LAT: Pakistan's Role in Scientist's Nuclear Trafficking Debated (Khan)

[DeepModem Mom]

Pakistan's Role in Scientist's Nuclear Trafficking Debated
Islamabad's awareness of a black market led by the father of its atomic bomb is still uncertain.

By Douglas Frantz
Times Staff Writer
May 16, 2005


....(Abdul Qadeer) Khan masterminded a hugely profitable network that provided uranium enrichment equipment to Iran and North Korea, countries whose nuclear ambitions are now causing global anxieties. Libya paid the ring an estimated $100 million for atomic warhead designs and plans for a complete bomb factory before giving up its program.

After more than a year of investigation, one of the crucial unsolved mysteries is whether Khan could have run his network without the knowledge, and possibly the connivance, of Pakistani military and political leaders. The answer is vital to discovering not only the full scope of Khan's trafficking, but whether Pakistan has adequate safeguards to protect its arsenal of 30 to 50 atomic weapons.

Interviews in the Middle East, Europe and the United States with former Pakistani government and military officials, international investigators and Western diplomats show that warnings about Khan's illicit trafficking were ignored by a succession of Pakistani political leaders and military strongmen.

Neither Musharraf nor his predecessors fully investigated Khan despite years of accusations from U.S. officials and international media, Khan's visible accumulation of enormous wealth and the significance of his dealings in Dubai.

His crucial role in building an atomic bomb to match India's was deemed more important than controlling his activities. And over the years, Khan had orchestrated a publicity campaign that made him so popular that he was virtually untouchable....The Bush administration, which regards Musharraf as an ally in the fight against Islamic extremism, has not pressed for access to Khan. U.S. officials have said they are satisfied with the Pakistani president's assurances....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-khan16may16,0,5339833,print.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[struggle4progress]

1. " .. Neither Musharraf nor his predecessors fully investigated Khan .."

pretty much says it all ...

[DeepModem Mom]

2. That, plus this --

"U.S. officials have said they are satisfied with the Pakistani president's assurances."

[struggle4progress]

3. These SOBs really ARE trying to encourage nuclear proliferation. eom