Taliban approached Pak. scientists to develop n-bomb?

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

NEW YORK, NOV. 12. At least 10 Pakistani nuclear scientists were approached by the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda to begin work on a nuclear weapons programme and most of them agreed to work in Afghanistan, provided the programme was approved by the Pakistan Government, according to a report in USA Today.

Quoting American and Pakistani officials, the report says that after being informed of the move last month by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence detained 10 persons with ``specific knowledge'' of Islamabad's nuclear programme to find out if information, knowledge, raw materials or weaponry had been passed on to the Taliban.

Among those questioned were three top persons, including Mr. Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, considered the ``father'' of Pakistan's nuclear programme. Mr. Mahmood, who retired in 1999, is said to have travelled to Kandahar and built three ``flour mills,'' which the U.S. believes could be scientific laboratories. The ``mills'' were targeted during the current bombing runs.

Also questioned were Mr. Abdul Majid, formerly director of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme and a nuclear scientist, Mr. Mirza Yusuf Baig. The three were questioned at least twice by the FBI, the CIA and the ISI.

Administration officials here have dismissed the possibility of the terrorist mastermind, Osama bin Laden, having nuclear weapons at his disposal but point to the contacts the

Al-Qaeda has been trying to establish, to prove that the network is trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction. The information has also underscored Washington's concern over Islamabad's nuclear weapons programme, the report maintains.

Even before his arrival in New York for the United Nations General Assembly debate and the high-profile meeting with the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush, the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, had expressed total confidence in his country's nuclear weapons programme and ordered the redeployment of the nuclear arsenal to secret locations besides re-organising the military oversight of the nuclear weapons forces.

Gen. Musharraf will be leaving New York today. The $ 1 billion- plus that he is taking with him can be seen as just the beginning of an aid package that will eventually run into billions for a variety of projects and from different sources - not just the U.S. From Pakistan's perspective, it is seeking long-term and sustained relations with the U.S. unlike the past when there was a tendency to focus on the immediate short-term objectives.

The Bush administration has clarified that the F-16s will not make their way to Pakistan. The Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, has said that Pakistan has been compensated for the F-16s package which was paid for in the 1980s, but not delivered.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Tussle over flexibility of TRIPS at Doha
Next     : De-militarise Kabul: Pak.