Posted on 04/26/2003 4:06:39 PM PDT by Oorang
THE German government has intercepted a shipment of German-made aluminium tubes probably destined for use in North Korea's nuclear program, according to a German magazine.
The weekly Der Spiegel says in its latest issue that 22 tonnes of aluminium tubes, essential in the manufature of enriched uranium, were loaded onto a French ship in Hamburg in early April just as German authorities vetoed the shipment.
The German government alerted the French authorities, who ordered the ship's captain to unload the containers in Egypt.
Officially the tubes were on their way to a Chinese aeronautics company, but according to Der Spiegel Berlin believes this company was a front for North Korea. The German firm's business contact was a North Korean national, it says.
The magazine says the head of the German company, called Optronic and based at Koenigsbronn in southern Germany, was detained for questioning.
The prosecutor's office in Stuttgart confirmed it had opened an investigation into a local firm suspected of contravening foreign trade regulations, but gave no further details.
On Thursday, in the first direct high-level contact between the United States and North Korea since the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear program erupted last October, North Korea confirmed it possessed nuclear weapons.
French Freighter intercepted by Germans in Egypt carrying Nuclear Material
longjack
I liked the article you posted. This story seems to be a "Spiegel" exclusive. All the other papers are using "Spiegel" as the source.
longjack
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