Tightening nuclear security imperative in post-bin Laden world

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Preventing terrorists, including members of al-Qaida, from gaining access to nuclear weapons has become urgent after Osama bin Laden was killed in his hideout in Pakistan in a firefight with U.S. forces, a non-proliferation expert noted Tuesday.

William Tobey, senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs of Harvard University, said that world leaders should come up with measures to tighten nuclear security at the Seoul Nuclear Summit to be held next March.

The Seoul summit is drawing fresh attention as al-Qaida reportedly threatened a nuclear attack against the West.

Tobey, however, played down the risk of retaliation by al-Qaida increasing in the post-bin Laden world.

“We know that al-Qaida has long sought to conduct acts of nuclear terrorism, but so far, has proven unsuccessful. The key, of course, is to preventing them from gaining access to fissile material,” he said.

Tobey, a former deputy administrator for defense nuclear non-proliferation at the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, made the remarks a day after bin Laden was killed.

Following his death, some terrorism experts expressed worries over bin Laden followers’ attempts at retaliation against the United States, as well as its allies, such as South Korea.

On Tuesday, officials of South Korean embassies and other foreign missions were ordered to tighten security to better prepare for possible terrorist threats by al-Qaida operatives.

Asking not to be named, a diplomatic source said there was a possibility that al-Qaida agents will come up with a plot to attack South Korea.

In particular, the official went on to say that South Korean embassies in the Middle East and Africa could be the target of the terrorist attacks.

The terror alert came against the backdrop of al-Qaida’s nuclear threat that was manifested in classified documents which were leaked to WikiLeaks last month.

In those documents, a senior al-Qaida commander claimed that the international terrorist group has hidden a nuclear bomb in Europe which will be detonated if bin Laden is caught or assassinated.

The U.S. government and its allies halted al-Qaida’s numerous attempts to obtain nuclear materials, fearing that terrorists have already bought uranium.

Tobey noted that the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit needs to directly address the imperative of preventing terrorists from gaining access to fissile material.

The summit needs to focus its attention and resources of governments around the world on improving nuclear security and cracking down on illicit nuclear trafficking, he stressed.

“Specific actions that the governments could undertake would include setting a date to end the use of highly enriched uranium in civil applications, mandating stronger regulatory oversight of security and adopting strong minimum standards for securing fissile material,” Tobey noted.

The Seoul Nuclear Security Summit will become a large gathering of world leaders, focusing on how to keep nuclear material away from non-state actors, such as terrorist groups.

In the U.S. Nuclear Security Summit held last year, 36 heads of state and officials from 10 other governments reached a broad agreement on improving security at places such as research reactors where nuclear material is stored.

미 전문가: 알 카에다 핵 테러 가능성 낮아

미국의 비확산 전문가는 알 카에다가 공언한 핵을 사용한 테러 가능성은 낮다고 진단했다.

윌리엄 토비 하버드 대학 벨퍼센터 선임연구원은 일부에서 우려하는 것과 같이 알 카에다가 핵을 사용해 미국과 그 동맹국에 보복을 할 가능성은 낮으나, 알 카에다와 같은 테러집단에 핵물질이 전달되지 않게 하기 위해 국제사회가 적극적인 노력을 경주할 필요가 있다고 밝혔다.

코리아 타임스와의 인터뷰를 통해 토비 연구원은 내년 서울에서 열릴 핵안보정상회담에서 각국 정부는 “원자력 산업에서 고농축 우라늄 사용을 중단할 시기를 정하고, 핵 안전관련 규제를 강화하는 한편, 핵물질 확보기준을 보다 더 강화”할 필요가 있다고 진단했다.

9.11 테러를 지휘한 오사마 빈 라덴이 미국의 군사작전에 의해 사망하자 한국정부는 해외 한국인에 대한 알 카에다의 테러위협에 철저하게 대응할 것을 전세계 공관에 지시한 바 있다.