ISLAMABAD -- The arrest of the alleged "dirty bomber" in the United States last month once again is a reminder of the dangers posed by unchecked dissemination of nuclear knowledge, especially when it is dropped into the hands of militant individuals. That Jose Padilla, alias Abdullah al-Muhajir, would go to the extent of seeking information on conventional bombs so that they could be packed with radioactive material demonstrates that there is no limit to how far terrorist groups are prepared to go.
Padilla's arrest has once again drawn Pakistan into the limelight amid suggestions that he spent time in the South Asian country, making contact with members of the al-Qaeda group and seeking information on explosives. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, lives in difficult times.
Recently, at the peak of Pakistan's military standoff with India, the Pakistani government's suggestion that it was unwilling to give up the first nuclear-strike option, if faced with the danger of being overrun, prompted renewed concern over nuclear safety in South Asia. Until now, Pakistan had not figured in the controversy over whether nuclear programs in Russia and other countries were safely guarded.