Paris, June 20: Islamic extremists linked to the al-Qaeda network are developing chemical and biological weapons and have the capacity to carry out attacks on water reservoirs or public transport, France's head of domestic intelligence Pierre de Bousquet warned today. "They have at their disposal in Pakistan, Afghanistan or the Gulf real little research centres -- like the drugs laboratories in the French connection," Bousquet, who runs the Territorial Surveillance Directorate (DST), told Le Figaro newspaper.

"They have made biology and chemistry experiments, distilling ricin and icotine and testing their concoctions for example on dogs. We believe they are technically capable of poisoning a reservoir, or of gassing a train carriage or a theatre," he said. The so-called French connection -- which inspired the 1971 film of the same name -- was a heroin smuggling operation in the late 1960s between the Mediterranean city of Marseille and New York.

Earlier this week Bousquet's equivalent in Britain, MI5 chief Eliza Manningham-Buller, said it was "only a matter of time" before terrorists launched an unconventional attack in a major western city. Bousquet said groups linked to al-Qaeda were not capable of exploding a nuclear bomb, "but it is possible that some in the movement can acquire the elements for what is called a 'dirty bomb' -- in other words a bomb which on explosion would disperse radioactive material."

Bousquet said that there were between 200 and 300 al-Qaeda sympathisers in France and a few dozen real activists. Bureau Report