US panel presents sobering report on WMD threat

WASHINGTON: The authors of a report warning that a nuclear or biological attack is likely within five years present their sobering findings Wednesday to vice-president-elect Joseph Biden.

The bipartisan commission will also brief to prevent an attack with weapons of mass destruction.

President-elect Barack Obama will likely carry out that recommendation, a US daily reported on Wednesday, citing three unnamed advisers to the next president.

"I think it is a good idea and will probably happen" soon after Obama takes over on January 20, one adviser told the daily.

The commission, which includes several Democrats who have advised Obama's team, was to brief both Biden and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, who Obama has named as the next homeland security secretary.

The report says terrorists are likely to stage a nuclear or biological weapons attack somewhere in the world in the next five years.

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