Our man sold secrets to Iran, admits Pakistan

[struggle4progress]

By Massoud Ansari in Islamabad
(Filed: 13/02/2005)

Pakistan has conceded for the first time that Dr A Q Khan, the rogue nuclear scientist who is under house arrest in Islamabad, passed secrets and equipment to Iranian officials and is now considered the "brain" behind the programme that has put Teheran on the brink of acquiring nuclear weapons.

An investigation by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, details of which have been disclosed to The Telegraph, confirmed that Khan, a hero in Pakistan as the "Father of the Bomb", and his associates sold nuclear codes, materials, components and plans that left his "signature" at the core of the Iranian nuclear programme.

The admission came during private talks in Brussels at the end of last month between European Union officials and senior ministers from Pakistan and India. The EU officials were told that cooperation between Teheran and Khan, 68, and associates from his Khan Research Laboratories began in the mid-1990s and included more than a dozen meetings over several years.

Most of these meetings were between Mohammad Farooq, a centrifuge expert from KRL, and Iranians in Karachi, Kuala Lumpur and Teheran. Pakistani investigators have told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that centrifuge drawings acquired by Iran closely resemble the design of the first-generation Pakistan-1 centrifuge. <snip>

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/13/wiran113.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/02/13/ixnewstop.html


Khan's nuke network still operational: Time
Asian News International
Lahore, February 7|14:10 IST

Recent investigations have revealed that the nuclear proliferation network once managed by Pakistan's top nuclear scientist AQ Khan is still operational.

"Nothing has changed,” Time quoted one of Khan’s former aides as saying. "The hardware is still available, and the network hasn’t stopped".

The report that has extensively been quoted by the Daily Times says that the Khan network played a much larger role in helping both Iran and North Korea to become nuclear proficient than previously disclosed.

Quoting American intelligence officials, Time claims that Khan sold North Korea much of the necessary material to build a nuclear bomb, including high-speed centrifuges used to enrich uranium and the equipment required to manufacture more of them. <snip>

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1231598,001300850000.htm

[Redstone]

1. They're setting the stage...

for the Big Show:



Redstone

[Neshanic]

3. You are right. The lights will soon dim, and the big show will start.

All the actors know their lines; corporate media and republican whores. The stage is set, Tim Russert and the usual supects will be the props. All we need now is the play to begin.

We already know how it ends. We saw the same play before.

[daleo]

2. I don't trust the Telegraph

I don't know about the other source.

[LynnTheDem]

4. Both are credible mainstream media sources.

[struggle4progress]

7. Pretty right wing usually?

[leveymg]

5. The CIA's been watching him do this for 20 years. This is how 911

happened, but much, much worse.

I know that we like to engineer our own enemies, just to take them down later (Noriega, Hussein, UBL), BUT - we watched while Khan sold them NUKES?!? OMG

Who authorized this operation?

BBC
Pakistan rejects scientist claim
Pakistan has dismissed a magazine article that said the US was probing whether disgraced scientist AQ Khan sold nuclear secrets to Arab nations.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Time magazine's claims were "distorted" and "baseless".
The magazine quoted Pakistani defence sources as saying the US was probing sales to Saudi Arabia and others.
Pakistan pardoned Dr Khan after he admitted illegally transferring nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
There is nothing in Saudi Arabia that may be attributed to Pakistan
Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed

But the scientist, still regarded as a hero by many in Pakistan as the father of the nation's nuclear programme, has been under virtual house arrest since his pardon early last year.
The Time magazine report also said Dr Khan's role in helping Iran and North Korea was greater than originally thought.
The article said: "US intelligence officials believe Khan sold North Korea much of the material needed to build a bomb, including high-speed centrifuges used to enrich uranium and the equipment required to manufacture more of them."
'Biggest proliferator'
Mr Ahmed said Time had made "distortions in its story".
"There is nothing in Saudi Arabia that may be attributed to Pakistan," he said.
However, he did not rule out that Dr Khan's network may have been more extensive than believed.
<SNIP>
Mr Ahmed also rejected a claim in Time that cylinders used for uranium enrichment had gone missing from the Khan Research Laboratories facility.
"All those items are listed and all are there," he said.
The US has given questions to Pakistan to ask Dr Khan but has not been allowed to interrogate him.
Mr Ahmed again insisted the scientist "will not be handed over to anyone".
The US has called Dr Khan the "biggest proliferator" of nuclear technology.
Dr Khan held the post of scientific adviser since retiring as head of the country's top nuclear facility in 2001 but was sacked after his confession.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4242771.stm

Published: 2005/02/07 11:21:34 GMT

[Rose Siding]

6. Last week Pakistan funded terrorists. $540K to al qaeda, says BBC

It was laundered through some "tribal militants" as repayment for loans. I haven't even heard about this in the US media but omg if it had been Iran? the only question would have been what color bombs will we use?

Pakistan pays tribe al-Qaeda debt

Pakistan says it has paid 32m rupees ($540,000) to help four former wanted tribal militants in South Waziristan settle debts with al-Qaeda.

Military operations chief in the region, Lt Gen Safdar Hussain, said the payments were part of a peace deal signed on Monday with tribesmen.

It is the first time Pakistan has admitted making such payments....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4249525.stm

[LinuxInsurgent]

8. hey...

whatever equalizes the unequal balance of nuclear politics in the Middle East is fine by me.

Yes..yes...I know what you are all thinking...I'm not in favor of nuclear proliferation...and I'm definitely not liking bad regimes having nukes...so that's why I argue that all nations should denuclearize at the same time, through some global, verifiable treaty.

That ideal not being attainable at this moment, the next best thing is for all countries to have a deterrent...so that uppity, international law flaunters (U.S, Israel...you know who you are) don't go batshit on weaker Arab nations.

Simply going after Pakistan, North Korea, and Iran is unfair...if we ignore their legitimate claims of fear of the Israeli and American states, we are being biased...the Iranians saw what happened to Iraq's Osirak reactor...and the Israelis have been threatening a repeat with Iran. The U.S. has been threatening NK through military exercises in the region. They've got reasons for fearing the U.S/Israel...and they saw what happened to the weakest Arab country, Iraq.

Deterrent = U.S./Israel talking a lot of shit...but doing nothing, for fear of the consequences. Deterrence WORKS. And for all those that think that nukes in the hands of religious ayatollahs is not deterrence (because the ayatollah's will not fear death)...remember that the Ayatollah's have had an army for decades...and have not been aggressive with ANYONE.

So...if I was an Iranian policymaker...I'd say...all speed ahead with the nuclear program..to keep the Israelis and Americans off our back in any military sense. When the U.S. and Israel, and other countries decide to play fair and denuclearize...i'd be the first Iranian policymaker to call for Iran's denuclearization as well.

That's the fair and equitable way to deal with the security risks of all nations.

[karynnj]

9. At Dr Rice's confirmation hearing,

didn't she keep repeating in response to Kerry's questions that US interests were being served by Pakistan (even though they didn't charge Khan) Even when Kerry questioned "Adequately?" Her response was yes.

[Vitruvius]

10. The US was behind Saddam's invasion of Iran; Iran lost over a MILLION

dead in that invasion. Iran -- justifiably -- believes that they need nuclear devices to deter any such future aggression.

Before that, the CIA overthrew Iran's democratically elected Mossadeq government and installed the Shah -- who looted Iran's oil wealth for the benefit of the major oil companies and kept his own people down by his Savak secret police & torture chambers -- both using the very best CIA know-how.

In addition -- Iran helped pay for the development of Pakistan's bomb (often called the "Islamic bomb" because so many Islamic states helped pay for it -- because they were tired of being pushed around by the US and US-backed aggressors.) Of course Pakistan shared the designs, know-how, and probably the fissile material ("bombstuff") with Iran -- and with the other Islamic nations who paid into the effort...

What do you do when you're a 3rd world country, need protection, and cannot afford to develop nuclear devices all by yourself? If you're tired of being invaded and/or bombed and/or having your gov't overthrown by the CIA, you club together with others in the same predicament. As various Islamic countries did with the "Islamic bomb".

Human beings always defend themselves to the very best of their abilities.