12-22-2003, 08:19 PM
<b>Pakistan's nuclear history under scrutiny</b>
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Pakistan's pre-eminent authority on nuclear arms has been implicated in Iran's acquisition of nuclear technology, the New York Times reported Monday.
Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, a metallurgist who was charged with stealing European designs for enriching uranium a quarter century ago, has not yet been questioned by U.S. and European officials.
Until the last few weeks, Pakistani officials denied evidence the A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories had ever been a source of weapons technology to countries, such as Iran and North Korea, aspiring to acquire fissionable material. Now they are backing away from those denials, while insisting there has been no transfer of nuclear technology since President Pervez Musharraf took power four years ago.
New questions about Pakistan's role have also been raised by Libya's decision Friday to reveal and dismantle its unconventional weapons program, including centrifuges and thousands of centrifuge parts.
A senior European diplomat with access to detailed intelligence said Sunday the Libyan program had "certain common elements" with the Iranian program and with the pattern of technology leakage from Pakistan to Iran.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Pakistan's pre-eminent authority on nuclear arms has been implicated in Iran's acquisition of nuclear technology, the New York Times reported Monday.
Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, a metallurgist who was charged with stealing European designs for enriching uranium a quarter century ago, has not yet been questioned by U.S. and European officials.
Until the last few weeks, Pakistani officials denied evidence the A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories had ever been a source of weapons technology to countries, such as Iran and North Korea, aspiring to acquire fissionable material. Now they are backing away from those denials, while insisting there has been no transfer of nuclear technology since President Pervez Musharraf took power four years ago.
New questions about Pakistan's role have also been raised by Libya's decision Friday to reveal and dismantle its unconventional weapons program, including centrifuges and thousands of centrifuge parts.
A senior European diplomat with access to detailed intelligence said Sunday the Libyan program had "certain common elements" with the Iranian program and with the pattern of technology leakage from Pakistan to Iran.