IAEA chief ElBaradei fears for Pak nuclear arsenal security

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei has expressed concern over the Pakistans nuclear arsenal, saying it could fall into extremist hands.

Beirut, Jan 9 : International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei has expressed concern over the Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, saying it could fall into extremist hands.

"I fear that chaos... or an extremist regime could take root in that country which has 30 to 40 warheads," ElBaradei told the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat in an interview.

He said that he was "worried that nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of an extremist group in Pakistan or in Afghanistan."

He went on to say that a war in the Middle East or in the Muslim world could have bad repercussions in Pakistan, more than in Iran. ElBaradei also said that the chances of terror groups attempting to attack on a radioactive facility are growing.

"Terror groups might try to attack a facility housing radioactive materials in a populated area or even in one (of the world's) capitals, which could lead to a wide area being infected with radiation and thousands of deaths," The Nation quoted him, as saying. We know the terror organisations would like to carry out such an attack and in fact they are more likely to succeed in that than they are in getting their hands of nuclear weapons," he added.

ANI