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| Southeast Asia | ||||||
| Nuke 'middleman' helped train Libyans, KL says | ||||||
| 2004-06-01 | ||||||
| KUALA LUMPUR - Libyans involved in a nuclear weapons programme for their country were secretly trained in Malaysia under directions from Sri Lankan businessman Buhary Syed Abu Tahir, Malaysian investigators have said. Tahir, the suspected middleman in a nuclear parts black market network run by Pakistan's chief nuclear scientist, also brought in two foreigners to provide expertise on producing components, the probe alleged. The findings of the Malaysian investigation led to Tahir's arrest in Kuala Lumpur on Friday under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows the detention of suspects without charges or trial. Tahir will be held at the Kamunting detention centre in Perak for two years.
Although Tahir's alleged clandestine operation was first publicly reported by Malaysia in February, he was not arrested then because of ongoing investigations. 'When a report about him was made that was based on evidence in hand then, there was no evidence on why he should be arrested,' Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in China for an official visit, said on Saturday. 'But investigations continued. The security people now felt he should be arrested.'
The Sri Lankan, who is married to a Malaysian, was arrested under the ISA because his actions could be detrimental to the country, Datuk Seri Abdullah said. In Perak, Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar said Tahir was detained because his activities opened Malaysia 'to possible threats of attack by the big powers and to economic sanctions'.
United States President George W. Bush earlier this year described Tahir as 'chief financial officer and money launderer' for Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has admitted leaking nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. In February Malaysia said Scomi Precision Engineering (Scope), then a subsidiary of Scomi Group controlled by Datuk Seri Abdullah's son Kamaluddin, was used without its knowledge to make components which it is believed could be made into nuclear centrifuges in Libya. Scope has since been sold. Malaysia has given alleged details of the nuclear black market, including how Tahir contracted items from Scope. The report quoted him as saying Dr Khan, the founder of Pakistan's nuclear programme, arranged for enriched uranium to be sent to Libya and sold nuclear centrifuge parts to Iran.
Dr Khan, a national hero, was pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf. The US State Department said it was 'delighted' by Tahir's arrest. 'We think his arrest is a major step and it will serve as a catalyst to international efforts to shut down the Khan network.' Malaysia did not give details of how many Libyans were trained or when. 'Tahir arranged secretly for technicians from Libya to undergo training on handling quality control machines that were part of Libya's nuclear weapons programme,' Datuk Noh said on Saturday.
He also said two foreign experts were brought in to oversee parts manufacturing. He did not name them, but the government's report in February named experts from Switzerland, Germany, Turkey and Britain. It named said a Swiss, Mr Friedrich Tinner, prepared centrifuge components and that his son Urs Friedrich Tinner was employed as a consultant by Tahir and actively involved in Scope's Shah Alam factory.
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| Posted by:Steve |