Investigators link seven nations to Nuclear Black Market by UN Wire 8:19pm 10th Feb, 2004   February 9, 2004    Investigators have linked at least seven countries to an international nuclear black market believed to have been controlled by top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Washington Post reported yesterday (Slevin/Lancaster, Feb. 8).    Khan last week admitted to selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea, and said he acted on his own, without the knowledge of his government.  In Vienna, the top international nuclear official said Khan had participated in a vast nuclear smuggling network.    "Dr. Khan was the tip of an iceberg," said International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei.  "There were items that were manufactured in other countries, items that were reassembled in different countries," he added (George Jahn, Associated Press/ABC News, Feb. 5).    Companies or individuals in at least seven countries are believed to be involved in the smuggling network, officials said.  Besides Pakistan, the countries known to be involved include Germany, Japan, Malaysia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.  A company in another European country was also involved, two diplomats said.    A senior U.S. official described the network as having provided "one-stop shopping" for nuclear technology.    International Atomic Energy Agency investigators have interviewed two German businessmen — Otto Heilingbrunner and Gotthard Lerch — identified by Libya as suppliers of uranium enrichment centrifuge technology, according to the Post.  A third German identified as a supplier by Libya — Heinz Mebus — is dead.Heilingbrunner has denied providing nuclear technology to any country, the Post reported. "I never did business with this junk," Heilingbrunner said.  "I do not know how they came up with me," he said (Washington Post).    Meanwhile, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri called yesterday for an expanded investigation into the role of European countries in the international nuclear black market.    "Why is there this unhealthy focus on Pakistan?  What about others?" Kasuri said during a security conference held in Munich yesterday.  "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 added (Philip Blenkinsop, Reuters, Feb. 8).    Annan, Powell Call For More Investigation Of Extent Of Proliferation    U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday welcomed the exposure of the nuclear proliferation network run by Khan, but deferred to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on the wisdom of pardoning Khan without first trying him. Powell called it "a remarkable success" that Khan — the "biggest" proliferator — is out of action.  "We don't have to worry about proliferation from Mr. A.Q. Khan or his network," he said.  "This is a success for the international community, for those of us who have been pressing all governments to go after these kinds of proliferators.  And I'm pleased that President Musharraf realized that he had to do something about this network."    "I expect to be talking to President Musharraf over the next several days to make sure that there is a full understanding of what the A.Q. Khan network has done over the years so that there are no remnants of it left, and then there's no possibility of further proliferating activities coming out of that network," Powell added.    Annan took a less optimistic, longer view.  "I think it indicates that proliferation is alive and that there has been quite a lot of black market activities that we have not been aware of," Annan said.  Repeating ElBaradei's contention that the Khan network "is the tip of the iceberg," he said the IAEA "is going to do as much as possible to discover what other loopholes exist.  But of course, he cannot do it alone.  He needs support, and exchange of information from governments who have them, for all of us to try and take steps to ensure that we contain the problem or nip it before it spreads."
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