Al-Qaeda and the Taliban have acquired a formula that could help the militant groups to develop chemical weapons, a top Pakistani police official told lawmakers in his country last week (see GSN, Aug. 11, 2008).
Pakistani authorities have obtained "information" suggesting that the organizations could produce deadly chemical agents, Malik Naveed, police inspector general in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, told the London Telegraph.
Pakistani journalists learned of his report after it was delivered to lawmakers.
"It was an in-house report, it was not supposed to reach the press," Naveed said. "It was based on information we have received." (Isambard Wilkinson, London Telegraph, April 7).