© 2024 Maine Public

Bangor Studio/Membership Department
63 Texas Ave.
Bangor, ME 04401

Lewiston Studio
1450 Lisbon St.
Lewiston, ME 04240

Portland Studio
323 Marginal Way
Portland, ME 04101

Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

Maine Sen. King: Khorasan 'Very Serious Threat'

WASHINGTON - Maine Sen. Angus King, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, says the Khorasan group of al Qaeda is among the most dangerous of the radical organizations in the Middle East, and he says air strikes targeting them are warranted since they are targeting the U.S. and its allies.

"They are really focused on aircraft, and they are focused on building bombs that can be smuggled on aircraft through airport security," King says. "And, secondly, they are attracting foreign fighter with western passports."

In an interview with MPBN News, King says Khorasan is more of an immediate threat to the United States than ISIS. And he agrees that Congress should be is session now debating a resolution authorizing military action and not campaigning.

"It's a very serious threat," he says. "In fact, I think it is a more serious immediate threat than ISIS. ISIS is trying to establish a country, in effect. Khorasan is purely in the export business. They are experienced al Qaeda operatives."

Journalist Mal Leary spearheads Maine Public's news coverage of politics and government and is based at the State House.