Author: Rahul Datta/New Delhi
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: November 23, 2001
Pakistan has allowed two nuclear
scientists, wanted by the USA for questioning over their possible connivance
with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, to slip away to Myanmar. The military
junta of Myanmar has for long defied international opinion on a host of
issues from human rights to supporting terrorists.
Senior officials of Pakistan's military
Government had held talks with the Myanmarese authorities on sanctuary
for the two scientists, Suleman Aziz and Kohammad Ali Mukhtar, sources
said here on Thursday.
The USA had asked Pakistan to hand
over two other nuclear scientists, Dr Bashir and Abdul Majid. The Pakistani
authorities, it was reported, placed the two scientists under house arrest
in Lahore.
These scientists, with fundamentalist
leanings and a "soft corner" for the Taliban, had been closely associated
with Pakistan"s nuclear programme.
Desperate to acquire nuclear weapons
to hold the world to ransom, bin Laden had reportedly met these scientists
over the last few years.
The USA learnt about these meetings
when the crackdown against bin Laden's terrorist network Al Quaeda began
after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.
Pakistan was asked to furnish details
about the meetings. The Musharraf Government responded by placing Bashir
and Abdul Majid under house arrest. The other two scientists, however,
escaped US attention in the beginning. Subsequent investigations pointed
to the alleged involvement of the two scientists with Osama, sources said.
In order to avoid international
embarrassment, the junta allowed Aziz and Mukhtar to slip out of the country
a few days ago. It was learnt that senior Pakistani officials had worked
out the details of the scientists' secret flight from Pakistan to the host
country.
The escape raises serious doubts
about Pakistan's commitment to the international campaign against terrorism,
sources said. The issue of a security cover against any nuclear terrorist
outrage, meanwhile, came up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Leader of the Opposition Manmohan Singh sought a reply from Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the measures taken by the government to meet the
challenge of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
External Affairs Minister Jaswant
Singh was also present in the House during the short-duration discussion
on terrorist attacks on the WTC and related developments.
