Wikileaks: US fears bioweapons from India labs

NEW DELHI: US officials say lax security at sophisticated Indian laboratories could make them targets for terrorists seeking biological weapons, according to comments made public in a leaked US diplomatic cable.

The cable sent from the US Embassy in New Delhi in June 2006 says India's public health system is ill-prepared in the event of a biological attack from terrorists.

While the government of India sees the likelihood of such an attack as remote, US diplomats expressed concerns that Indian labs could be the source of material for a biological attack elsewhere.

The cable marked confidential was obtained by WikiLeaks and posted Friday on the Website of the British newspaper The Guardian.