LONDON, 9 October 2005 — More than 360 organizations are seeking nuclear and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) technology for such programs in Asia and the Middle East says a leaked document from British intelligence agency MI5.
According to a report published yesterday by The Guardian newspaper, the MI5 document titled “Companies and Organizations of Proliferation Concern”, lists private companies, university departments and government organizations in eight countries who have procured goods or technology for use in weapons programs; and stresses the determination of these countries to develop “nuclear arsenals and other weapons of mass destruction.”
The revelation comes only days after a Norwegian Committee awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to the Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its Egyptian-born head Mohammed El-Baradei, a seasoned lawyer and diplomat.
The disclosure will make embarrassing reading for countries such as Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, Israel, Iran, Syria, North Korea, and Egypt. The Pakistan High Commission here is singled out as the only diplomatic institution in the list of organizations that has helped procure nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction technology for their countries.
The 17-page document, in fact, identifies 95 Pakistani organizations and government bodies who have assisted the country’s nuclear program. The Pakistani link, said The Guardian, was apparently established after MI5 carried out a surveillance operation on the High Commission in Lowndes Square in Knightsbridge over a period of the last two years. The Pakistani High Commission in London has rejected any such involvement as “rubbish” and an affront to Pakistan.
The document was compiled in a bid to prevent British companies inadvertently exporting sensitive goods or expertise to organizations that might be involved in WMD programs overseas.
According to The Guardian, “it is not suggested that the companies and organizations on the list have committed an offense under UK legislation. However, in addition to conducting non-proliferation related business, they have procured goods and/or technology for weapons of mass destruction programs.”
Some 114 Iranian organizations, including chemical and pharmaceutical companies and university medical schools, are named as having acquired nuclear, chemical, biological or missile technology.
Eleven Israeli organizations and 73 Indian bodies appear on the list, compiled two years ago. A private chemical company in Egypt and the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission are both claimed to have procured technology for a nuclear weapons program. The UAE is named as a hub of the countries for the nuclear and WMD technology procurement trade. Indeed, MI5 identified 24 private firms operating out of Dubai as having acquired nuclear and WMD technology for Pakistan, Iran and India. A UAE embassy source stressed that Dubai is a major regional entrepot and a re-export base. However, the government is cooperating with the UK, US and other EU countries in stemming the proliferation of WMD technology and goods acquired through Dubai and Abu Dhabi. MI5 also expresses concerns that Cyprus and Malta have also been used as front countries for the nuclear and WMD technology procurement trade.
Anti-Terror Police Arrest 10 in Britain
Meanwhile, British anti-terrorist police arrested 10 people yesterday in raids carried out at three locations in England, including one in the London suburbs, London’s Metropolitan Police said.
The operation is linked to an ongoing investigation into international terrorist activities in Britain, but is not connected to the July bombings in the capital, a police spokesman said.
Three men were arrested in Croydon, southeast of London, three in the central English city of Derby, and four in the city of Wolverhampton, also in central England, according to the spokesman. The arrests, which took place at around 4.00 a.m. were made under the section of the Terrorist Act 2000 relative to preparing, instigating or carrying out a terrorist act.
