WASHINGTON, April 9 (Saba) -- US officials described the nuclear security summit to be held next week in Washington as "an unprecedented gathering" to deal with the threat of nuclear terrorism, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported on Friday.

"This summit is dedicated to nuclear security and the threat of nuclear terrorism. And I think that it is absolutely fundamental to view this summit with the starting point of the grave nature of the threat of nuclear terrorism", said White House Deputy National Security Advisor for strategic communications Ben Rhodes in a conference call.

"We know that terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda, are pursuing the materials to build a nuclear weapon, and we know that they have the intent to use one. This, of course, would be a catastrophic danger to the American national security and to global security, were they able to carry out that kind of attack", he added.

Obama will host the nuclear security summit, described by Rhodes as "a global summit to rally the collective action that is necessary to achieve that goal".
"Obviously, no one nation is capable of taking the actions necessary to secure vulnerable nuclear materials that are in many different countries and in many different regions of the world. Similarly, no one nation is capable of pursuing the kind of nuclear security measures that can prevent the transit illicit transit of those types of materials", he added.

Rhodes described the summit as "an unprecedented gathering of nations" to address an issue that "underscores the seriousness of the threat posed by nuclear terrorism".
Obama will have an opportunity to hold bilateral talks with foreign leaders attending the summit, including Chinese President Hu Jintao and Jordanian King Abdullah.
"The president and King Abdullah have had a close working relationship for a number of years, dating back to even before the president was elected, when he was able to visit the King in Amman. The president has been looking forward to an opportunity to host King Abdullah to discuss again a range of issues on which we cooperate with", noted Rhodes.

Meanwhile, White House Coordinator for Arms Control Gary Samore said that the nuclear security summit "is focused on a very specific issue of securing nuclear materials and cooperating to prevent nuclear smuggling in order to reduce as much as possible the threat that terrorist groups or criminal gangs get their hands on nuclear materials that can be used for nuclear weapons".

"The focus will be on national actions that countries can take, to secure nuclear material that is under their control and to deal with the risk of nuclear smuggling within their territory", he added.

Samore noted that "government regulation is a very important component, as well as measures that countries will take, so that they have a strong legal system to take action against any individuals who are involved in nuclear smuggling".
Saba