



Iraq tells UN that 'terrorist groups' have seized nuclear materials


Michelle Nichols

New York: ISIL insurgents in Iraq have seized nuclear materials used for scientific research at a university in the country's north, Iraq has told the United Nations in a letter appealing for help to "stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad".


"Terrorist groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state," Mr Alhakim wrote, adding that such materials "can be used in manufacturing weapons of mass destruction". However, US security sources said it would be difficult to make weapons from the material.


He warned that they could also be smuggled out of Iraq.

A US government source familiar with the matter said the materials were not believed to be enriched uranium and therefore would be difficult to use to manufacture into a weapon. Another US official familiar with security matters said he was unaware of this development raising any alarm among US authorities.

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, a Sunni Muslim group that has declared itself the Islamic State, is spearheading a patchwork of insurgents who have taken over large swaths of Syria and Iraq.

Iraq acceded to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material on Monday, said the International Atomic Energy Agency. The convention requires states to protect nuclear facilities and material in peaceful domestic use, storage and transport.



Featured advertisers

Special offers

Credit card, savings and loan rates by Mozo