The Bush administration's success in getting WMD cooperation from Libya has uncovered a large failure in both intelligence and non-proliferation efforts. Pakistani expertise seems to be the upstream source.
Libya's quest for atomic weapons was aided by a sophisticated nuclear black market that offered weapons designs, real-time technical advice and thousands of sensitive parts -- some of them apparently manufactured in secret factories, according to diplomats and experts familiar with the probe of Libya's weapons program.The scale of the black-market operation -- described by one expert as an "international supermarket" for nuclear parts -- exceeds anything seen before, and it was undetected by Western intelligence agencies until recent months, the officials said. The same operation also is believed to have aided Iran, they said.
The smuggling enterprise supplied Libya with thousands of parts for gas centrifuges -- machines that enrich uranium for nuclear weapons -- as well as machine tools for making additional centrifuges, the sources said. It also provided Libya with designs for making a nuclear bomb, officials with the International Atomic Energy Agency revealed Friday.
The identities of the people behind the smuggling operation have not been revealed, but investigators say the centrifuges provided to Libya are of the same design as machines used in Pakistan's nuclear weapons program.
via the Houston Chronicle
Now the Libyan connection is forcing Pakistan's culpability out into the open. All in all, it appears that the military overthrow and capture of a despot is more powerful and persuasive than just mucking around with spooks and informers.
Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, personally acknowledged Friday that scientists from his country appeared to have sold nuclear designs to other nations, probably "for personal financial gain." He denied that the Pakistani government knew of the sales at the time but vowed that those involved would be dealt with "as anti-state elements."Posted by Alan at January 24, 2004 07:12 AMMusharraf's statement at a global economic forum in Switzerland came after several weeks of delicate efforts to force Pakistan to deal with the scientists, according to diplomats and U.S. officials. Technical documents from Libya on its nuclear program, and documents relating to Iran's nuclear activities, undercut years of Pakistani denials and appeared to forced Musharraf's hand.
Musharraf continued to insist that there was no government involvement in the sales, portraying the actions as the efforts of corrupt scientists. U.S. officials, however, are skeptical of those claims.
They note that when Pakistan received missile parts from North Korea -- believed to be the quid pro quo for nuclear aid -- a Pakistani air force cargo jet was dispatched to Pyongyang, North Korea, to pick up the parts. They also note that the A.Q. Khan Research Laboratories are the crown jewel of the Pakistani nuclear program, with close ties to both the military and the intelligence agency.
via the Houston Chronicle