Author: PTI
Publication: Mid-Day
Date: August 25,2002
URL: http://www.mid-day.com/news/world/2002/august/29767.htm
Britain has stepped up its surveillance
of Pakistani activities in the country following reports that Islamabad
has been secretly buying from here equipment for making nuclear weapons.
Special high-grade metals have been
smuggled out of the country and are believed to have reached an uranium
enrichment plant in Kahuta, near Islamabad, a media report said today.
The discovery has infuriated the
British Foreign office, which had assurances from Pakistan that it was
not shopping in Britain for weapons of mass destruction or related equipment.
The British Security agency Mi5
is said to have already stepped up its surveillance of Pakistani activities
in UK, including diplomats in London involved in the procurement of military
equipment, the influential Sunday Times reported.
At least one consignment of 47 tons
of high-strength aluminium worth 150,000 pounds was sent to Pakistan from
a British firm. The material, made to a standard known as 6061 T6, is used
to make centrifuges for converting uranium ore to bomb-grade uranium 235.
"This is not the kind of aluminium
you use for soft drink cans, it has a very limited number of applications,"
the paper quoted a source. Two people now face prosecution for alleged
evasion of export controls.
Customs and Excise Officers discovered
the aluminium had been secretly shipped to Khan Research Laboratories in
Pakistan, which manufactures nuclear weapons.
The Mi5 visited the Blackburn-based
company that sold the material and warned that Pakistan and other states
may try to circumvent an export ban.
