US terror suspects in nuclear plant threat

Published on Saturday 26 December 2009 19:28

FEARS of a terrorist strike on a nuclear power plant in Pakistan were raised yesterday when police revealed they were detaining five Americans.

The young Muslim men, who are from the Washington DC area, were arrested in Pakistan earlier this month in a case that has spurred fears that westerners may be travelling to Pakistan to join militant groups.

A Pakistani government official said the men had established contact with Taleban commanders and planned to attack sites in Pakistan.

The men had a map of Chashma Barrage – a complex of wetlands that includes a reservoir, airport and other structures, including nuclear power facilities – said Javed Islam, a police official in the Sargodha area of Punjab province. Islam said the detained men had exchanged e-mails about the area. He added: "We are also working to retrieve some of the deleted material in their computers."

Pakistan has an arsenal of nuclear weapons, but it also has nuclear power plants for civilian purposes. It began operating its first nuclear power station in 1972.

China helped Pakistan build the nuclear plant at Chashma, about 125 miles south-west of the capital, Islamabad. Work on a second nuclear power plant is expected to be completed in 2011. Any nuclear activity in Pakistan tends to come under scrutiny because of the nation's history of leaking sensitive nuclear secrets.

Pakistani police plan to recommend that courts charge the men with collecting and attempting to collect material to carry out terrorist activities.

The punishments for those charges range from seven years to life in prison.

Officials in both countries have said they expected the men would eventually be deported back to the United States, but charging the men in Pakistan could delay that process.

Punjab province law minister Rana Sanaullah said yesterday the men had established contact with Taleban commanders and had planned to meet Pakistani Taleban chief Hakimullah Mehsud and his deputy Qari Hussain in Pakistan's tribal regions before going on to attack sites inside Pakistan.

The detainees are accused of using Facebook and YouTube to try to connect with extremist groups in Pakistan.