Report - Al-Qaida built 'dirty bomb'

LONDON -- Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network successfully built a crude radiological device known as a "dirty bomb" in Afghanistan, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported Thursday.

British intelligence agents infiltrated the network and found documents that showed al-Qaida members had built the device near Herat in western Afghanistan, the BBC said.

Britain's Foreign Office said Thursday the report substantiated expert opinion that al-Qaida wanted to develop a nuclear weapon.

"The evidence presented in the BBC report speaks for itself," a spokesman told The Associated Press. "It provides proof to substantiate expert opinion that al-Qaida was interested in developing nuclear weapons."

In Washington, a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was no doubt about bin Laden's interest in acquiring a "dirty bomb" -- a conventional bomb capable of spreading radiation.

But the U.S. official said, "We have no evidence to substantiate that he's built such a device."

The British intelligence agents did not find the device itself and it has not since been recovered, BBC reported. According to the BBC, the Taliban regime helped al-Qaida construct the device by providing medical isotopes.

The BBC report did not say where the agents found the documents, when the device was thought to have been constructed or how much radiation it could spread.

The documents were sent to the British government's weapons research facility in Porton Down, southern England, the BBC said. Scientists concluded al-Qaida had constructed a small "dirty bomb," not a full blown nuclear device.

There has been previous evidence of al-Qaida's interest in developing a "dirty bomb." Such a radiological weapon would be far less deadly and damaging than a nuclear explosion.

Computers found by journalists and U.S. troops at a variety of facilities in Afghanistan indicated al-Qaida had sought to obtain and develop nuclear and other potent weapons.

During a New York trial two years ago, a former bin Laden aide testified he was ordered in 1993 to try to buy uranium on the black market for an effort to develop a nuclear weapon. Jamal Ahmed Al-Fadl said al-Qaida was prepared to spend $1.5 million, but he didn't know if a purchase was ever made.

In addition, U.S. officials have said captured al-Qaida lieutenant Abu Zubaydah told American interrogators the terrorist network was working on a "dirty bomb."

Authorities also have said that Jose Padilla, a former Chicago gang member charged with plotting with al-Qaida, attended two meetings in Karachi, Pakistan, at which senior al-Qaida operatives discussed the possible use of a "dirty bomb."