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| Arabia |
| Dubai Company Denies Pretty Much Everything |
| 2004-02-13 |
| EFL: Computer salesmen and technicians wandered around in shock, and the receptionist could not handle the number of calls that were coming in from around the world on Thursday to the sleek headquarters of SMB Group, an information technology company. "You have reached the offices of SMB Group. For computer support, press 1. For centrifuge support, press 2..." The cause of the disruption was President Bush’s speech to the National Defense University on Wednesday, in which he described the nuclear black market network created by the Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. Mr. Bush said that Dr. Khan’s deputy was B. S. A. Tahir, who "ran SMB Computer, a business in Dubai," which was a "front for the proliferation activities of the A.Q. Khan network." In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Seyed Ibrahim Bukhary, the owner and manager of SMB Group, said it dealt only in legal computer sales. He said the man Mr. Bush mentioned, Bukhary Sayed Abu Tahir, has no ownership in the group, and is not involved in the management at any level. Mr. Bukhary is Mr. Tahir’s younger brother. And he wouldn’t lie about his older brother, would he? And is there anyone in these operations who isn’t related by blood or marrige? Like the SMB Group, another company that said it did not intentionally take part in Dr. Khan’s network was Scomi Precision Engineering, a manufacturing firm in Malaysia. Which is partly owned by the son of the Malaysian president. BSA Tahir is married to the daughter of a former Malaysian diplomat, see what I mean. A Scomi corporate executive said Thursday that the company had negotiated the contract for the parts with Mr. Tahir, but he had never mentioned SMB Computer. "I have never heard of it," the executive, Meena Kanthaswamy, said in a telephone interview, referring to SMB Computer. "None of us have." Scomi executives said that Mr. Tahir said he was representing Gulf Technical Industries, a Dubai trading firm that, according to American and British investigators, put the shipment of centrifuge parts aboard the Libya-bound ship. Gulf Technical was founded and is partly owned by Peter Griffin, who supplied material to Dr. Khan when he first developed Pakistan’s nuclear capabilites, according to Mr. Griffin. Really? He was denying everything the other day. According to government records in Dubai, Mr. Tahir, a resident, established SMB Computer, a limited liability company, in 1981. At the outset he owned 49 percent. As required by law, 51 percent belonged to a citizen of the United Arab Emirates. I guess that means Mr. Bukhary is a liar when he says his brother had nothing to do with the company. After the company expanded, SMB Group was formed, with SMB Computer as one division. I see, Mr. Bukhary runs SMB Group, Mr. Tahir started SMB Computer, different division, nothing to do with each other, never heard of him, blah, blah.. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 "We're just simple businessmen, trying to make a living in a down market..." |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2004-2-13 10:54:03 AM |