SA helping nuke-smuggling probe
2004-09-14 21:57
Vienna - United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said on Tuesday a South African investigation into a businessman arrested for illegally trading in nuclear material was helping shed light on nuclear programmes in Iran and Libya.
ElBaradei said his Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was getting "a lot of information that could have an impact on our understanding of both the Iranian programme and the Libyan programme".
"We're getting a good deal of information from South Africa," ElBaradei said.
The IAEA sent investigators earlier this month to South Africa after a South African businessman, Johan Meyer, 53, was charged with three counts of being in possession of sensitive nuclear-related equipment and of illegally importing and exporting nuclear material.
Meyer has since been released and charges dropped against him.
There has been speculation he has been co-operating with the authorities.
Two Germans also charged
A Western nuclear expert said the IAEA's investigation was exploring links between Meyer and the international smuggling network that was run by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb.
A week after Meyer's arrest, two German men living permanently in South Africa were charged with illegally exporting equipment to enrich uranium.
Khan sold nuclear material to North Korea, Libya and Iran through a network that involved some 20 countries.
Libya agreed last December to disband its programmes to make weapons of mass destruction and has since been co-operating with the IAEA.
Information from Libya has helped IAEA investigators understand more about Iran's nuclear programme and its acquisition of sensitive atomic materials abroad.
Cops can interrogate people
Now information from South Africa is taking the IAEA further in understanding the illegal smuggling network.
"In general, when police do investigations, they interrogate people in ways the IAEA can't. That information gets shared with us," said a Western diplomat close to the IAEA.
He said this information enabled the IAEA to "pursue international links, people who are part of this web".
Another diplomat said front companies which people used to make black-market acquisitions changed frequently "but the people do not".
- AFP