Pakistani Nuclear Exports Drawing More Attention

Investigations of the nuclear programs of Iran, Libya and North Korea have uncovered a common source for nuclear-related information and technology — Pakistan, the New York Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 29, 2003).

Until recently, Pakistan has denied any nuclear proliferation activities, but in the last few weeks Pakistani authorities have interrogated scientists from the Khan Research Laboratories, Pakistan’s main nuclear weapons site, including the acknowledged “father” of Pakistan’s nuclear weapon, Abdul Qadeer Khan.

According to the Times, Khan has long sought to spread nuclear weapons-related information and technology. Prior to 1998, when Pakistan first tested its nuclear weapon, Khan and his team of scientists began publishing papers in international scientific journals on how to make and test uranium centrifuges — information that in Western countries would be considered classified, the Times reported.

While the Pakistani papers left much of the information confidential, their publishing was seen as a pronouncement of Islamabad’s nuclear capability, according to experts.

“It was a signal to India and the West saying, ‘Look, we’re not the backward people you think we are,’” said Mark Gorwitz, a nonproliferation expert who tracks the Pakistani literature.

Later, the Khan Research Laboratories, and the Pakistani government itself, began marketing equipment that originated in Pakistan’s centrifuge program, according to the Times. One sales brochure from the Khan Research Laboratories has a cover with a seal saying “Government of Pakistan” and a picture of Khan, the Times reported. 

While the CIA was aware of some of the activities of scientists at the Khan Research Laboratories, U.S. intelligence was surprised by the pace at which Pakistani nuclear scientists were aiding other countries, according to the Times. For example, China is believed to be an early recipient of Pakistani centrifuge designs according to Institute for Science and International Security President David Albright. 

In 1987, according to recently discovered evidence, Pakistan agreed to provide Iran with centrifuge technology, thereby accelerating Tehran’s nuclear efforts, the Times reported. In 1997, Khan began traveling to North Korea, ultimately visiting there 13 times, U.S. intelligence officials said. During those visits, North Korea agreed to provide missile technology to Pakistan in exchange for centrifuge technology, the Times reported (see GSN, Nov. 6, 2003).

Initial investigations of Libya’s nuclear efforts have uncovered “interconnections” with both Iran and Pakistan’s programs, according to the Times (see related GSN story, today). In addition, Libya has supported Pakistan’s nuclear program since the early 1970s, when Libya agreed to fund Islamabad’s nuclear efforts in exchange for information on how to produce nuclear fuel, said Leonard Spector of the Monterey Institute of International Studies’ Center for Nonproliferation Studies. From 1978 to 1980, Libya also appears to have provided Pakistan with uranium ore, he said (Sanger/Broad, New York Times, Jan. 4).

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee met today with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf during a summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation held in Islamabad, according to the Los Angeles Times (see GSN, Dec. 2, 2003).

There were no details available from the Vajpayee-Musharraf meeting, which lasted for about an hour, according to the Times. The meeting came three years after talks between the two nuclear-armed rivals broke down, the Times reported.

Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha had earlier described the meeting as only a “courtesy call.” Pakistani Information Minister Sheik Rashid Ahmed said, however, that Vajpayee and Musharraf would agree on a framework for future negotiations on a number of issues.

“I think the meeting will be successful, in a positive direction, and there will be something on a composite dialogue,” Ahmed said (Paul Watson, Los Angeles Times, Jan. 5).

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