US President Barack Obama said on Sunday that al-Qaeda would not hesitate to use a nuclear weapon against the US, before hosting a global summit aimed at thwarting such a nightmare scenario.
Obama was to seek support from fellow leaders for his effort to safeguard all unsecured nuclear material around the world within four years when he opened the largest summit chaired by a US president in 65 years yesterday.
He conjured up the horrific possibility of a nuclear detonation in New York City, London or Johannesburg, and the serious global economic, political and security trauma that would result, to characterize the gravity of the threat.
“The single biggest threat to US security, both short-term, medium-term and long-term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon,” Obama said on the eve of the two-day summit.
“This is something that could change the security landscape of this country and around the world for years to come,” Obama said. “We know that organizations like al-Qaeda are in the process of trying to secure a nuclear weapon — a weapon of mass destruction that they have no compunction at using.”
Despite the focus on extremist groups, two states — Iran and North Korea, which already has the bomb — will cast a shadow over the global meet.
Washington is leading an effort to toughen sanctions within weeks on Iran over its nuclear program, which the US and its allies say is aimed at producing weapons, a charge Tehran denies.
The White House will seek concrete commitments from world leaders on securing stockpiles of separated plutonium and uranium to ensure that they cannot be stolen, smuggled or sold to extremists.
“The threat of nuclear war ... has diminished. The threat of nuclear terrorism has increased,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told ABC News.
To begin his counter-proliferation drive, Obama met Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazerbayev and South African President Jacob Zuma.
He also held talks with Indian Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Pakistani Yousuf Raza Gilani.
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