Terror attack on West 'soon'
2006-01-17 07:54
London - It is only a matter of time before terror groups like al-Qaeda use weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against Western targets, the United States' counter-terrorism chief Henry Crumpton warned on Tuesday.
Such an attack using biological agents could pose an even greater threat to security than a nuclear strike, Crumpton, the US State Department co-ordinator for counter-terrorism, told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
The former US Central Intelligence Agency officer also spoke of the changing nature of terrorism and how the fight against it was likely to last "decades".
"We are talking about micro targets such as al-Qaeda which, when combined with WMD, have a macro impact. I rate the probability of terror groups using WMD (to attack Western targets) as very high," he told the newspaper.
Biological threat
"It's simply a question of time. And it is not just the nuclear threat that bothers me. I think, if anything, the biological threat is going to grow. As catastrophic as a nuclear attack would be, it would be self-contained.
"But if you look at a worst-case scenario for a biological attack, it would be difficult to determine whether or not it was a terrorist attack, and it would be far more difficult to contain."
Crumpton said that following the 2001 war in Afghanistan against the ruling Taliban, allied forces had discovered al-Qaeda had been working on anthrax programmes to use against the West.
"They had hired a very experienced biologist to work on this. They were very serious about it and there is no reason to believe they have given up on their interest," he added.
The official said fears that terrorist groups could acquire WMD from so-called rogue states like Iran or Syria were behind Washington's determination to face down Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme.
"If we look at the threat posed by Iran, they have links with Hizbollah (the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim militia), which is a terrorist organisation with a global reach, and they are actively pursuing WMD," he explained.
"And the leadership has made a conscious decision to defy international treaties. I am deeply troubled by this."
Crumpton said the West had "made life very difficult" for the al-Qaeda network following the September 11 2001 attacks in the United States but more still needed to be done.
Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was "in all probability" still alive, he said, and Syria also posed a threat to western security.
"The regime continues to support terror organisations. And we know that the Baathist leadership (of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein) fled to Damascus taking with them money and terrorist expertise, and we cannot rule out the fact that some of that expertise related to WMD," Crumpton said.