US claims to have thwarted radioactive attack

The US Attorney General Mr John Ashcroft has said US authorities have prevented an attack on the US with a radioactive 'dirty…

The US Attorney General Mr John Ashcroft has said US authorities have prevented an attack on the US with a radioactive 'dirty bomb'.

Speaking on American television, Mr Ashcroft said the US had "captured a known terrorist who was exploring a

plan to build and explode a radiological dispersion device, or dirty bomb, in the United States."

Mr John Ashcroft

The alleged terrorist, named as Abdullah Al Mujahir, was arrested arriving into the United States at Chicago's O'Hare Airport on Saturday, May 8th.

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He was being held by the Department of Justice but has now been handed over to the Department of Defence as an 'enemy combatant'.

The prisoner is being held, it is understood, under the same status as prisoners in Guatamano Bay and will potentially have reduced rights for a trial in the future.

The planned bomb was described by Mr Ashcroft as highly toxic to humans with the potential to cause mass death.

Mr Ashcroft said Mujahir is a former Chicago street gang member who served time in prison in the 1990s. He then converted to Islam and met with Al-Qaeda leaders in 2001 before returning to the United States.

He said: "He trained with the enemy, including studying how to wire explosive devices and researching radiological dispersion devices."

The probable target of Mujahir's plans to detonate the bomb was Washington DC. The plot is not believed to have passed the early planning stages.

Additional reporting by PA