The heir son of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has revealed that Libya bought plans to make a nuclear bomb from Pakistani scientists as part of the quest for weapons of mass destruction it has now promised to abandon, write Michael Sheridan and Marie Colvin in The Sunday Times.
Looking worse for Pakistan.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said Libya had spent at least $40 million trying to build the bomb - an effort that Western weapon inspectors believe came much closer to fruition than previously thought. Revelations of the extent of Pakistani involvement are expected to increase US and British pressure on President Pervez Musharraf, who already stands accused of failing to prevent the illicit sale of nuclear material to Iran. Pakistan admitted last week that ârogue scientistsâ might have peddled technology for individual gain. It said several had been questioned.
Wonder when their "car accidents" are scheduled?
In an interview on his farm east of Tripoli, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, 32, confirmed that Libya used a network of international middlemen to buy nuclear components, including centrifuges, on the black market. Some of the material came from Malaysia and other Asian countries while other components were bought in South Africa.
Those centrifuges that were seized by the US and Britian had phoney shipping documents from a "asian" company.
Dressed in traditional gold silk Libyan robes and a checked turban, he spoke excitedly of a ânew page in Libyaâs historyâ and revealed how he had worked as a âtrouble shooterâ in talks with US and British officials that culminated in Colonel Gaddafiâs pre-Christmas offer to dismantle Libyaâs weapons of mass destruction programs. âI was able to take messages to my father and explain to him. By the end we had a good relationship with the CIA, MI6 and all the Americans and British,â he said.
Meet the next ruler of Libya.
| And probably a more capable one than his father, despite his propensity for checked turbans... |
His father had needed to be reassured that the Americans and British did not have a hidden agenda for regime change in Tripoli. âOnce they assured us they did not, everything went forward.â
Our agenda wasnât hidden, it was right out in the open.
| We're flexible: reform or regime change. Take your pick... |
It also emerged at the weekend that Libya appeared to have begun the process of enriching uranium, indicating Colonel Gaddafi was much closer to making a nuclear device than the UN inspectors admitted had been thought. According to one Western diplomat based in Tripoli, British and American experts who inspected Libyan weapons sites were startled to discover how advanced the nuclear program was. Libya had a âuranium enrichment program actually in progressâ, the diplomat said. The experts were also taken aback to find that Colonel Gaddafiâs nuclear scientists had what one Western official described as a âfull bomb dossierâ from the Pakistanis.
This Libyan deal is looking better all the time.
| It's a work of diplomatic genius... |
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