Nuke net
International Herald Tribune:
"Black-market shipments to Libya of nuclear components, including enriched uranium, began with a meeting in Istanbul in 1997 between Libyan officials and the Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, according to the principal middlemen in the operation.
.
One Turkish company supplied aluminum casting and another contributed electrical cabinets and voltage regulators, the middleman, B.S.A. Tahir, has told the Malaysian police.
.
But the network included companies and citizens of Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Britain, as well as Dubai and Malaysia, according to a report by Malaysian investigators that was released on Friday in Kuala Lumpur.
.
"Some of the suppliers were believed to be aware that these components could be used for uranium enrichment centrifuges," the report says, and others were not.
.
The report was based on police interrogation of Tahir, 44, a businessman who was a key middleman in the network and who has been under close police scrutiny custody in Malaysia since American authorities alerted the Malaysian police last November to the network to supply Libya.
.
It wasn't just Libya. On one occasion, Tahir, acting for Khan, arranged for the shipment of two containers of centrifuge units from Pakistan to Iran, on a merchant ship owned by an Iranian company, according to the report. The equipment, which cost about $3 million, was paid for in cash taken in two suitcases to Dubai and kept in an apartment was has used as a guesthouse by Khan when he visited there, the Malaysian report says.
.
The 12-page report does not mention Khan by name but refers to him as the "Pakistani nuclear arms expert" and "akistani scientist."
.
After saying that Mr. Tahir visited Pakistan, obtained contracts to sell to "Khan Research Laboratory," which was when he met "the Pakistani nuclear expert," the next two lines of the Malaysian report were blacked out. Two lines are blacked out after the report's statement that visited tained contracts to sell to "Khan Research Laboratory," which was when he met "the Pakistani nuclear expert," the next two lines of the Malaysian report were blacked out.
.
After the 1997 meeting with Libyan officials in Istanbul, there were meetings in Casablance and Dubai, the report says.
.
In 2001, "a certain amount of UF 6 [enriched uranium] was sent by air from Pakistan to Libya," the report says. It was shipped on a Pakstiani airliner, but Mr. Tahir could not remember the name,according to the report.
.
In addition to supplying equipment to Libya, a major undertaking was "Project Machine Shop 1001." This was for the purpose of manufacturing centrifuge components in that could not be obtained outside Libya.
.
Machines for the workshop came from companies in Spain and Italy, the report says.
.
This project was supervised by Peter Griffin, Mr. Tahir told the Malaysian police. A British engineer, Mr. Griffin first began working with Mr. Khan in the early 1980s, according to British intelligence, which Mr. Griffin confirmed in a recent telephone interview.
.
He provided the plan for Machine Shop 1001 and a lathe, the report says. He also arranged for 7 or 8 Libyan technicians to go to the company in Spain, according to the report.
.
In a separate interview, a Western investigator said that the Spanish company had supplied sophisticated tools that were needed for the repair and maintenance of nuclear centrifuges.
.
In Dubai, Mr. Griffin set up a company called Gulf Technical Industries, which was partially owned by his son, Paul.
.
Neither of the Griffinscould be reached for comment Friday but in recent weeks, Paul Griffin has denied that he or his father had ever done anything illegal.
.
Sometime in 2001, Mr. Tahir, acting on behalf of Gulf Technical Industries, signed a contract with a Malaysian company, Scomi Precision Engineering, to supply centrifuge components.
.
Scomi officials have said that they did not know the parts were intended for Libya, but thought they were going to be used by an oil and gas company.
.
To oversee the production at Scomi, Mr. Tahir sent Urs Tinner, a 39-year old Swiss engineer, the Malaysian report says.
.
Mr. Tinner's father, a mechanical engineer, had dealings with Mr. Khan going back to the early 1980s, according to the report. He owns a Swiss company, PhiTec, which the Malaysian report spells "Cetec."
.
Mr. Tinner bought machines and services from his father, and brother, Marco, who owns another company, Traco, according to the report.
.
While working at Scomi, Urs Tinner took measures to protect the blueprints and hide any evidence of his presence, the report says.
.
Scomi finished making the centrifuge parts in late 2003, and after that Urs Tinner left, the company has said. When he left, he took the hard drive with him that had the drawings, as well as his personnel file, the Malaysian report says. "This gave the impression that Urs Tinner did not wish to leave any trace of his presence there," the Malaysian police concluded.
.
The Scomi components were on board the BBC China, when it was seized last Oct. That led to the unraveling of the Khan network.
.
The New York Times ISTANBUL Black-market shipments to Libya of nuclear components, including enriched uranium, began with a meeting in Istanbul in 1997 between Libyan officials and the Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, according to the principal middlemen in the operation.
.
"One Turkish company supplied aluminum casting and another contributed electrical cabinets and voltage regulators, the middleman, B.S.A. Tahir, has told the Malaysian police.
.
"But the network included companies and citizens of Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Britain, as well as Dubai and Malaysia, according to a report by Malaysian investigators that was released on Friday in Kuala Lumpur.
Pakistan "scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan sold Iran nuclear centrifuge parts for $3 million in cash in the mid-1990s, Malaysian police said Friday, citing evidence from a suspected middleman."
International Herald Tribune:
"Black-market shipments to Libya of nuclear components, including enriched uranium, began with a meeting in Istanbul in 1997 between Libyan officials and the Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, according to the principal middlemen in the operation.
.
One Turkish company supplied aluminum casting and another contributed electrical cabinets and voltage regulators, the middleman, B.S.A. Tahir, has told the Malaysian police.
.
But the network included companies and citizens of Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Britain, as well as Dubai and Malaysia, according to a report by Malaysian investigators that was released on Friday in Kuala Lumpur.
.
"Some of the suppliers were believed to be aware that these components could be used for uranium enrichment centrifuges," the report says, and others were not.
.
The report was based on police interrogation of Tahir, 44, a businessman who was a key middleman in the network and who has been under close police scrutiny custody in Malaysia since American authorities alerted the Malaysian police last November to the network to supply Libya.
.
It wasn't just Libya. On one occasion, Tahir, acting for Khan, arranged for the shipment of two containers of centrifuge units from Pakistan to Iran, on a merchant ship owned by an Iranian company, according to the report. The equipment, which cost about $3 million, was paid for in cash taken in two suitcases to Dubai and kept in an apartment was has used as a guesthouse by Khan when he visited there, the Malaysian report says.
.
The 12-page report does not mention Khan by name but refers to him as the "Pakistani nuclear arms expert" and "akistani scientist."
.
After saying that Mr. Tahir visited Pakistan, obtained contracts to sell to "Khan Research Laboratory," which was when he met "the Pakistani nuclear expert," the next two lines of the Malaysian report were blacked out. Two lines are blacked out after the report's statement that visited tained contracts to sell to "Khan Research Laboratory," which was when he met "the Pakistani nuclear expert," the next two lines of the Malaysian report were blacked out.
.
After the 1997 meeting with Libyan officials in Istanbul, there were meetings in Casablance and Dubai, the report says.
.
In 2001, "a certain amount of UF 6 [enriched uranium] was sent by air from Pakistan to Libya," the report says. It was shipped on a Pakstiani airliner, but Mr. Tahir could not remember the name,according to the report.
.
In addition to supplying equipment to Libya, a major undertaking was "Project Machine Shop 1001." This was for the purpose of manufacturing centrifuge components in that could not be obtained outside Libya.
.
Machines for the workshop came from companies in Spain and Italy, the report says.
.
This project was supervised by Peter Griffin, Mr. Tahir told the Malaysian police. A British engineer, Mr. Griffin first began working with Mr. Khan in the early 1980s, according to British intelligence, which Mr. Griffin confirmed in a recent telephone interview.
.
He provided the plan for Machine Shop 1001 and a lathe, the report says. He also arranged for 7 or 8 Libyan technicians to go to the company in Spain, according to the report.
.
In a separate interview, a Western investigator said that the Spanish company had supplied sophisticated tools that were needed for the repair and maintenance of nuclear centrifuges.
.
In Dubai, Mr. Griffin set up a company called Gulf Technical Industries, which was partially owned by his son, Paul.
.
Neither of the Griffinscould be reached for comment Friday but in recent weeks, Paul Griffin has denied that he or his father had ever done anything illegal.
.
Sometime in 2001, Mr. Tahir, acting on behalf of Gulf Technical Industries, signed a contract with a Malaysian company, Scomi Precision Engineering, to supply centrifuge components.
.
Scomi officials have said that they did not know the parts were intended for Libya, but thought they were going to be used by an oil and gas company.
.
To oversee the production at Scomi, Mr. Tahir sent Urs Tinner, a 39-year old Swiss engineer, the Malaysian report says.
.
Mr. Tinner's father, a mechanical engineer, had dealings with Mr. Khan going back to the early 1980s, according to the report. He owns a Swiss company, PhiTec, which the Malaysian report spells "Cetec."
.
Mr. Tinner bought machines and services from his father, and brother, Marco, who owns another company, Traco, according to the report.
.
While working at Scomi, Urs Tinner took measures to protect the blueprints and hide any evidence of his presence, the report says.
.
Scomi finished making the centrifuge parts in late 2003, and after that Urs Tinner left, the company has said. When he left, he took the hard drive with him that had the drawings, as well as his personnel file, the Malaysian report says. "This gave the impression that Urs Tinner did not wish to leave any trace of his presence there," the Malaysian police concluded.
.
The Scomi components were on board the BBC China, when it was seized last Oct. That led to the unraveling of the Khan network.
.
The New York Times ISTANBUL Black-market shipments to Libya of nuclear components, including enriched uranium, began with a meeting in Istanbul in 1997 between Libyan officials and the Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, according to the principal middlemen in the operation.
.
"One Turkish company supplied aluminum casting and another contributed electrical cabinets and voltage regulators, the middleman, B.S.A. Tahir, has told the Malaysian police.
.
"But the network included companies and citizens of Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Britain, as well as Dubai and Malaysia, according to a report by Malaysian investigators that was released on Friday in Kuala Lumpur.
Pakistan "scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan sold Iran nuclear centrifuge parts for $3 million in cash in the mid-1990s, Malaysian police said Friday, citing evidence from a suspected middleman."
Comments
Post a Comment