Negroponte: Al-Qaida biggest terror threat
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-03 09:49

He reiterated the intelligence community's assessment that, after more than 20 years of clandestine work, Tehran "probably has not yet" produced a nuclear weapon or obtained fissile material. But the risk that it will acquire the weapons and merge them with its existing ballistic missile systems "is a reason for immediate concern."

On North Korea, which boasts of having nuclear weapons, Negroponte said those claims are "probably true." He said the government there sees nuclear weapons as the best way to ensure security, prestige and economic gain.

"We do not know the conditions under which North Korea might be willing to fully relinquish its nuclear weapons and its weapons program," he said. He added that U.S. intelligence is unaware of opposition to the government among the country's elite.

Hop-scotching through other global issues, Negroponte said Afghanistan faces challenges as it confronts an insurgency that will impede the new government, slow economic development and weaken counter-narcotics operations.

He called Syria a "pivotal but generally unhelpful player" in a troubled region.

He said next year's elections in Nigeria will be the most important in Africa because it is the continent's most populous nation and largest oil producer.

He said Saudi Arabia's crackdown on al-Qaida has prevented major terror attacks there, but later acknowledged that some private Saudi citizens still make charitable donations that wind up going to terrorists. "I think efforts and ways have to be found to discourage that kind of activity," he said.