Pakistani Nuclear Scientists Under Investigation

Paraphrased by:
Steve Waldrop
December 23, 2003

Pakistani officials recently acknowledged that three scientists affiliated with the country's nuclear program were under investigation to determine whether they independently provided nuclear weapons technology or assistance to Iran and North Korea.

Pakistani Information Minister Rashid Ahmed confirmed that the scientists had been detained for questioning on the basis of information provided to Pakistan by U.N. nuclear inspectors investigating Iran's secret procurement network.

Rashid asserted that if there was any sharing of nuclear technology, it was done without the Pakistani government's knowledge or approval. Investigators, he said, are trying to determine whether the scientists may have offered their services as individuals.

"We are saying the government never, ever is involved in this proliferation," Ahmed said, adding that the alleged sharing of nuclear technology took place "many, many years ago, maybe."

It has been widely reported, that Pakistan detained three top nuclear scientists for questioning. Until now Pakistani officials had refrained from publicly discussing the reason for the detentions. Officials broke their silence after reports began circulating that Pakistanis had shared nuclear technology with North Korea and possibly other countries.

Reports detailed the possible involvement of scientists from the country's main nuclear weapons lab, the A.Q. Khan Laboratories (named after Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb). Kahn has been questioned but is not in custody.

The report suggests that in the 1980s and 1990s Pakistan provide Iran with designs for centrifuges to enrich uranium- a key ingredient of nuclear bombs.

The disclosures have embarrassed the government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president and a strong ally of the United States in the war on terrorism who has vowed to purge his country of radical Muslim groups with longstanding ties to the country's military and security apparatus.

Foreign Ministry spokesman said Pakistan launched its investigation of the scientists about six weeks ago on the basis of information supplied by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog. "We have been fully cooperative with the IAEA," said Khan, the spokesman. "The government of Pakistan has never authorized or initiated any transfers of sensitive nuclear technology."

He said that two of the detained scientists -- Mohammed Farooq and Sayeed Ahmad -- were still "undergoing debriefing sessions" while a third, Yasin Chohan, had been released.