Of course, now that Democrats control the House and Senate, Chimpy McHaliburton is hamstrung, and we’re going to have a shiny happy Department of Peace soon, there’s really no need to be concerned about stories like this.

Right? Al Qaeda seeking nuclear kit for attacks: UK official.

LONDON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda is trying to acquire the technology that would enable it to use a nuclear device to attack Western targets including Britain, a senior British official said on Monday.

“We know the aspiration is there. We know attempts to gather materials are there, we know that attempts to gather technology are there,” the senior Foreign Office official told reporters.

The comments at a briefing came days after the head of Britain’s domestic spy agency said Muslim extremists were plotting at least 30 major terrorist attacks in Britain which could involve chemical and nuclear devices.

The Foreign Office official, asked whether there was any doubt that Al Qaeda wants to gather nuclear material for use against Western targets, said: “No doubt at all.”

UPDATE at 11/13/06 12:54:16 pm:

Some more stuff we won’t have to worry about as soon as John Bolton is gone: Seizures of radioactive materials fuel ‘dirty bomb’ fears. (Hat tip: Doss.)

SEIZURES of smuggled radioactive material capable of making a terrorist “dirty bomb” have doubled in the past four years, according to official figures seen by The Times.

Smugglers have been caught trying to traffick dangerous radioactive material more than 300 times since 2002, statistics from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) show. Most of the incidents are understood to have occurred in Europe.

The disclosures come as al-Qaeda is known to be intensfiying its efforts to obtain a radoactive device. Last year, Western security services, including MI5 and MI6, thwarted 16 attempts to smuggle plutonium or uranium. On two occasions small quantities of highly enriched uranium were reported missing. All were feared to have been destined for terror groups.