01 April 2016

News Story: Islamic State threat raises stakes for US nuclear summit

By Andrew BEATTY

The specter of the Islamic State group obtaining a "dirty bomb" will loom over a top-level nuclear security summit hosted by President Barack Obama in Washington on Thursday and Friday.

Obama welcomes several leaders from countries as diverse as China and Nigeria, as well as representatives from nearly 50 other nations, for the summit aimed at elevating the problem of shaky safeguards from the desks of technocrats to the highest corridors of power.

The meeting comes just days after 32 people were killed and 340 were injured in bombings at Brussels airport and the Belgian capital's metro.

The attacks featured conventional explosives, but two of the suicide bombers -- Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui -- have been linked to possible efforts by the Islamic State (IS) group to secure fissile material.

Late last year, Belgian police investigating the November 13 Paris terror attacks found 10 hours of video surveillance detailing the comings and goings of a senior Belgian nuclear official.

Belgian media have since reported that the brothers were linked to the surveillance.

The incident has only heightened existing concerns about IS efforts to get nuclear material.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily