[ovrtaxt]

In 1995, the Chechens under Com. Shamail Basayev planted a radiological bomb in Izmailovsky Park near Moscow . The bomb was made of cesium-137, and, if detonated, would have killed thousands of Russians. This incident represented the first case of a nuke to be deployed as a weapon of terror. Later that same year, Dzokhar Dudayev, the leader of the Chechen Mafia, offered to sell his collection of nuclear weapons to the United States in exchange for U. S. recognition of Chechnya 's independence. The Clinton Administration declined and so the weapons were sold to al-Qaida.

I've never heard this before. Shades of the Sudan blunder?

[jammer]

I'm not sure I believe that. It has been posted on FR that since the fall of the Soviet Union and GHW Bush, the CIA policy was to purchase any black market WMDs, no questions asked. I could be wrong, but that sounds rational.