WASHINGTON, Feb 24: CIA Director George Tenet on Tuesday warned lawmakers of significant risks from terrorist organizations trying to obtain technology to produce weapons of mass destruction.

"WMD technologies are no longer the sole province of nation-states," he said in a testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee. "They might also come about as a result of business decisions made by private entrepreneurs and firms."

"Proliferators hiding among legitimate businesses, and countries hiding their WMD inside legitimate dual-use industries, combine to make private entrepreneurs dealing in lethal goods one of our most difficult intelligence challenges," he said.

He noted that Iran remained committed to preserving its ability to produce weapons of mass destruction, while North Korea continued to pursue nuclear and other weapons technology.

"We are concerned about more than just North Korea's nuclear programme," he said. "North Korea has long-standing chemical weapons and biological weapons capabilities and is enhancing its biological weapons potential as it builds its legitimate biotechnology infrastructure."

Mr Tenet said that although Iran had acknowledged "more than a decade of covert nuclear activity and agreed to open itself to an enhanced inspection regime", its technology can also be used to make weapons.

"The difference between producing low-enriched uranium and weapons-capable high-enriched uranium is only a matter of time and intent, not technology," he said.

AL QAEDA: The CIA chief said despite strides made against the Al Qaeda network, it remained capable of conducting an attack on the scale of Sept 11, 2001.