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South Africa Target of Attempts to Smuggle WMD-Related Items, Report Says By Mike Nartker WASHINGTON — South Africa has become an “important trans-shipment point” for countries seeking to illicitly obtain dual-use technologies, according to a report released lsat week by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (see GSN, Sept. 9). “South Africa’s enforcement of export controls needs to be improved. Proliferant states such as Pakistan have targeted South Africa to obtain controlled nuclear items,” says the report, written by ISIS research analyst Jacob Blackford. U.S. officials and arms control experts, though, said today that South Africa should not be singled out as a source of particular concern related to illicit transfers of dual-use technologies. The report details the case of Asher Karni, an Israeli citizen living in South Africa who was arrested by U.S. authorities early this year for allegedly helping a Pakistani company illicitly acquire triggered spark gaps, which can be used in both civilian applications and nuclear weapons and require U.S governmental approval before they can be exported to countries of nuclear proliferation concern (see GSN, May 24). Karni is suspected of having used a front company based in South Africa to obtain the spark gaps and to then re-export them to Pakistan. The report also lists several other transactions where Karni allegedly attempted to help both Pakistan and India to obtain controlled dual-use items by offering to re-export them from South Africa. While the ISIS report says it is unknown as to how many of these attempts succeeded, it does note that a freight forwarder used by Karni told U.S. authorities that he had made a number of previous shipments to Pakistan prior to his January arrest. In addition to the Karni case, there have been several arrests in South Africa throughout the year of suspects believed to have been involved in the international nuclear network revealed earlier this year by top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has confessed to transferring nuclear-related technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. The most recent development came last week, when two German men who are permanent South African residents appeared in court on charges related to the possession, manufacture and export of uranium enrichment equipment. The International Atomic Energy Agency earlier this month sent a team of inspectors to South Africa to investigate the various alleged nuclear smuggling incidents, according to Agence France-Presse. AFP quoted a South African nonproliferation official as promising today full cooperation with the agency’s efforts. “We will cooperate with the (International Atomic Energy Agency) in every way,” Abdul Samad Minty, head of the South African Council for the Nonproliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction was quoted as saying. According to the ISIS report, South Africa’s membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group — a multilateral export control regime that governs trade in nuclear-related technology — may have made it easier for the country to be used as a trans-shipment point for illicit dual-use exports. By being a NSG member, the report says, South Africa is able to receive dual-use exports from other group members with fewer restrictions than a transfer from a NSG member to a nonmember. “Membership in the NSG requires adequate export controls and these controls failed in this case,” the report says. “When determining if an export is allowed, NSG members should consider the effectiveness of the recipient state’s export control regime even if that state is an NSG member.” Blackford said today that while South Africa has had export control legislation in place since the early 1990s, there was clear evidence in court documents on the Karni case that Karni had not viewed South Africa’s export control system as much of a hurdle to be overcome. A U.S. State Department official today described the nuclear smuggling arrests in South Africa as one facet of the investigation into the international nuclear network — an investigation the official described as peeling back the layers of an onion. “This is where this peel of the onion took us,” the official said. South Africa’s domestic export control system is not of special concern to the United States, the State Department official said, praising South African officials for their assistance in the international nuclear network investigation. Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington, said today that the ISIS report highlights a “broader problem” that affects other industrialized countries with the capability to produce dual-use items, as well as South Africa. The report demonstrates a need to improve both the Nuclear Suppliers Group and domestic export control regulations, Kimball said, adding that such improvements could be made by making NSG guidelines legally binding and by requiring group members to regularly report dual-use transfers to the IAEA.
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