Mexican intelligence officials were alerted to reports other al-Qaida detainees had described Mexico as a staging area “to acquire end-
stage chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear material.”
The Mexican border has long been a security concern for the US.
It is feared terrorists could also use the mountain passes or other soft spots to get into the US.
