|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Pakistani Probe Finds That Scientists Used Covert Network to Provide Aid to Iran, Libya
Pakistani investigators have determined that two nuclear scientists — Abdul Qadeer Khan, the “father” of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, and Mohammed Farooq — used a covert network to provide nuclear weapons technology to Iran and Libya, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Jan. 27). According to three senior Pakistani intelligence officials, the two scientists provided aid, such as blueprints for uranium enrichment equipment, both directly to Iran and Libya and through a network of middlemen. For their efforts, which began in the late 1980s and lasted till the early 1990s, Iran placed millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts controlled by Khan and Farooq, the officials said. The network of middlemen, from countries including Germany, Sri Lanka and South Africa, also offered the scientists’ assistance to Syria and Iraq, but those deals never advanced, the officials said. One of the three intelligence officials said that the most concrete evidence against Khan and Farooq was provided by Iran and Libya to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which then passed it on to Pakistan. “The governments of Iran and Libya have exposed the racket,” one of the officials said. “They made no attempt to hide their sources, as if they wanted to settle score with Pakistani scientists,” the official added. The information provided by the IAEA was so concrete that it led to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf personally confronting Khan in late November, according to a senior official. “For the first time ever, I saw tears in the eyes of the president, who thought that it was the worst-ever breach of the nation's trust,” the official said (Kamran Khan, Washington Post, Jan. 28). Meanwhile, a Pakistani government lawyer yesterday failed to answer a judge as to why nuclear scientists were being detained without charges being filed, according to the Los Angeles Times. Under Pakistani law, a person cannot be detained for more than 24 hours without the approval of a magistrate, the Times reported. A magistrate can then allow a detention of a maximum of 14 days without charges being filed. Farooq, however, has been in detention for almost two months without charges, according to the Times. “They are acting as if there is the law of the jungle in Pakistan,” Mohammed Ikram Chaudhry, a lawyer for the detainees, told High court Justice Maulvi Anwar ul-Haq. “There is no law. There is no constitution,” Chaudhry said. Ul-Haq ordered last week that the Pakistani government explain in writing yesterday why the scientists were being detained. Tariq Shamim, the government’s lawyer, asked the court yesterday, though, for a fourth adjournment, saying he needed more time to obtain the information. Shamim also said that that “in a few days’ time, this matter will be over.” The hearing is expected to continue today, the Times reported (Paul Watson, Los Angeles Times, Jan. 28). Pakistan said yesterday that it would continue to further enhance its nuclear weapons capabilities, according to HiPakistan.com. “There should be no doubt that we will pursue our nuclear program,” a Foreign Office spokesman said (HiPakistan.com, Jan. 28).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
