Moscow: There is a potential and real threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) falling into the hands of regrouped terrorist organisations such as Taleban and al-Qaida, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said on January 17.

Responding to reporters at a brief press-encounter after his meeting with visiting Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes, Sergei Ivanov noted that at several occasions the Russian leadership had pointed at this 'real' threat of nuclear and other WMD falling into the terrorist hands.

Without directly naming Pakistan, Sergei Ivanov said that there were "some countries" which were fighting the terrorist threat "in words only".

He urged members of the global anti-terror coalition, fighting against international terrorism "not in words," to unite in enforcing the non-proliferation and control regimes to prevent nuclear and other mass destruction weapons falling into the hands of terrorists.

"This is a problem that some nations prefer to talk about rather than actually deal with," Ivanov said, urging for "stronger coordination of our actions under the WMD control regime."

PTI