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Investigators Link at Least Seven Countries to Nuclear Black Market
Investigators have linked at least seven countries to an international nuclear black market believed to have been controlled by top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Washington Post reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 6; (Washington Post, Feb. 8). Khan last week admitted to selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea, and he said he acted on his own, without the knowledge of his government. In Vienna, the top international nuclear official said that Khan had participated in a vast nuclear smuggling network. “Dr. Khan was the tip of an iceberg,” said International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei. “There were items that were manufactured in other countries, items that were reassembled in different countries,” he added (George Jahn, Associated Press/ABCNews, Feb. 5). Companies or individuals in at least seven countries are believed to be involved in the smuggling network, officials said. The countries known to be involved include Germany, Japan, Malaysia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. A company in another European country was also involved, two diplomats said. A senior U.S. official described the network as having provided “one-stop shopping” for nuclear technology. International Atomic Energy Agency investigators have interviewed two German businessmen — Otto Heilingbrunner and Gotthard Lerch — identified by Libya as suppliers of uranium enrichment centrifuge technology, according to the Post. A third German identified as a supplier by Libya — Heinz Mebus — is dead. Heilingbrunner has denied providing nuclear technology to any country, the Post reported. “I never did business with this junk,” Heilingbrunner said. “I do not know how they came up with me,” he said (Washington Post). Meanwhile, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri called yesterday for an expanded investigation into the role of European countries in the international nuclear black market. “Why is there this unhealthy focus on Pakistan? What about others?” Kasuri said at a security conference held in Munich yesterday. “I know the names. I don’t want to spill them ... names given to us by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), by Iran. There are lots of Europeans involved, but there seems to be a focus on Pakistan,” he added (Philip Blenkinsop, Reuters, Feb. 8).
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