Pakistan Nuclear Proliferation - 31 Jan 2004

Sarma · Post by **Sarma** » 02 Feb 2004 01:38

They said these acts of proliferation took place from 1991 to 1997.

A "Save Mushy's Butt" act is on here.

Roop · Post by **Roop** » 02 Feb 2004 01:59

Originally posted by Sriman:

incidentally, I cannot think of many other things that Bhutto renamed after foreigners, other than the Gaddafi Stadium and the city of Faisalabad

Who is the Faisal in 'Faisalabad'? That Saudi fellow Faisal bin Turki, or someone else?

Calvin · Post by **Calvin** » 02 Feb 2004 02:00

bin Saud, King, fella who was killed in 1975 by his nephew.

Calvin · Post by **Calvin** » 02 Feb 2004 02:07

Who bugged the Saudis, when they visited Pakistan in September?

Uncle?

http://www.satribune.com/archives/oct26_nov1_03/P1_sheets.htm

ISLAMABAD: While the world is wondering about what nuclear deals were struck during the recent, now controversial, visit of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to Pakistan, the local security agencies are in a state of high tension, bordering panic.

This panic was evident when Crown Prince Abdullah left the imposing Punjab House, located on top of Islamabad, as some one had ripped the whole Royal suite apart, looking for something hidden somewhere.

Police sources told the South Asia Tribune “some bed sheets had been removed from the Royal
Suite” but the panic was not about used bed sheets. Who cares if some one took them after use, probably to protect DNA evidence.

The real concern was about bugging devices in the room which, the security officials feared, had been detected by the Royal guests, even before Prince Abdullah had entered the suites.

Apparently the Saudi secret police accompanying the Royal Guest carried out their own scanning and detected that the room was bugged. They ripped apart all the devices and restored the room for the Saudi monarch. He was not informed until the schedule was over and the guests were leaving the Punjab House.

There was a wave of anger, naturally, and as a result, the Saudi visitors did not offer the huge gifts or tips they normally do to local staff attached to serve them. The usual scramble among government and protocol officials to try and get closer to the sheikhs so that when they leave, a handsome tip is received was all in vain.

Both the Saudis and the Pakistani sides kept the whole episode under wraps but the word leaked to some of the media people and Police high ups had been informed that the Saudis were not very happy with whatever had been going on.

The Police informed their own high ups with the understanding that it would be conveyed to the relevant bosses.

But these bosses, specially the agencies which may have planted the bugs, were seriously worried about the repercussions. As the Saudis had controlled the situation before it could cause any damage, no public reaction was displayed.

But certainly the guests expressed their anger and disgust when they left the room. It was all ripped apart to show the non-professional Pakistani agencies that they had been caught and disarmed.

Now the Pakistani side is waiting for what diplomatic reaction may be coming. Certainly if General Musharraf pays a quick unscheduled visit to Saudi Arabia soon, he would obviously be addressing the embarrassment and apologizing for the “unauthorized” behavior of the agencies. Some blame may even be placed on some foreign agencies allowed to work in Pakistan.

The Saudis, as usual, are expected to forgive but not forget the matter for some time to come. They would in any case be more careful dealing with the military government, specially when their top leaders visit Pakistani.

Rudra · Post by **Rudra** » 02 Feb 2004 02:08

> Who cares if some one took them after use,
> probably to protect DNA evidence.

I must admit Pak writes have a talent for irreverant humour.

parsuram · Post by **parsuram** » 02 Feb 2004 02:15

Excellent thread & posts.

Just some thoughts:

Who fingered the pakis? & why?

I would recur to ABV's cryptic "world has changed" statement at Srinagar, offering his hand of friendship. I then thought the implications for the pakis was that menage of US-Pakis-China had now to end after Iraq. Both Pakis and the PRC had to choose (wave function collapse). Apparently, Mush and the pakis went with the US. That is the "why". And it looks very much like the Chinese fingered the pakis.

Recall that all three proliferation targets (NK,Iran,Libya) divulged paki roles on there own. Who had the leverage in those places to make that happen? Beijing. The Chinese have fixed the paki's little red wagon. Why? because mush went with the US. Imo, it is playing out so very beutifully. US, ofcourse, is orchastrating the situation to its own best interests. And the
Beijingese have made their point: "you no play the game, you no touch-ee the ball".

Calvin · Post by **Calvin** » 02 Feb 2004 02:21

Parsuram: There might also be the thesis that someone leaked the information that the Pakistani program was a dud to these same chaps (NK, Libya, Iran (and potentially) Syria). And when they realized that not only had they been had, but that Uncle had the information to create a coalition to go after them (a la Iraq), they decided in favor of a quid pro quo.

In this context, Iraq has been an exceptionally useful event from the Indian standpoint as well as that of the US, including the NPM community.

Rangudu · Post by **Rangudu** » 02 Feb 2004 02:39

Today's Dung has no report from Kamran Khan.

Interesting...

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 02 Feb 2004 03:03

So the nook nudity of pak has nothing to do with third parties like Unkil securing the nukes, but that the emperor had no clothes from the very beginning. Which brings up the question of why the GOTUS/SD keeps proclaiming that Pakistan's nuclear weapons program is more advanced than the Indian program?? I think that is a bait thrown to India, and GoI/south block saw through it from the very beginning.

Calvin · Post by **Calvin** » 02 Feb 2004 03:12

Rye: If your comment was derived from my posts, my assumptions are different from your apparent ones. As discussed on the forum, the HEU technology that the Pakistanis sold was probably related to the May 18 tests that failed. The Pakistanis probably tested a Pu weapon from China, and with the criticality of Khushab, they may actually have had a Pu-based program. Hence the need to protect PAEC.

The key that will make the "Establishment" go along with Musharraf is the bargain he has struck to protect PAEC.

However, the reason that Iran and Libya turned state-witness is probably because Uncle (or someone else - India? China?) told them that the goods were no good.

Vivek_A · Post by **Vivek_A** » 02 Feb 2004 03:15

<strike>fiza</strike>furniture'ya?
Khan used PAF jet to send stocks to Timbuktu hotel

ISLAMABAD, FEBRUARY 1: The architect of Pakistan’s nuclear programme Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has been sacked as scientific advisor to the prime minister, had amassed properties at home and abroad besides building a ‘‘fabulous’’ hotel in an African nation where he transported furniture by an Air Force plane.

Hendrina Khan Hotel, named after Dr Khan’s Dutch wife, in the city of Timbuktu in the African state of Mali was one of the dozens of business undertakings of the nuclear scientist that were now being investigated by Pakistani intelligence officials to verify allegations by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the country’s scientists collaborated with black marketeers of nuclear technology, The News daily said.

It said the probe revealed that not only Dr Khan built a hotel in Timbuktu but used Pakistan Air Force’s transport aircraft C-130 in early 2000 to ferry an exclusive range of carved wooden furniture from here to his hotel.

Kanu · Post by **Kanu** » 02 Feb 2004 03:16

I cant wait till this whole house of cards just tumbles. We have this monkey on our back thats been there for years, we have to throw it off. Now the US wants to use the TSP against the Iranians?!?!?!?!

I can't wait to see what internal dissent that will cause, the more the US gets involved in Pakistan the sooner this maddness will end. Its like getting your tie stuck in a pencil sharpner, the more you turn the handle the further you get suck in. Eventually you just have to smash the sharpner too free yourself.

Thats how I see it anyways.

:p

parsuram · Post by **parsuram** » 02 Feb 2004 03:35

Calvin: While what you say could be true, you must consider how these three disprate countries came out to point fingers at the pakis in such an orchestrated manner. I dont think Iraq coupled with the "axis of evel" speach got them into a huddle. I think the Chinese, who were the moving spirit behind this entire excersise, thought best to scratch it (and the pakis, who had demonstrated their unreliability as strategic lackeys), and go back to the drawing board. In the process, the US-Paki-China-India quad appears to be reducing to a US-India-China triangle. PRC will still milk the pakis for what they can get, but the hay days are over.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 02 Feb 2004 03:37

Originally posted by Calvin:
The Pakistanis probably tested a Pu weapon from China, and with the criticality of Khushab, they may actually have had a Pu-based program. Hence the need to protect PAEC.

So are the powers that be so daft that they will allow pakistanis to develop a Pu-based program, and cooperate in protecting PAEC, given pakistani history of proliferation?? Or is it that the original goal to get India to drop its weapons program still on the cards for both USA and China??

I mean, what does the GOTUS/SD get for allowing pakistan to continue its Pu-program??

Priyank · Post by **Priyank** » 02 Feb 2004 03:59

Originally posted by Calvin:
When did the KuWolSan get seized?

The Ku Wol San was seized on 25th June 1999. It was enroute to Malta via Karachi.

jarugn · Post by **jarugn** » 02 Feb 2004 04:20

Xerox Khan's bio

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0202/p25s01-wosc.html

Khan's roots stretch back to the era of colonialism. As a 10-year-old he saw first-hand the violence that accompanied the end of British rule and the partition of the subcontinent, when he took a harrowing train ride through the desert border region of Khokhrapar to what would become independent Pakistan.

That ride - and what it symbolized - have apparently become central to his character. In Khan's beautiful stone house in the Margalla Hills of Islamabad, a main item of décor is a massive painting depicting the last train crossing into Pakistan before borders were sealed. Throughout his career his chauvinistic rhetoric and anti-Indian taunts have been a crucial reason for his appeal to the Pakistani masses.

"He is hard-core nationalist and a very ambitious person," says A.H. Nayyar, a physicist at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad. "He is in for fame and money."

But neither is Khan an Islamist extremist of the sort suspected to be behind recent assassination attempts against President Musharraf. His wife is a Dutch national whose first name is Henny. Neither she nor their two daughters wear the traditional hijab, or veil. "He is not a fundamentalist . . . but he prays five times [a day] and is a religious person," says his biographer, Zahid Malik.

jrjrao · Post by **jrjrao** » 02 Feb 2004 04:21

FWIW, just a little while ago, a caller called into the local Paki radio show, claiming to have some almost "first-hand" latest news on Xerox Khan. Quoting this caller:

"Yesterday evening, for the first time ever, Xerox Khan was placed under house arrest. I know because one of my closest relatives was in the arresting party that went to his house.

On being told of his arrest, Khan said - "ab mujhe yeh din bhee dekhna padaa kya...?" (do I have to experience such a day also??"

The arresting team disconnected his phones etc., and have only allowed Khan, his wife and one other person (didn't quite catch who) to be in the house. A short time after this, when one of Khan's daughters went to his house, she was turned away....

The host did not believe the caller though.

As can be expected, this story has dominated the weekend political talk show segments on local Paki radio. To a person, there is complete and total support and sympathy for Xerox Khan. And equally strongly, there is anger and outrage at Mushy, and what the callers call his fauji siyasat jamaat (the "military" political party).

Rangudu · Post by **Rangudu** » 02 Feb 2004 04:25

Guys,

So it looks like Mushy and co have obtained a written "confession" from A.X.Khan naming a few scientists and some mid level TSPA officers.

So what punishment Xerox Khan is going to get and what did he get in return will be an interesting equation to watch.

James Bund · Post by **James Bund** » 02 Feb 2004 04:46

Chortle chortle rub hands in glee.

Two and a half years ago I 'invited' the US to dismantle Pakistani nuclear infrastucture.Aur ab Khan saab ko yeh din bhi dekhna para. I don't think the loose nukes saga is over by any means. Khan saab is not the end but a means to dismantling the jihad factory.And very likely the end of the Islamic bomb. I dare say it suits US policy to see a civilizing Indian regency over Pakistan ie dismantle this preposterous artificial state.

But India in no way should assume responsibility for Pakistan's self-inflicted wounds. Time to dust off Jinnah's words-a separate people, different in language,religion,dress,culture. Different alright.

This is the end of the self aggrandizement of Pakistan-no need to suffer their bombast anymore, maybe no amusing pretensions of being bigger, better, faster, brawnier. It will be difficult, but I'll get used to it.

Kuttan · Post by **Kuttan** » 02 Feb 2004 05:41

So the nook nudity of pak has nothing to do with third parties like Unkil securing the nukes, but that the emperor had no clothes from the very beginning. Which brings up the question of why the GOTUS/SD keeps proclaiming that Pakistan's nuclear weapons program is more advanced than the Indian program??

I am learning from all the Diplo-maisy, nookulear etc. experts here. In Gibberish, here goes:

There has to be a nuanced analysis of the above. There are two distinct entities:

a) Pakistani Nuclear Weapon Development Program

had nothing to do with

b) the Pakistani Strategic Deterrent Program

(a) was 400% indigenous, from 100% stolen, smuggled, items from all over the world. Under the care of Abdul Xerox Khan. Dual-use technology.
Use #1: supply nuclear components (not finished weapons) to Feed the Deserving Poor, per Qur**ic principles. NoKo, Libya, Iran, KSA...

Use #2: Feed the Deserving Faithful: a billion here, a billion there, baksheesh in various accounts for use in a 9/11 attack here, a Dirty bomb there... an LAX bomb somewhere else, an Osama Cave Complex elsewhere ...

(b) was 400% imported - direct from PRC. Meant to Rob The Rich Kafirs, i.e., gullible American Experts, boobs like Shekhar Gupta, etc.
"Pakistan weapons far more advanced than India's".
***************************

jrjrao · Post by **jrjrao** » 02 Feb 2004 05:57

Opinion
Dr A Q Khan: Mohsin-e-Pakistan or the Polluter of <u>Paikistan?</u>
Mohammad Shehzad
http://www.kashmirimages.info/page.asp?z=23

AJay · Post by **AJay** » 02 Feb 2004 06:16

Originally posted by Sriman:
Tim,
Two points.
1. If the Libyan connection was "known" (granted, circumstantial) even to me -- heck, Tim, why else would a prould man like Bhutto name the largest stadium in his country after Gaddafi -- I find it hard to believe that the US intel agencies were not aware of it.

The way I read Tim is that Tim is taking the line of Al-Quolin that "past is past" for pre-9/11 proliferation. Fine, Bhutto GUBOed to Khaddhafi, so what? The real mess for Foggies to clear-up is the prolif. that has happened after 9/11.

Prateek · Post by **Prateek** » 02 Feb 2004 07:03

Playing on both teams of the nuclear game
By Aluf Benn

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/389613.html

Prateek · Post by **Prateek** » 02 Feb 2004 07:07

http://www.asahi.com/english/opinion/TKY200402020062.html

EDITORIAL:Nuclear proliferation

Pakistan must come clean on the flow of know-how.

Rangudu · Post by **Rangudu** » 02 Feb 2004 07:07

God forbid, should the unthinkable happen thanks to a Paki supplied bum, I still think the Foggies would escape. Most of the American public is too unaware of realities to worry about State Dept. It's like a skull and bones society. No place for silly stuff like ethics and humanity.

Prateek · Post by **Prateek** » 02 Feb 2004 07:10

The Pakistani connection
NYT

http://www.iht.com/articles/127562.html

General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, has a history of strong declarations followed by weak and contradictory actions. Washington cannot settle for a repetition of this pattern in the Pakistani investigation into whether its nuclear scientists passed bomb technology to North Korea, Iran and Libya. All the links in this reckless supply chain - commercial, military or political - must be uncovered and severed.
.
Pakistan now appears to be one of the world's leading suppliers of illicit nuclear technology.
.
In 2002, American satellites detected a Pakistani plane picking up missile components in North Korea, apparently as part of a barter deal for nuclear weapons technology. Last November, Iran told nuclear inspectors that its uranium enrichment programs had gotten crucial help from people in various nations who were probably linked to Pakistanis.
.
And in recent weeks, Libya has indicated that its nuclear programs benefited from intermediaries in Dubai who may have been working with Pakistanis.
.
The picture now emerging points to an intricate underground network of traders in nuclear contraband. Filling in all the details depends on thoroughly questioning all those likely to have been involved and aggressively following up the leads provided by the new Iranian and Libyan disclosures.
.
It is not yet clear that Musharraf is willing to do this. He has backed off from insisting that Pakistan was never involved in nuclear technology exports. He now claims that whatever problems existed came from rogue scientists in pursuit of financial gain.
.
The investigation he began under American pressure has so far centered on close associates of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the scientist who helped Pakistan illicitly obtain its own nuclear weapons secrets in the 1970's. Pakistani investigators must also probe whatever role senior military and political leaders may have played.
.
Such a wide-ranging investigation will not be easy for Musharraf to undertake. The military high command is his most important power base. He is currently under attack from several directions and barely escaped two recent assassination attempts. Even so, Washington must insist that he not flinch from his responsibility to see that the nuclear technology pipeline from Pakistan is finally closed down. The world cannot afford a repetition of what seems to have happened in Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Prateek · Post by **Prateek** » 02 Feb 2004 07:21

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/469014.cms

Musharraf to address nation

AGENCIES[ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 02, 2004 04:47:53 AM ]

ISLAMABAD : Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf would address the nation over television after the Eid holidays next week to explain the need to crackdown against the father of the country’s nuclear bomb Abdul Qadeer Khan and other scientists for allegedly proliferating nuclear technology to Iran and Libya .

rama · Post by **rama** » 02 Feb 2004 08:02

Dan Sneider of San Jose says it well:

Pakistan's nuclear deals have been an open secret.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/columnists/daniel_sneider/7849216.htm

Pretty important point to make since the "Mushy in tears" nonsense we've read tries to potray a picture of a huge surprise for even the Paki establishment. Yeah right.

Umrao · Post by **Umrao** » 02 Feb 2004 08:33

The alarming prospect of Alqaeda getting Paki bum pales in comparision to the fact that the proud soldiers of United States are N Korean Nuclear Threat, all due to the blatant deeds of the front line allie called Pakistan.

The US tax payers must write to congressmen, why such a nation should be pumped with Biilions of dollars of US aid and write off its debt.

shynee · Post by **shynee** » 02 Feb 2004 08:33

Hope AQK slips into India from the recently opened Wagha border, so that we can trade for Dawood and also force Pakis to sign the extradition treasty

Umrao · Post by **Umrao** » 02 Feb 2004 08:36

If Xerox Khan comes to India he will be arrested for fradulent practice of calling himself Nuclear santist when he is actually a metal allergic engineer.

The bum is not big thing if you ask S Gupta, A Roy N Ram, Praful Bad wai et al.

Rangudu · Post by **Rangudu** » 02 Feb 2004 08:56

I hear there's an FIR out for A.X.Khan in Bhopal for impersonating a scientist.

Rangudu · Post by **Rangudu** » 02 Feb 2004 09:12

President Bush to Order Inquiry Into Iraq Intelligence Lapses

President Bush will establish a bipartisan commission in the next few days to examine a broad overhaul of American intelligence operations, using the case of what went wrong in their assessments of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction as part of a look at the difficulties in penetrating secretive regimes and stateless groups that target the United States, senior administration officials said today.

...

Many studies of American intelligence-gathering have been conducted before, often involving questions of whether the roles of the C.I.A., the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other intelligence groups should be reorganized. But none have taken place at this level, or after what appears to have been a string of intelligence lapses. Those range from the failure to detect preparations for the nuclear tests that Pakistan and India set off in 1998, to missed signals about how quickly Iran and Libya were moving toward a bomb with the aid of Pakistani scientists, to the Sept. 11 attacks and then the overestimation of Iraq's unconventional weapons.

Rangudu · Post by **Rangudu** » 02 Feb 2004 09:14

OpEd by a Brookings analyst.

Empty Words

Worse, while the United States rightly hectors North Korea for selling missile technology, it stands almost passive as Pakistan peddles equipment for uranium enrichment. There are legitimate balancing questions concerning Pakistan: The United States doesn't want to destabilize the current leadership with public confrontation; it shouldn't cut aid too deeply, lest it force more Pakistanis into poverty and hence their children into the madrassas; and it shouldn't weaken Pakistan so much militarily that it invites Indian aggression , or prevents it from policing the Afghan border. Still, there is room to maneuver in pushing Pakistan to clean up its act, but only if the administration firmly accepts the extent of the problem. As with so many other proliferation challenges facing the United States, the State of the Union address suggests it hasn't.

jarugn · Post by **jarugn** » 02 Feb 2004 09:43

Xerox Khan's final confession

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/02/international/asia/02STAN.html

In a two-and-a-half-hour presentation to 20 Pakistani journalists, a senior government official gave an exhaustive and startling account of how Dr. Khan, a national hero, made millions of dollars selling secret technology to three countries that have been striving to produce their own nuclear arsenals. Two of them, Iran and North Korea, were among those designated by President Bush as part of an "axis of evil."

If the Pakistani government account is correct, Dr. Khan's admission amounts to one of the most complex and successful efforts to evade international controls to stop nuclear proliferation.

The account provided by Pakistan on Sunday night came after years in which the government strongly denied that it or scientists at the Khan Research Laboratories had sold crucial technology to other nations. Officials detailed how Dr. Khan had presided over a network that smuggled nuclear hardware on chartered planes, had shared secret designs for the centrifuges that produce the enriched uranium necessary to develop a nuclear weapon, and had given personal briefings to Iranian, Libyan and North Korean scientists in covert meetings abroad.

The Bush administration offered no public comment on the Pakistani announcement on Sunday. But in recent weeks, administration officials have made it clear that they forced the government of President Pervez Musharraf to confront the evidence, after Iran and Libya made disclosures that showed their reliance on Pakistani-supplied technology.

"This is the break we have been waiting for," a senior American official said. But the account provided by Pakistani officials carefully avoided pinning any blame on General Musharraf, the army or the Pakistani intelligence service, despite the fact that some of the material — especially what was sent to North Korea — appeared to have been transported on government cargo planes.

Pakistani and American officials have said senior Pakistani Army officials would have known if nuclear hardware had been shipped out of a tightly guarded nuclear facility.

The senior official told journalists that all nuclear transfers ceased after General Musharraf established a new National Command Authority to oversee the country's nuclear arsenal in early 2002. But according to American accounts, the nuclear transfers to Libya continued through last fall.
------------

Until that time, accounts of secrets given up by the Khan laboratory were met by a string of denials and charges that the West was repeating propaganda from India.

------------

According to the Pakistani account, centrifuges came from a factory in Malaysia that had been built by a Sri Lankan identified as "Tahir," who was one of several middlemen Dr. Khan used to spread the technology. The Pakistani official said, and American officials confirmed, that Tahir was in government custody in Malaysia. Centrifuge components made in Malaysia were intercepted en route to Libya in October, American officials said.

The other middlemen were three Germans identified by the senior official only by their last names — "Brummer," "Heinz," and "Liech" — the journalists said. A Dutch citizen identified by Pakistani officials as "Hanks" was also described as a middleman, though American intelligence officials believe that Hank is his first name. The man is believed to have some connection to Urenco, the European conglomerate where Dr. Khan once worked.

The senior official said Dr. Muhammad Farooq, the head of overseas procurement, had played a critical role in aiding Dr. Khan. He worked closely with the Sri Lankan middleman, the official said. The Sri Lankan established the factory in Malaysia that built components based on Pakistani designs, the official said. Dr. Farooq also traveled with Dr. Khan to the meetings with Libyan officials in Istanbul and Casablanca and recorded some of the conversations.

The senior official told journalists that General Musharraf might address the nation about the results of the inquiry, and any disciplinary action, shortly after a series of national holidays, which end on Thursday.

vishal · Post by **vishal** » 02 Feb 2004 09:48

Everyones getting in on the fun! Todays poll question on Hindustan Times

'Could Pakistani scientists have sold nuclear technology without the knowledge of the Army brass?'

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 02 Feb 2004 13:19

From the Brookings Op-ed...

and it shouldn't weaken Pakistan so much militarily that it invites Indian aggression

What a load of bull. TSP has attacked every time it got sufficient shipments of arms from the US or a bale-out from IMF. That's history. Even today, TSP army officers take an oath to avenge their 1971 debacle, when they graduate.

arun · Post by **arun** » 02 Feb 2004 13:19

Originally posted by jarugn:
Xerox Khan's final confession

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/02/international/asia/02STAN.html

Good to see the issue of Pakistan proliferating to North Korea reawaken from its slumber given its younger vintage and potential overlap with the Generals regime, with Dr. A.Q. Khan’s “confession”.

Now lets see what General Musharraf had to say about the issue back on November 2003 on the issue in an interview with Korea Times :

Q: What do you think of the accusations of Pakistan¡¯s alleged involvement of the export of nuclear technology to North Korea that could be used in the manufacturing of nuclear weapons? Is there any truth to this allegation?

A: The reality is that the four years that I have been president I can say with full guarantee that no proliferation has ever taken place. Other than that I have even investigated the previous leader for any proof of anything that may have happened. There is no evidence whatsoever. We have had relations and defense cooperation with North Korea. We have bought surface-to-air missiles in the past because of the threat to us, but now we are producing them ourselves. Now, there is no defense collaboration at all in any matter at all with North Korea now. This is a baseless allegation.

Tut,Tut. Matter investigated and nothing found, "full guarantee" for same proffered and yet 2-3 months down the road ……………………

Jodhka · Post by **Jodhka** » 02 Feb 2004 17:02

SShridhar wrote:

TSP has attacked every time it got sufficient shipments of arms from the US or a bale-out from IMF.

In Islamism thread, Avram wrote:

his position improved and once he realized he is strong enough to take on the population of Yathrib, he broke the treaty and instituted war on the pretext of unsubstituted provocation by the Yathribittes. In actuality, he had set the stage to bring upon retaliation from the locals which he exploited to break the peace treaty.(In modern times, hudna is -in Palestinian parlance- a temporary peace until situation improves to continue hostilities).

Conclusion: There won't ever be any peace with Pakistan.

Vivek_A · Post by **Vivek_A** » 02 Feb 2004 18:13

Pakistani nuclear scientist confesses to sharing secrets

Abdul Qadeer Khan confessed Sunday to trading nuclear technology to Iran, Libya, and North Korea.