Malaysian police report implicates Dr A.Q. Khan

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20: The former head of Pakistan's nuclear programme, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, sent enriched uranium to Libya in 2001 and sold nuclear centrifuge parts to Iran in the mid-1990s, Malaysian police said on Friday.

Buhary Syed Abu Tahir, 44, named by the United States as a middleman in an international nuclear trafficking ring, claimed Dr Khan asked him to send centrifuges to Iran in 1994 or 1995, according to police.

Two containers of used centrifuge units were shipped from Pakistan to Iran via Dubai and were paid for with about three million dollars in cash and kept in an apartment used by Dr Khan each time he visited Dubai, Abu Tahir told police.

Mr Tahir said Dr Khan told him that a "certain amount of UF6 (enriched uranium) was sent by air from Pakistan to Libya" in around 2001, according to police.

The latest revelations in the scandal were made in a 12-page police report on investigations into Malaysia's alleged link in the nuclear weapons black market and the role of Abu Tahir, a Sri Lankan businessman married to a Malaysian.

The probe was launched after US and British intelligence services told Malaysia that centrifuge parts manufactured by a local company had been found on a ship bound for Libya last October.

The Malaysian company, Scomi Precision Engineering (Scope), admitted making the parts but said it did not know their final destination and believed they were for the oil and gas industries.

The company is owned by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's son Kamaluddin, and Malaysia has strenuously denied that either the company or the country was knowingly involved in the nuclear arms black market.

The police report clears Malaysia and the company and recommends that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should launch investigations into "several individuals from Europe allegedly involved in the proliferation of nuclear weapons".

According to the report, Abu Tahir and Dr Khan met Libyan representatives named as Mohamad Matuq Mohamad and Karim in Istanbul in 1997 when the Libyans asked for centrifuge units. Between 1998 and 2002 several more meetings were held, one in Casablanca and others in Dubai.

The enriched uranium was sent from Pakistan to Libya by air around 2001, and "a certain number of centrifuge units were sent in 2001-2002". The report claims that Dr Khan developed a "network of middlemen" that involved not only Tahir, but "several people and companies from Europe seeking to make profits by selling certain materials and equipment."

The report made no mention of whether any action would be taken against Mr Tahir and a police spokesman contacted by AFP refused to comment.

EUROPEAN MIDDLEMEN: Citizens of German, Turkey, Britain and Switzerland were named in the Malaysian police report as alleged middlemen involved in the nuclear arms black market.

Police say the information in the report was provided by B.S.A.Tahir, who has admitted selling nuclear secrets. The investigation was launched to probe allegations that a Malaysian company owned by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's son manufactured centrifuge parts for Libya's nuclear weapons uranium enrichment programme.

The report clears the company, Scomi Precision Engineering (SCOPE), saying Tahir never told the truth about the nature of the parts he ordered and the company thought it was involved in a legitimate business. But the document concludes with a call on the IAEA to "start investigations on several individuals from Europe allegedly involved in the proliferation of nuclear weapons". –AFP

Sunday, February 22 2004, 1:43:19 AM

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New Straits Times » Frontpage

SCOPE gets the all-clear
Balan Moses

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20:

Malaysian police today cleared Scomi Precision Engineering Sdn Bhd (SCOPE) of complicity in the alleged production of components for Libya’s uranium enrichment programme.

A detailed report on alleged Malaysian involvement in the matter indicates that SCOPE was "tricked" into supplying components by individuals including Sri Lankan Buhary Seyed Abu Tahir (known as B.S.A. Tahir) and Swiss Urs Tinner.

Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Mohamed Bakri Omar, in releasing the 12-page report, urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to investigate several individuals from Europe allegedly involved in the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

He said investigations proved that Malaysia had not breached its commitment to curb the illegal transfer and profileration of nuclear technology and was committed to the NonProliferation Treaty.

Bakri said the management of SCOPE was unaware that the exported components were part of certain centrifuge units bound for Libya, considering it a legitimate business deal worth RM13 million intended for Dubai.

This was because Tahir and Tinner had not declared the use of the components or the true nature of the business. SCOPE also did not have the ability or technical know-how to produce the final product.

"In fact, SCOPE was misled into manufacturing the components for dual purposes for the petroleum and gas industry," he said. SCOPE is a subsidiary of Scomi Group Berhad. Reacting to the reports, the price of Scomi shares rose 20 sen on the KLSE today to RM11.10.

He said police launched an initial probe into alleged links between Tahir and disgraced Pakistani nuclear arms programme head Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan (who was not mentioned by name in the report) in October last year after "intense interest at the highest levels in the US/UK Governments." Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, subsequently briefed on the findings, ordered a detailed and transparent investigation.

Police, he said, concentrated on the following: l the allegation that Tahir had played the role of middleman in supplying certain centrifuge components from Malaysia for Libya's uranium enrichment programme; l the allegation that SCOPE had been used by Tahir to produce components for the programme; and, l other related information.

Investigations, he said, showed that Tahir had been associated with disgraced Pakistani nuclear arms programme head Dr Abdul Qadeer since 1994, working as a middleman for the latter in deals with Libyan representatives.

Tinner, he said, was a consultant arranged by Tahir to set up the SCOPE factory in Shah Alam after Dubai-based former Gulf Technical Industries (GTI) owner Peter Griffin was found unsuitable for the job.

According to the report, Tahir allegedly planned to manufacture the components in Turkey but diverted the project to Malaysia in the guise of a legitimate business.

Tinner, he said, had not aroused suspicions at the SCOPE factory despite his unusual professional behaviour which included taking home drawings for components and erasing online technical drawings.

Eventually, he said, five containers holding components for the manufacture of a centrifuge were confiscated from the ship BBC China in Taranto, Italy, on Oct 4, last year.

On the components, Bakri said they could also not be used as one complete unit of a centrifuge.

Malaysia, he said, did not have a factory capable of manufacturing a complete centrifuge unit, what more the manufacturing "of hundreds or thousands of centrifuges".

Bakri said reports claiming that Malaysia had closed one of the illegal centrifuge network's largest plants were exaggerated as the Malaysian plant only handled a one-off production.

He said to the untrained eye, the components could be used in the petro-chemical or water-treatment industries.

"There were a number of individuals and companies which supplied the components but were unaware of the implications because some of the components were similar to components used in oil drilling and water treatment." Bakri, who had stated last week that initial investigations had cleared Scomi, said a complete report would be submitted to the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) Malaysia to be forwarded to the IAEA.

"Malaysian authorities are always ready to co-operate with the IAEA if there is a need for further investigation," he said.

The report comes weeks after the CIA and the British intelligence service, MI6, alleged that Tahir and Dubai-based businessmen were middlemen in supplying the components from Malaysia to Libya.

Bakri said SCOPE obtained the semi-finished product from Bikar Metal, a German company, giving the impression that the items were not controlled items.

"In view of the foregoing, the work that was carried out on the semifinished product is legitimate and does not give rise to suspicion," he said, adding that aluminium round tubes and round bars were sent to the plant from Singapore.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Pakistan will look into the report if asked but military spokesman MajorGeneral Shaukat Sultan declined to comment on specific details raised.

"The Government of Pakistan shall look into it (the details in the report) if it is conveyed through official channels.

"Broadly speaking, Dr Abdul Qadeer had in his statement confessed to these activities," he said.

This is from todays New Straits Times in Kuala Lumpur

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