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A.Q. Khan and the Islamic Bomb
The late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto projected to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Libya Pakistan's project for an atomic bomb as a project for an Islamic bomb to counter what he used to call the Christian, Jewish and Hindu bombs and persuaded them to share the cost of the project. While the exact amounts paid by these countries are not available, the major share came from Saudi Arabia and Libya and a smaller amount from Iran. While the flow of funds for the Islamic bomb project was substantial and regular from Saudi Arabia and Libya, it was sporadic from Iran. It was regular till 1979 when the Shah of Iran was in power. After the success of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, the US and some other Western countries imposed economic sanctions against Teheran. The US froze all Iranian assets in US banks. The Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s aggravated Iran's economic difficulties. Saudi Arabia, a Wahabi State, was extremely suspicious of the Shia revolutionaries of Iran. Gen.Zia-ul-Haq, who overthrew Z.A. Bhutto in 1977 and seized power, was himself worried over the radicalisation of the Shias of Pakistan, who constitute about 20 per cent of the population, following the success of the Shia revolution in Iran. The US was interested in the success of Iraq in its war against Iran and would have viewed adversely Pakistan hobnobbing with Teheran and adding to its military muscle. All these factors slowed down the flow of money from Iran, but not Iran's interest in benefiting from Pakistan's experience and military nuclear technology. After the end of the Iran-Iraq war, Iran's economic position once again improved and the flow of money to the Pakistan project increased and continued. [...] Was Pakistan's assistance to Iran and Libya confined to the setting-up of an uranium enrichment facility or did it go beyond to helping them to militarise their capability? Pakistan's own atomic bomb was based on a Chinese model with the help of drawings clandestinely given by China to Islamabad to counter India's perceived nuclear capability. Reliable sources in Pakistan have reported that when Pakistan carried out its nuclear tests at Chagai in May, 1998, nuclear scientists from Saudi Arabia and North Korea were present and that one of the devices tested was of North Korean origin. Past reports had spoken of the presence of only North Korean scientists at Chagai, but recent reports speak of the presence of Saudi scientists too in their capacity as the major financiers of the project. They also say that Pakistan shared the Chinese drawings definitely with Iran and Libya. Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-12-20 |
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