A Website Explains How To Make A Nuclear Bomb

The US government posted on the Internet Iraqi documents that explain how to build a nuclear bomb, the New York Times reported on its website.

The Times said that officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency had complained to US officials last week about the postings of "roughly a dozen" documents from Iraq's pre-1991 nuclear research that contained diagrams, equations and other details for making a nuclear bomb.

The Times cited experts who said the documents "constitute a basic guide to building an atom bomb."

The US government posted the bomb-related documents on a website set up last March to make available to the public a huge archive of Iraqi government papers, hoping that the public would help sift through the archive for useful information government translators did not have time to search for.

The Times said that earlier in the year UN arms control officials had complained about documents on the website that had information on producing extremely dangerous nerve agents sarin and tabun.

The Times said that the website, called the "Operation Iraqi Freedom Document Portal", was shut down Thursday after the newspaper made enquiries about the nuclear-related documents.

Chad Kolton, spokesman for US Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, told the Times in a statement that "While strict criteria had already been established to govern posted documents, the material currently on the website, as well as the procedures used to post new documents, will be carefully reviewed before the site becomes available again."

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse

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