Asia's Ticking Nuclear Time Bomb--A Times

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5//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong Nov 17, 2004

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FK17Aa02.html



ASIA’S TICKING NUCLEAR TIME-BOMB

By Alan Boyd

SYDNEY - Asia's relentless pursuit of nuclear energy is causing a few sleepless nights for the anti-terrorism community as the security focus shifts from rogue states with regional ambitions to the equally sinister back door of individual opportunism.

A summit of 18 Asia-Pacific security ministers in Sydney late last week was told that few states had safeguards in place to prevent the illicit export of nuclear materials that could be used to make explosive devices or hold countries to ransom.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) even went so far as to label the threat posed by this trade as "a race against time", noting that there had been about 630 confirmed incidents of trafficking in nuclear or other radioactive materials since 1993.

"We need to do all we can to work on the new phenomenon called nuclear terrorism, which was sprung on us after when we realized terrorists had become more sophisticated and had shown an interest in nuclear and radioactive material," IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei said at the talks.

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