U.S. 'disrupted' al Qaeda WMD efforts

By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

U.S. and international programs to defeat al Qaeda have limited the terrorist group's ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction, the No. 2 U.S. intelligence official said.

Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden, principal deputy director of national intelligence, said in a recent speech that al Qaeda remains dangerous but has grown more diffuse.

In explaining successes in the global war against terrorists in the past 4? years, Gen. Hayden noted that the United States and its allies "disrupted [al Qaeda?s] efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction."

He and other intelligence officials declined to provide specifics of the disruption.

However, administration officials said operations in Afghanistan and a few recent incidents show that al Qaeda continues to seek nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological weapons.