BRUSSELS, June 14 (UPI) -- Countries in Africa and the Middle East pose a greater threat than former Soviet states as sources for "dirty bomb" nuclear materials, U.S. officials said.
"In North Africa and the Middle East you have terrorist organizations, unstable governments, in some cases actual civil conflict and lack of control over sovereign territory," Simon Limage, a non-proliferation specialist at the U.S. State Department, told the EUobserver in an interview published Friday.
A dirty bomb combines radioactive material with conventional explosives.
"In the former Soviet Union we still have remaining challenges, but we are dealing with relatively stable governments with which we have a history of engagement," Limage said.
Ann Harrington, a U.S. Energy Department official, said the same concerns "could also apply to Pakistan."
"The risk of using these things [nuclear, chemical and biological materials] in a dirty bomb or a radiological dispersal device is of great concern to us," Harrington said.
Limage and Harrington were in Brussels this week for talks with European Union members on how to prevent weapons of mass destruction from reaching Western allies, such as Jordan and Turkey, or getting into Europe and the United States.
Harrington said the European Union and the United States will share information.
"We know there are well established smuggling routes, for example from central Africa through Libya to Europe. This has been a route since the time of the caravans. The oases haven't moved," she said.
Limage said conventional weapons represent "the most immediate and dangerous threat" when discussing arms proliferation in the region.
