NEW YORK, May 8: Top American intelligence agencies are meeting at the highest level to chart a policy on American approach to nuclear deterrence in an attempt to counter the threat posed by terrorists who could obtain bomb-grade nuclear material possibly through Russian or Pakistani sources, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

They also discussed the threat that al Qaeda poses in detonating such a weapon in an American city.

The Times said that “Pakistani officials had been visiting Washington recently offering assurances that their nuclear supplies and weapons were locked down with sophisticated new technology. During a presentation, Lt. Col. Zafar Ali, who works in the arms control section of the Strategic Plans Division, said that while al Qaeda and other groups might want a nuclear weapon “there are doubts that they have the capability to fabricate a nuclear device”.