Pak is World's 'Nuke Wal-Mart': Expert

February 10, 2004

NEW YORK: Over the past week, the revelations of covert nuclear technology sales taking place from Pakistan soil, has convinced the international community in general and experts in particular, that Pakistan has "become the world's nuclear Wal-Mart".

Perhaps more than any one person, Dr A Q Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, is being held responsible for the most egregious string of nuclear-proliferation transactions in recent history, says Peter Brookes, Senior Fellow at the New York-based Heritage Foundation.

In his article for the New York Times, Brookes further goes on to say that Khan's "televised mea culpa" on sharing nuclear technology with Iran, North Korea and Libya is little consolation.

"Certainly it's not enough to warrant the pardon given by Pakistani President Musharraf. Even more disappointing is Pakistan's refusal to allow an independent probe of Khan's proliferation activity - or that of others in Pakistan's scientific, intelligence or military circles," he opines.

If the UN's nuclear watchdog Mohammed ElBaradei is to be believed, Khan's acts of omission and commission are just the "tip of the iceberg," and IDEA investigators are said to be pursuing leads in at least five countries, including Japan, Malaysia, Germany and some unidentified European nations.

Anticipating threats of "secondary proliferation," Brookes warns that nuclear missile material falling into the hands of so-called "despised" regimes like North Korea, Iran and Libya isn't a healthy sign.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/488016.cms