Expressing concerns over the expanding terror threat, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen has said Al-Qaeda is trying to get hold of nuclear weapons to wreak havoc across the world particularly in America. Speaking at the Junior Statesman Summer School Programme, Admiral Mullen said the leadership of both Al-Qaeda and the Taliban is desperately trying to acquire nukes to target Western countries. "Terrorist organisations, Al-Qaeda in particular, have been very open and direct about their desire to get a nuclear device and continue to terrorise people in accordance with their strategic approach, killing as many Americans and westerners as they possibly can with a device like that," Admiral Mullen said. Admiral Mullen said it is very important to check the expansion of nuclear armaments among countries that already possess the technology.

"It is a very dangerous time. Those are very dangerous weapons. And we would like to contain them and see them over time reduced as much as possible. It becomes all the more important to make sure no new countries are able to acquire it," The News quoted Admiral Mullen, as saying.

Admiral Mullen's statements comes a day after he claimed that Al-Qaida chief Osama-bin-Laden is hiding in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and can strike the United States from there.