Pakistan Says Europeans Involved in Nuke Scandals

ullu

New Member
most definately. 11 men in pakistan aren't running the show here the big boys are sitting in west - lets get them too! :mad :mad


Pakistan Says Europeans Involved in Nuke Scandals

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - Pakistan's foreign minister said Sunday he knew the names of "lots of Europeans" involved in the illicit transfer of secrets to countries seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

"Why is there this unhealthy focus on Pakistan? What about others?" Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri told delegates at a security conference in the German city of Munich.

"I know the names. I don't want to spill them... names given to us by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), by Iran. There are lots of Europeans involved, but there seems to be a focus on Pakistan," he said.

In a televised confession, Pakistan's top nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan said Wednesday he had acted independently in leaking secrets as head of the country's nuclear program from the 1970s.

The next day, the country's military president, Pervez Musharraf, pardoned the man revered as the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, while rebuffing calls for an independent inquiry into the military's role.

Many analysts say Khan could not have acted without the knowledge of the military.

Kasuri said it was important to stress that the leaks had not been recent and were mainly during Pakistan's early days of nuclear development when few people were aware of the project.

"Yes our program was covert. Because it was covert there was a danger of this sort of thing," he said.

Khan had been removed when initial intelligence reports indicated smoke even if "fire had not been discovered." Moreover, while Pakistan had not joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it was committed to fulfilling the non-proliferation requirements, Kasuri said.

It was, he said, not in Pakistan's interests to share its nuclear secrets with others.

Many Pakistanis nevertheless believe Musharraf and top military officers were complicit in the illicit nuclear transfers to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

"It is not something that is in our interests... There has to be a motive, but there was none whatsoever," Kasuri said.

He also said the uranium enrichment technology which Khan appeared to have provided was only part of the know-how required to make nuclear weapons.

"Our nuclear experts tell me you need about 24 different technologies or processes to make nuclear weapons and then to deliver them. Only one of them is the uranium-enrichment process," Kasuri said.

Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited.
 

ullu

New Member
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #2
wow something different from india :eek

India says Pakistan not the only nuclear proliferator

PHUKET, Thailand (Reuters) - Pakistan is not the only country whose scientists have spread nuclear weapon knowledge and the international community must act to end the black market, Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said.

"There are so many other countries which are running this racket and they are from the Western world and there are others," Sinha told Reuters Television late on Sunday on the sidelines of a regional trade meeting on the southern Thai island of Phuket.

"I would like to say what it clearly demonstrates is that there is a flourishing black marKet in nuclear technology. It is not Pakistan alone which needs to be blamed for this," he said late on Sunday without naming names.

"It's not an India-Pakistan issue," he said. "This is the issue for the entire international community."

"The international community needs to look at this flourishing black market in nuclear technology and something will have to be done to stop this black market, especially now because the entire international community is threatened with a danger of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists."

<<< LINK >>>

thats more like it!!! :india :idea: :pak
 

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
I Imagine there will be a few tense European Governments wondering whether their citizens have been involved.

If you look at prev guilty participants involved with Iraq - then its like looking at the G8 list.

What people can lose sight of is that individuals don't represent governments - especially on issues of commercial gain.

OTOH if Governments are complicit, then they need to be held to account.
 

Majin-Vegeta

Banned Member
well, its a good thing Pakistan n India are stickin together on dis one :), too bad Middle east is still a chicken wuss to stand up.
 

greatindian

New Member
But the question that needs to be asked is how safe is Pakistan in terms of nuclear proliferation. What guarantee can Pakistan give that in future this will not happen again. If such weapons do happen to pass into the hands of Islamic Fundamentals then they can hold the world at Ransom. I think now the relationship between Pakistan and US will deteriote further. Pakistan is also facing the danger of sanctions.

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 08, 2004 08:03:31 PM ]


WASHINGTON: The United States threatened Pakistan with sanctions after discovering its proliferation activities in order to force military leader Pervez Musharraf to act against his hero A Q Khan , it has been revealed.The Bush administration confronted Musharraf with evidence of Khan's reckless activities last October, weeks before the IAEA got into the act. In a pincer move, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Central command chief John Abizaid traveled to Pakistan separately to present the evidence , Armitage tackling Musharraf and the political leadership, and Abizaid laying down the line for the Pakistani military.

According to intelligence circles, the evidence was so overwhelming that the Pakistani leadership lost its nerve, especially after they were told Islamabad would be in the dock internationally and risked losing the $ 3 billion US aid package Washington had just cleared.

Musharraf , who had already been warned by the Americans about Khan several months before, was shell-shocked by the volume of evidence they presented.

"It seemed that the Americans had a tracker planted on Khan's body...They know much more than us about Dr. Khan's wealth spread all over the globe," Pakistani officials later conceded to the media. "We were told that Pakistan's failure to take action will most certainly jeopardize its ties with the United States and other important nations."


Musharraf then played for time. He ordered an inquiry to verify all the American charges, while weighing ways to cut Khan to size and save Pakistan and his own hide. Intelligence agents were sent all over the world to crosscheck US documentation.

Musharraf also sent two of his most trusted aides, Lt Gen Khalid Kidwai, head of the Pakistan's (Nuclear) Strategic Planning and Development Cell, and Lt Gen Ehsan ul-Haq, the ISI chief, to confront Khan.

Khan initially mounted a brazen offense, telling the two that his activities were in Pakistan's interest and he had had the backing of all prime ministers and army chiefs. But as Musharraf's men produced evidence of his illegal dealings, including secret bank accounts, and the implications for Pakistan of the proliferation rap, he began to back down.

According to one account, the generals virtually blackmailed Khan into submission, warning him that he risked being kidnapped by American and Israeli agents and the Pakistani military could not guarantee his safety or that of his family, including a daughter in London who is said to have smuggled out evidence to implicate the Pakistani military and save her father if he was persecuted or prosecuted.

In fact, even after he was disgraced last week, Musharraf publicly said it was not advisable for Khan to travel abroad.

One of the most compelling pieces of evidence against Khan was a letter he had written to Iranian officials urging them to dismantle equipment from Pakistan and to identify dead Pakistani officials as their contacts.


here is the link http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articlelist/30359534.cms
 

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
But the question that needs to be asked is how safe is Pakistan in terms of nuclear proliferation. What guarantee can Pakistan give that in future this will not happen again. If such weapons do happen to pass into the hands of Islamic Fundamentals then they can hold the world at Ransom. I think now the relationship between Pakistan and US will deteriote further. Pakistan is also facing the danger of sanctions.
have you read: http://defencetalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1023

basically it says:

Washington, Feb 7: The United States is working with Pakistan to protect its nuclear technology from falling into the hands of extremists, a senior US official said on Friday. "We have had discussions with Pakistani on the need for Pakistan to safeguard its technology and its nuclear material. We are confident they are taking necessary steps." he told Reuters.

Link: http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/08/top4.htm

Perhaps things aren't as dire as you would have everyone believe.
 
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