Pakistan's Nuke Money Trail

SPACEMART

the nuclear black market has to interact with the legal economy at some point leaving critical clues to the boarder involvement of others

by Kaushik Kapisthalam
Atlanta (UPI) May 12, 2004
There have been many contradictory reports about Pakistan's nuclear program both leading up to and following the bizarre confession by Pakistani nuclear figure Abdul Qadeer Khan and his subsequent pardon by President Pervez Musharraf. In this context, one can infer interesting conclusions by following the money trail and correlating it with the involvement of foreign nations or persons in the Pakistani nuclear program.

Mohammed Beg, former European director for Pakistan International Airlines, later alleged that Libyan dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi personally supervised transfers of suitcases filled with U.S. dollars to Pakistan on PIA flights, sometimes up to $100 million in a single flight.

After dictator Gen. Zia ul-Haq overthrew and later executed Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1979, the Pakistani military took firm control of the nuclear program. ! Thanks to the Afghan jihad, Pakistan was by then swimming in cash, both due to direct aid from the United States as well as contributions from the Saudis.

However, despite ambitious goals, Pakistan lacked the scientific base necessary for the many thousands of sophisticated components needed for a nuclear weapons program. But by leveraging his European contacts, Khan set up a network, supervised by the Pakistan Army's Special Works Organization as well as the Inter Services Intelligence spy agency that could acquire virtually any desired item from Western European nations and many from the United States and Canada. During this time, failed Bank of Credit and Commerce International played a critical role in financing this Pakistani nuclear smuggling ring. In 1992, a report from a U.S. Congressional sub-committee headed by current Democratic presidential frontrunner, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, said that there was "good reason to conclude that BCCI did finance ! Pakistan' s nuclear program.

By the late 1980s Pakistan had acquired the ability to make an atomic device as well as the nuclear fuel needed for it.

Then Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg openly called for a Pakistan-Iran strategic alliance that included nuclear co-operation. An aide to then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recently revealed that Gen. Beg and a senior Iranian military official met with Sharif and informed him of a deal to sell nuclear technology to Iran for an additional $12 billion. We now know that Pakistan did transfer nuclear technology to Iran around this time. We also know that sometime later, Libya also approached Pakistan and obtained nuclear technology for further cash transfers to the tune of more than $100 million.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto recently mentioned in an interview that she had sanctioned the purchase of ballistic missile technology from North Korea.

Wester! N analyst s now believe that Pakistan transferred nuclear technology to North Korea in return for the missiles since it lacked foreign exchange during the mid 1990s. The recent Saudi connection is also important. After Pakistan's nuclear tests in 1998, Saudi Arabia provided almost a billion dollars worth of free oil supplies to Pakistan every year. In 1999, Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan became one of the few foreigners to tour secret Pakistani nuclear facilities -- places where even former elected Pakistani prime ministers weren't welcome.

Another pointer to the financial aspect of Pakistan's proliferation was revealed in 2000, when the Pakistan Commerce Ministry issued advertisements in prominent English language Pakistani papers announcing intended sale of enriched uranium, plutonium and 17 types of equipment, including nuclear power reactors, reactor control systems and many other similar technologies. Days after this, the Pakistan government withdrew the! Ads and said that they were a "mistake." Despite this Gen. Beg commented that selling "surplus" nuclear material to fellow Islamic nations was a "respectable way of earning money."

The bottom line is that an analysis of the money trail shows that the drivers behind Pakistani nuclear proliferation were essentially those of a state and not some rogue individuals. Even though Khan and some of his assistants may have had a major role in the nuclear network, the Pakistani Army essentially supervised it.

That oversight is not dependent on whether goods were coming in or going out of Pakistan. As the 2000 advertisement saga shows, the Pakistan government was seriously pursuing the usage of its nuclear technology as a tradable commodity. The huge sums of money involved also point to state involvement.

Given this, it would not be possible to break this nuclear network without bringing to account the various Pakistani state entities, o! Vert and covert, and their representatives abroad. Unfortunately, by buying Musharraf's incredulous claims of no state involvement and focusing on Khan, the United States and its allies are ensuring that the nuclear network remains alive, albeit more underground.

(Kaushik Kapisthalam is an IT professional and commentator on U.S. policy towards South Asia and its effects on the war on terror. He lives in Atlanta, Ga.)

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NUKEWARS

Pakistani Plot To Overthrow President Musharraf Exposed

Washington (UPI) - Mar 18, 2004
A plot to replace Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf with the nuclear engineer who sold the country's secrets to America's self-avowed enemies is being organized by politico-religious leaders, said one of the leaders present at a recent meeting of religious and political parties.

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