Now evidence of nuke blackmarket and Pak military

Interviews with Pakistani businessmen and new court documents filed in the US suggest that Pakistan’s military may have played a role i...

Interviews with Pakistani businessmen and new court documents filed in the US suggest that Pakistan’s military may have played a role in the smuggling of 66 high-speed electrical switches from the US to Pakistan last fall. The switches can be used as triggers for nuclear weapons, according to US officials.

Humayun Khan, the Pakistani businessman whose office address was the final destination for the triggers, confirmed in a series of interviews here that he and his father have been suppliers of the Pakistani military for the past twenty years. But he denied playing any role in the smuggling of the US-made triggers to Pakistan.

‘‘I know it’s my address and everything is pointing to me and my company,’’ Khan said as he sat in the offices of his firm, Pakland PME, located a mile from Pakistan’s Parliament building.

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‘‘Frankly speaking, if I want to deal in these things I would never be so stupid as to use my own company.’’

Yet documents presented by Khan in his own defence as well as court papers filed this week in Washington suggest that he is deeply involved in covert efforts to supply the Pakistani military. Khan produced letters showing that he attempted to buy sophisticated oscilloscopes, magnetometers, telemetry systems, and airplane guidance systems from US companies in 2002 and 2003. The Pakistani businessman said the devices were for civilian companies. But US non-proliferation experts said the items that Khan tried to purchase all have military applications.

New court documents also show that Khan tried to purchase infra-red sensors in May for Sidewinder missiles used on Pakistani F-16 fighters. The US bars the sale of such equipment to Pakistan without US government approval. — (The New York Times)

IAEA: Libya imported uranium until 2001

		VIENNA: Libya secretly produced a small amount of plutonium, imported enriched uranium and engaged in activities aimed at producing a nuclear weapon, the IAEA said on Friday. It listed Libya’s ‘‘failure to declare the import of UF6 (slightly enriched uranium) in 1985, 2000 and 2001 and its subsequent storage… and the import of uranium compounds in 1985 and 2002.’’ — Reuters

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