Osama's nuclear bid revealed

A leading Pakistani nuclear scientist has said Osama bin Laden approached him before the September 11 attacks for help making nuclear weapons.

The terror leader was rebuffed, said Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood’s son Azim. The scientist is barred by his government from talking to reporters.

“Basically, Osama asked my father, ‘How can a nuclear bomb be made and can you help us make one?”’ he said. “My father said, ‘No, and secondly you must understand it is not child’s play for you to build a nuclear bomb.”’

Azim said his father had met bin Laden in 2000 and as late as July 2001.

Their conversations, as he described them, clearly show bin Laden was interested in developing nuclear weapons, but do not reveal whether bin Laden had taken even the first steps.

There has been previous evidence of al-Qaida’s interest in nuclear weapons. Computers found at various facilities in Afghanistan indicated that the terror network had sought to obtain and develop nuclear and other potent weapons.