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SA WMD suspect in the dock
03/09/2004 07:43 - (SA)
Staff reporters, Beeld
Johannesburg - A South African citizen was apprehended in Vanderbijlpark on Thursday in
connection with alleged infringements of laws on weapons of mass
destruction and nuclear energy.
"Material" used in the alleged offences was also confiscated.
The National Prosecuting Authority confirmed that it was involved in the
arrest.
Spokesman Sipho Ngwema did not want to release any further details.
News24 has learnt that the arrest could be connected with the arrest
of a South African earlier this year in the US and that a suspect will
appear in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate's Court this morning.
The name of the suspect is known, but is not being released for
legal reasons.
Abdul Minty, chairman of the South African Council For the
Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction said in a statement an
investigation is currently under way into infringements of the laws on
weapons of mass destruction and on nuclear energy.
"An investigation is being done into the activities of some businesses and
individuals who might have been involved.
"In this regards an arrest was
made, and goods were found that were allegedly used during the
infringement," Minty said on Thursday night.
He says the South African authorities co-operated with other governments as
well as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) during the
investigation.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa could shed no more light on the
events.
News24 learnt that this most recent arrest is possibly connected to the
arrest of the 50-year-old Asher Karni from Three Anchor Bay in the Cape, who
is an Israeli citizen.
He was arrested at the Denver airport in January this year. Karni, a former
officer in the Israeli defence force, is suspected to have planned the
export of American-made primers through South Africa to Pakistan.
The primers can be used for the manufacture of nuclear weapons, and the US
has banned the export of this kind of technology to certain countries,
including Pakistan.
Karni was placed under house arrest under supervision of
a rabbi. He has to wear an electronic shackle around his ankle until his
case starts in Washington.
According to an expert, who has asked to remain anonymous, a local business
or person could be involved in the import and export of dual-purpose
material, which can be used in factories but also in the manufacture of
nuclear weapons.
The American authorities have experts watching South African businesses that
work with such dual-purpose material.
Since 1994, South Africa has adopted a strict policy of disarmament and
against the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the ability to build them.
The country's foray into the world of nuclear weapons started in 1948, the
year the apartheid government came to power, with the establishment of the
Atomic Energy Board (AEB).
On March 24, 1993 former president F.W. de Klerk, revealed the country had
developed a "limited nuclear deterrent" during the 1970s and 1980s.
The country had seven nuclear weapons, but, said De Klerk at the time,
dismantled them.
He invited the IAEA, headed by former chief UN weapons
inspector in Iraq, Hans Blix, to conduct inspections.
Early last year, Blix praised highly what he called "the South African
model of co-operation" and at the time, urged Iraq to adopt it. - News24/AFP/Beeld
- Beeld
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