Editing Nuclear terrorism (section)

===Al-Qaeda===
From its foundation in 1988, [[al-Qaeda]] had a military subcommittee on nuclear weapons and tried to purchase fissile material from [[Post-Soviet states|former Soviet Union]] and its former [[Eastern Bloc|satellite states]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Wright|first=Lawrence|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/761224415|title=The looming tower : Al-Qaeda and the road to 9/11|date=2011|isbn=978-0-525-56436-2|edition=First Vintage books edition, [revised]|location=New York|oclc=761224415}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Mowatt-Larssen|first=Rolf|title=Al Qaeda's Pursuit of Weapons of Mass Destruction|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/01/25/al-qaedas-pursuit-of-weapons-of-mass-destruction/|access-date=2021-06-14|website=Foreign Policy|date=25 January 2010|language=en-US|archive-date=2017-11-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114211242/http://foreignpolicy.com/2010/01/25/al-qaedas-pursuit-of-weapons-of-mass-destruction/|url-status=live}}</ref> After al-Qaeda merged with [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]]'s [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad]] the new Shura Council held internal discussions on nuclear weapons, and in 1998 [[Osama bin Laden]] issued a [[fatwa]] declaring that it was his religious duty to acquire and use nuclear weapons.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Salama|first1=Sammy|last2=Hansell|first2=Lydia|date=November 2005|title=Does Intent equal Capability? Al-Qaeda and Weapons of Mass Destruction|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10736700600601236|journal=The Nonproliferation Review|language=en|volume=12|issue=3|pages=615–653|doi=10.1080/10736700600601236|s2cid=18145118|issn=1073-6700|access-date=2021-06-14|archive-date=2023-02-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212135158/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10736700600601236|url-status=live}}</ref> Al-Qaeda defector [[Jamal al-Fadl]] told the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] that bin Laden paid a [[Sudanese Armed Forces]] general $1.5 million for a cylinder of [[cinnabar]] which he believed contained [[Nuclear programme of South Africa|South African uranium]] in 1993.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> In April 2001, a Bulgarian businessman claimed bin Laden offered to buy fissile material from him in a meeting near the [[China–Pakistan border|China-Pakistan border]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2008-08-22|title=Julian Borger on what has happened to all the radioactive material that has gone missing since the end of the cold war|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/aug/23/nuclear.terrorism.united.nations|access-date=2021-06-14|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=2021-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614033244/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/aug/23/nuclear.terrorism.united.nations|url-status=live}}</ref>

In bin Laden's only interview with a journalist after the [[September 11 attacks]], he and al-Zawahiri claimed that al-Qaeda possessed readily usable chemical and nuclear weapons. It is generally believed, including by the interviewer [[Hamid Mir]], that they were bluffing and that it would have been extremely unlikely for al-Qaeda to have procured weapons of mass destruction at that time.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bergen, Peter L., 1962-|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/769258354|title=Manhunt : the ten-year search for Bin Laden : from 9/11 to Abbottabad|date=2012|publisher=Doubleday Canada|isbn=978-0-385-67677-9|location=Toronto|pages=36–37|oclc=769258354|access-date=2020-06-19|archive-date=2020-06-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621034125/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/769258354|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to ''Bunn & Wier'', bin Laden requested a ruling (a fatwa), and was subsequently informed via a cleric of Saudi Arabia during 2003, of it being in accordance with [[Sharia|Islamic law]] for him to use a nuclear device against civilians if it was the only course of action available to him in a situation of defending Muslims against the actions of the U.S. military.<ref name="M. BUNN & A. WIER">{{cite book|url=http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/bunnwier.pdf|author1=M. BUNN|author2=A. WIER|name-list-style=amp|title=The Seven Myths of Nuclear Terrorism|publisher=[[Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs]]|access-date=2015-08-08|archive-date=2020-04-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408153223/http://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/files/bunnwier.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to leaked diplomatic documents, al-Qaeda can produce radiological weapons, after sourcing nuclear material and recruiting rogue scientists to build "dirty bombs".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/world/alqaeda-moving-world-toward-nuclear-911-20110202-1adqd.html |title=al-Qaeda moving world toward 'nuclear 9/11' |date=February 3, 2011 |work=The Age |location=Melbourne |access-date=January 31, 2015 |archive-date=April 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408150242/https://www.theage.com.au/world/alqaeda-moving-world-towards-nuclear-911-20110202-1adqd.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Al-Qaeda, along with some [[North Caucasus]] terrorist groups that seek to establish an [[Islamic Caliphate]] in [[Russia]], have consistently stated they seek nuclear weapons and have tried to acquire them.<ref name="harvard2011" /> Al-Qaeda has sought nuclear weapons for almost two decades by attempting to purchase stolen nuclear material and weapons and has sought nuclear expertise on numerous occasions. Osama bin Laden stated that the acquisition of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction is a “religious duty.”<ref name="harvard2010">{{cite web|url=http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/all-stocks-of-weapons-usable-material-eng.pdf|title=All Stocks of Weapons-Usable Nuclear Materials Worldwide Must be Protected Against Global Terrorist Threats|year=2010|publisher=Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University|access-date=July 26, 2012|author1=Bunn, Matthew|author2=Col-Gen. E.P. Maslin|name-list-style=amp|archive-date=April 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408153347/https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/files/all-stocks-of-weapons-usable-material-eng.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> While pressure from a wide range of counter-terrorist activity has hampered Al-Qaeda's ability to manage such a complex project, there is no sign that it has jettisoned its goals of acquiring [[fissile material]]. Statements made as recently as 2008 indicate that Al-Qaeda's nuclear ambitions are still very strong.<ref name="harvard2011" />{{update inline|date=July 2021}} The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism issued a report that al-Qaeda would attempt to use.