Radioactive material bound for Pak. seized

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, APRIL 5. Border guards in Uzbekistan have seized a radioactive cargo from an Iranian truck bound for Pakistan. According to a report in The New York Times the material - which could be used to make a weapon - was found in 10 lead containers and is being tested in neighbouring Kazakhastan.

``We are not prepared to say it is or isn't. We just don't know. We're trying to find out'', a senior administration official has been quoted in report. According to the U.S. State Department spokesman, Mr. James Rubin, the seizure was made last Thursday and customs officials in Uzbekistan turned over the material to Kazakhastan.

According to the news report, the truck headed for Pakistan was stopped at a customs post 32 km. from Tashkent where officials using equipment detected high levels of radioactivity in the cargo. The driver apparently said that he was going from Kazakhastan through Turkmenistan and Iran to Pakistan. The final destination was stated to be a company in Quetta.

This is not the first time an attempt has been made by Pakistan to smuggle in clandestine and dangerous cargo, though for the record Islamabad is bound to deny any knowledge of the dubious activity. The Times report points out that the cargo seized in the past was of poor or useless quality; and that American intelligence agencies are confident that no weapons grade nuclear material has ever been smuggled successfully out of the former Soviet Union.

Meanwhile officials of the military government in Pakistan have been in the U.S. for the past few days holding talks with senior officials of the Clinton administration. They include the chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Interior Minister, Lt. Gen. Moinuddin Haider.

According to a State Department official, the discussions would include law enforcement and terrorism issues which are of critical importance to the U.S. Mr. Haider, who has already met the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Louis Freeh, is scheduled to meet the Attorney-General and officials in the National Security Council.

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Section  : International
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