Father of Pakistan's Nuclear Bomb Tells Just How Easy It Is

[John317]

17/09/2009

By Yossi Melman

About five weeks ago, Dr. Abdul Khader Khan granted an extensive interview to a Pakistan television station. The frank interview attracted the attention of media outlets and research institutes the world over, but until now, its details have not been published in Israel.

Dr. Khan is a national hero in his country. He is the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb. He is also the world's leading proliferator of nuclear technology, equipment and know-how. In the 1960s, he studied in Holland, where he learned how to enrich uranium with centrifuges. After India exploded a nuclear device in 1974, then prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto charged him with the secret task of developing nuclear weapons.

Khan stole the centrifuge blueprints from Holland and smuggled them to Pakistan. In the 1990s, after he finished arming Pakistan with nuclear weapons, he resigned from the civil service and began to "tend to his own backyard." He established a private company and traveled to the Middle East.

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There, he first offered his knowledge to Algeria, Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia, but was turned away. Iran and Libya, however, accepted his offer and paid him millions of dollars. He established a smuggling network that provided equipment and technology to Iran and Libya, and apparently to North Korea as well.

When Iran has a nuclear bomb, it will be mainly thanks to Khan. "He appeared on our radar," former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit admitted to me about two and a half years ago. "But we didn't attribute the proper importance to it. That was one of our worst failures. We should have assassinated him."

When his deeds and those of his smuggling network were exposed, he was arrested in Pakistan and interrogated at length. Under pressure from the Bush administration, then Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf was forced to order him placed under house arrest, which lasted about five years. However, he was recently released.

"Nobody sought me out," Khan told the interviewer. "After the Indian nuclear test in 1974, which caused hysteria in Pakistan, I thought I had to speak to Bhutto and tell him about my ability to create a bomb. I had first-hand experience with the technology and I knew how it worked. Pakistan's technology infrastructure was nonexistent. Bhutto asked me to supervise the work."

Whose decision was it to produce the bomb?

"Bhutto's."

Where did the money come from?

"The program was not expensive. Our annual budget was $20 million to $25 million and included purchasing land, building the [centrifuge] facility in Kauta, hiring scientists and purchasing materials abroad. The overall budget over 25 years was less than half a billion dollars."

When did you develop the centrifuges?

"On April 6, 1978, we succeeded for the first time in enriching uranium."

Was this enriched uranium weapons grade?

"No, it was a low level of enrichment. But it was sufficient to make us understand that we were capable of enriching uranium."

When did you begin to believe that you had fissile material for nuclear weapons?

"We achieved 90 percent enrichment in early 1983."

And when was the bomb ready?

"In December 1984, I wrote a letter to General Zia [then president of Pakistan] and told him that the bomb was ready and we could test it with a week's advance warning."

Why did you decide at the time not to carry out a test and detonate the bomb?

"We were allies of the United States in the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. We asked Zia and his people to approve the test. But they explained that it would have harsh consequences. Because the U.S. turned a blind eye to our nuclear program so that we would support the war in Afghanistan, an opportunity was created to continue developing the program. They said the tests could be carried out at some later date."

And that's what happened. Only in 1998 did Pakistan carry out nuclear tests, in response to India's nuclear tests.

How did you set up the acquisitions network?

"Because I lived in Europe for 15 years, I was very familiar with the industry and the suppliers there. I had all their addresses. When I arrived in Pakistan, I began to purchase equipment from them. Then we started to purchase the same equipment via other countries, like Kuwait, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, the UAE and Singapore. They [the West] couldn't keep up with us. We were always one step ahead of them."

When did you begin to produce the delivery systems?

"We planned them back in 1981, even before the bomb was ready. But General Zia did not allow us to produce them because of the war in Afghanistan. It happened only in 1988 - with the first government of Benazir Bhutto [Zulifkar's daughter]."

From whom did you acquire the missile know-how?

"From China." Later, he said, from North Korea too.

And what about Iran?

"Iran was interested in obtaining nuclear technology. And because Iran is an important Islamic country, we wanted it to have the technology. The Western countries pressured us on this issue, and it wasn't fair. If Iran can have nuclear technology, we will have a strong regional bloc that will repel international pressures. Iran's nuclear capability will neutralize Israel's power. We advised Iran to make contact with the suppliers and to purchase the equipment from them."

Are those the same as your suppliers?

"Yes. They were told that the suppliers are very reliable. The Iranian representatives met with them in Dubai."

What about Libya?

"Libya purchased the equipment from the same suppliers, who were responsible for supplying Pakistan, Iran and Libya via the same third party in Dubai."

Who was he?

"It was a company with which we made contact when we couldn't get equipment in Europe. They were Muslims from Sri Lanka."

The conclusion that emerges from the interview is that a country determined to obtain nuclear weapons will do so, even if it has poor technological infrastructure. There are enough suppliers who will secretly provide what is required. It is not overly expensive to produce nuclear weapons. It took Pakistan nine years.

Iran's situation is similar to Pakistan's. It began to enrich uranium in 2002, and today it already knows how to do it and has the quantity necessary to produce fissile material. The Iranians also already have missiles for launching a bomb.

Source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1115255.html

[Guest]

That's pretty amazing.

[John317]

Yes, and especially when we consider that Iran seems to be following in Pakistan's footsteps.

[Guest]

Things are happening fast.

[Gerr]

HEY JOHN317

it is amazing how the U.S. knew about this but did

nothing

dgrimm60

When it comes to politics and power plays, people will sleep with even the devil. Not surprised at all.

[phkrause]

I believe John this is the same guy that they were taking about on a NG documentary last year who was trying to sell to Iraq.

pk