CERN ends up in the news quite unexpectedly at times:
PARIS — The French authorities have arrested a physicist who worked for years at CERN, the huge nuclear research center in Switzerland, on suspicion of links to Al Qaeda’s affiliate in North Africa, the center said Friday.
Unless terrorists are interested in understanding the fundamental laws that govern our universe, then there definitely is nothing of interest for them at CERN.
I wonder what this all is about?
Tags: publicity
Maybe they’ve been watching Angels and Demons?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808151/synopsis
The UK’s Daily Mail reports that nuclear scientist, Dr Adlene Hicheur, who admitted pinpointing targets for Al Qaeda was yesterday charged with ‘criminal activities related to a terrorist group’. It’s reports of this nature that remind us why so many experts have said, it’s not a question of “if” terrorists get their hands on nuclear weapons, but rather, “when”.
During a brief court appearance at the Palais de Justice in Paris, anti-terrorist judge Christophe Teissier heard how the French authorities had been working with MI5 and the CIA to track Hicheur’s movements around the world.
There were growing fears he was planning a nuclear attack.
He has admitted planning at least one attack with terrorists from Algeria.
The confession in a high-security jail near Paris came before his brother Zitouni, 25, was released without charge after three days of questioning.
U.S. monitors picked up the internet exchange between Hicheur and his North African contacts.
A British security source said: ‘It appears that Al Qaeda are now recruiting extremely intelligent people who have both the knowledge and the resources to potentially create a nuclear bomb or identify nuclear targets. http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2009/10/12/nuclear-scientist-admits-plotting-al-qaeda-attacks/