US officials have admitted secretly monitoring radiation levels at Islamic sites amid fears that al Qaeda activists may be developing nuclear explosives. Scores of mosques and private addresses have been checked for radiation, reports said.
A spokesman for the Justice Department said these steps were needed in the fight against the terrorist group.
US News and World Report first reported the program, saying that monitoring was conducted at more than 100 Islamic sites in Washington DC, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, New York and Seattle.
The magazine added that, at its peak, three vehicles in Washington monitored 120 sites daily. Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based civil rights group, said the monitoring was "a complete shock to us and everyone in the Muslim community".
