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US urges Malaysia to tighten controls to curb proliferation

The middleman in an alleged deal to supply Libya with nuclear components has disappeared from his Kuala Lumpur residence, while US officials said yesterday that Washington wants Malaysia to stiffen export controls to prevent such proliferation.

Malaysia summoned the US Embassy charge d'affaires to protest what the government regards as the country being unfairly singled out by US President George W. Bush in calling for a global crackdown on the international nuclear black market.

The allegations that a Malaysian company produced centrifuge components for Libya's nuclear weapons program has produced the first bump in US-Malaysian relations since Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmamd Badawi took office nearly four months ago.

Malaysia's protest stated that the country supports nuclear non-proliferation and was "offended" that Bush unfairly named the nation as a source of parts to Libya's program without specifying other nations, the New Straits Times newspaper reported.

Malaysia thoroughly investigated the origin of the parts and determined that the company involved -- which is majority-controlled by the prime minister's son -- did not know they were for nuclear use or would end up in Libya, the newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, the former company executive who brokered the Libya deal -- Sri Lankan native Buhary Syed Abu Tahir -- has left his Kuala Lumpur apartment with his family, guards at the building said.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said yesterday that he didn't know the specifics of the diplomatic protest, but "probably it is to express our concern that Malaysia is singled out unfairly and we have been totally vindicated by the facts."

US officials indicated yesterday that the key challenge in Malaysia and other countries was to put export controls in place to keep unwitting companies from being used.

"In keeping with its commitment to non-proliferation, we are encouraging Malaysia to take the steps necessary to bring its export control system in line with international standards, in hopes of preventing future proliferation activities," Embassy spokesman Frank Whitaker said.

The parts, seized en route to Libya last October, were produced by Scomi Precision Engineering, a subsidiary of the oil-and-gas company Scomi Group that is majority-controlled by the prime minister's son, Kamaluddin Abdullah.

The deal to make the parts for a Dubai-based company, Gulf Technical Industries, was brokered by Tahir, whom Bush labeled the "chief financial officer and money launderer" of the network led by Abdul Qadeer Khan, father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb.

The Tahir family left their luxury apartment in an exclusive Kuala Lumpur neighborhood on Wednesday, security guards at the complex said, a day after reporters tracked them down and tried to seek comment. Their current whereabouts are unclear, though they are believed to be under close surveillance by Malaysian authorities.

Also see story:
Scientists: nuclear trade got started in Europe
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