Bin Laden met nuke scientists -- 'Nuclear bazaar' story out of Pakistan gets more bizarre

Worldnetdaily ^ | 2.8.2004 | Joseph Farah

[DoctorZIn]

WASHINGTON – As the Pakistani nuclear proliferation story widens, U.S. intelligence officials say top atomic scientists from that country met with Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar in Afghanistan.

Two former senior Pakistani nuclear scientists who were based in the Afghan town of Kandahar met Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden several times before the fall of the Taliban. They were later detained and questioned on their return to Pakistan.

Last week, after it became clear that Pakistan was the center of what has become known internationally as the "nuclear bazaar," President Pervez Musharraf agreed to pardon nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan for selling the country's nuclear secrets to Libya, North Korea and Iran.

Because Pakistan is perceived to be central to the U.S. war on terror, the reaction in Washington has been low-key.

"This is a matter between Dr. Khan, who is a Pakistani citizen, and his government," said Secretary of State Colin Powell to reporters outside the United Nations. "But it is a matter also that I'll be talking to President Musharraf about."

Bush administration officials have expressed satisfaction with Musharraf's guarantees that the country's nuclear proliferation will now come to an end.

A top defector from North Korea says that country's uranium-based nuclear weapons program was launched in 1996 under a deal with Pakistan. In addition, Pakistan stationed other nuclear scientists in Iran to help that country develop its nuclear weapons program.

Pakistan says the presidential pardon to the top nuclear scientist over his admission to have proliferated nuclear technology to three foreign countries is subject to set of a "comprehensive conditions" – but those conditions have not been revealed publicly.

The pardon even allows Khan to keep the vast wealth he accumulated by developing Pakistan's nuclear weapons and from selling the technology to other countries – including several rogue nations. Khan is believed to have earned millions of dollars from his sale of nuclear know-how, beginning in the late 1980s. Much of the money was funneled through bank accounts in the Middle East. His assets include four houses in Islamabad worth an estimated $2.8 million, a villa on the Caspian Sea, a luxury hotel in Mali and a valuable collection of vintage cars.

Khan, 69, last week made a televised confession of his wrongdoing after government investigators confronted him. Despite being granted a pardon, he is under house arrest and forbidden to give interviews.

In addition to selling nuclear technology to Iran and North Korea, Khan also offered Saddam Hussein a design for a nuclear weapon in 1990, according to a document seized by U.N. weapons inspectors. Later he made a deal with Libya.

[Cronos]

The Bush administration has been very calm about them -- the point of seeming unconcerned. That can only mean one thing: we know where they are, and we know nobody else can get to them. The government of India also seems very relaxed. Another key indicator...

I sure hope you're right and I'm wrong. That would make life a lot simpler. You do seem to have a point -- why is the Indian govt not running around like a chicken with it's head chopped off squackin' about Pak nooks...

[Pro-Bush]

you forgot the </sarcasm tag.

OK. you got me. Pakistan is not to be trusted, but needed.

[thoughtomator]

You missed the line "Bravely taking to his feet, he beat a very brave retreat" ;)

[risk]

bttt

[happygrl]

Take a look at this.

[swarthyguy]

Geez, the Indians have been getting quite a vindication lately, haven't they.

[okie01]

Is there any info. on that in print?

Of course not. It's a rumor.

But observe the reaction of the Indian government. Or, more accurately, the non-reaction...

[JustPiper]

{{{sarcasm}}}

[swarthyguy]

Pakistani sources claim that there has been another bombshell in the admissions of guilt made by Khan's colleagues and juniors, who are still under custody and questioning. They are reported to have stated that during his over 40 visits to Dubai in the last three years, he had met Iraqi intelligence officials who sought his help in having some of the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) material of Iraq airlifted from Syria to Pakistan for being kept in safe custody there to prevent their falling into the hands of the UN inspectors. Khan allegedly agreed to their request. According to them, in October,2002, Khan had a Pakistani aircraft, which had gone to Iran to deliver some equipment, stop in a Syrian airport on its way back . It picked up the Iraqi WMD "material" and brought it to Pakistan for safe custody on behalf of Iraq. It is not clear what did they mean by material---only documents or something more?


http://saag.org/papers10/paper916.html

October 2002 - the same time the first reports of the NorthKorean angle came to light.

[Dog]

Alot there to mull over.

[Dog]

What did Pakistan trade us......for our silence on the Khan matter.

[Shermy]

Very interesting.

[Shermy]

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=40524
"
The Washington Post said that as a kind of insurance policy to obtain pardon for his past actions of leaking nuclear know-how to Iran, Libya and North Korea, Khan had some weeks ago provided his daughter Dina, who lives in Baghdad, with evidence that the military knew of his nuclear dealings abroad. "

I don't see where the WashPost itself said Dina lived in Baghdad.

[swarthyguy]

You know what I think.

Full disclosure - what we don't know we don't know.

Osama -

[Dog]

Check this out..

There is a rumor of a Khan videotape smuggled out of the country by his daughter Dina(who lives in London)

Videotape blackmail?

Local media report rumors that Khan, aware of his eroding position, handed over to his daughter Dina two weeks ago a videotape that contains his version of the story and names officials who helped him spread nuclear secrets. Analysts conjecture that the daughter, who lives in London, ferried the video out of the country for use in Khan's defense should he be prosecuted.

A hint of what Khan may be prepared to make public came Monday when a friend of the scientist and a senior Pakistani investigator told the Washington Post that Khan has asserted that he helped North Korea in the mid- 1990s design and equip facilities for making weapons-grade uranium with the knowledge of senior military commanders, including Musharraf

[Shermy]

Dina living in London? Sounds more likely than Baghdad.

[swarthyguy]

The idea that this was a rogue operation and not approved by the military masters of Pakistan is ludicrous.

Of course Mush knew. As did the rest of the General Staff.

Reminiscent of the "only moral support for Kashmiri jihadis" crap we heard in 2001/2002.

Check out www.satribune.com for more articles and details.

[Dog]

Pakistan rolled over to quickly...and that makes me very uneasy.

[swarthyguy]

I pinged you to this.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1074445/posts

One scenario. It took them 2-1/2 years to roll over. Countdown from 9.11.2001

[txhurl]

Kinda like the Libya roll/w1/2-tuck&dive?