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Under-trial businessman had no role in N-project: Pakistan
denies reports
By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, April 10: Pakistan has rejected media reports
as 'malicious' and 'unfounded' that Islamabad had tried to illegally buy
nuclear devices from US companies.
On Friday, the US government formally charged a Pakistani businessman
Humayun A. Khan with illegally exporting devices from the US that could
also be used in developing nuclear weapons. Mr Khan has denied exporting
any equipment for Pakistan's nuclear programme and the indictment, unsealed
before a federal jury in Washington on Friday, acknowledges that the devices
can also be used for treating kidney stones.
"The government of Pakistan was not involved at any stage, in any
capacity and in any way, directly or indirectly," Pakistan's deputy
chief of mission in Washington, Mohammed Sadiq, told Dawn."Humayun
Khan was not involved in procuring triggers or other equipment for Pakistan's
nuclear programme."
There was no need for Pakistan to get involved in such activities and
even if it wanted to do so, it would not engage an Israeli businessman,
said Mr Sadiq, while referring to Asher Karni, an Israeli national who
lives in South Africa.
The prosecution has based its case on Mr Karni's confession who told US
interrogators that Humayun Khan had hired him to buy 200 high-speed electrical
switches and oscilloscopes and export them to Pakistan without the required
US licences.
Mr Karni also confessed to selling sophisticated electronic equipment
to government agencies in India in 2002, saying that these equipment were
employed in nuclear weapons and missile research. He said he sold similar
equipment to other countries as well.
Referring to his statement, Mr Sadiq pointed out that while in Pakistan's
case Mr Karni only spoke of buying devices for a private businessman,
in India he confessed to dealing with government agencies. "And yet
no Indian individual or agency has been indicted or identified so far,"
said the Pakistani diplomat. "Other countries that Mr Karni acknowledges
dealing with are not even identified."
Mr Sadiq said the case is being exploited by "the dirty tricks department
of certain lobbies who look for excuses to malign Pakistan." US government
agencies, he said, knew about Mr Karni's activities from the beginning
and had even disabled the switches he was trying to buy.
Pakistan's deputy chief of mission said as in previous
media attacks on Pakistan, several basic points in this case were also
being ignored. "If you look at the indictment, you see that it's
US companies that are selling certain devices to an Israeli citizen. Pakistan
is not involved either in buying or selling of these equipment."
Mr Sadiq said whenever there was a positive development in Pakistan-US
relations, "certain vested interests and lobbies become active and
spread such stories."
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