- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Information
relating to nuclear weapons found in an al Qaeda safe house in Afghanistan
was probably taken from the Internet, U.S. Homeland Security Director Tom
Ridge said on Thursday.
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- Several news organizations have reported that documents
found at the safe house located in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul contained
details on how to build nuclear devices.
-
- ``Much of that information could have been taken right
off the Internet some years ago. So there is nothing unusual about that
information,'' Ridge told reporters, after viewing anti-terrorism technology
at the Energy Department.
-
- Ridge said he was briefed on Thursday morning about the
documents and was told the information they contained was already public.
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- ``It was available to the public through other sources
other than through the al Qaeda network,'' he said.
-
- Nonetheless, Ridge said the documents are consistent
with statements made by Osama bin Laden that his al Qaeda network had nuclear
materials.
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- ``It is not to say -- it does not confirm that he has
the (nuclear) capacity, it just says that whether it is bin Laden or some
other potential foe of this country, we have to be prepared for all eventualities,
including a nuclear threat,'' Ridge said.
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- The United States and its allies blame Saudi-born bin
Laden for the Sept. 11 hijack attacks on New York and Washington that killed
about 4,500 people. The United States vowed to topple the Taliban after
the hard-line Muslim militia refused to hand over bin Laden and his cohorts.
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