A Sri Lankan accused of being the chief financial officer for an international nuclear black market sat on the board of a company owned by the Malaysian prime minister's only son, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The connection indicates that alleged senior members of the network established by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, were able to woo partners in the highest levels of society.
In the Malaysian case, the partners said they had no idea deals were being made to fashion parts that could be used to make nuclear weapons.
The documents, obtained via searches of publicly accessible files, reveal a paper trail through privately held and publicly listed companies that outlines ties between the prime minister's son, Kamaluddin Abdullah, and the Sri Lankan, Buhary Syed Abu Tahir, as well as his Malaysian wife.
The documents show that the men were top executives at Kaspadu Sdn Bhd when Tahir negotiated a deal for a company linked to Kaspadu, Scomi Precision Engineering, to build components that Western intelligence agencies allege were for use in Libya's nuclear program.
US President George W. Bush last week called Tahir the "chief financial officer and money launderer" of the black market network led by Khan, who has admitted selling nuclear technology and know-how to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
Kamaluddin's company, the Scomi Group, previously acknowledged that its subsidiary Scomi Precision Engineering fulfilled a contract for machine parts that was negotiated by Tahir.
Nonproliferation authorities say the parts were for centrifuges _ sophisticated machines that can be used to enrich uranium for weapons and other purposes _ but Scomi says it did not know what the parts were to be used for.
Rohaida Badaruddin, a Scomi spokeswoman, confirmed Tuesday that Tahir was a Kaspadu director until early last year, and said it was likely Kamaluddin encountered Tahir at business meetings.
Kamaluddin was "shocked and surprised" to learn late last year of Tahir's alleged role in the nuclear network and broke ties with the Sri Lankan _ including asking Tahir's wife, Nazimah Syed Majid, to sell her shares in Kaspadu, the spokeswoman said.
Kamaluddin has not spoken publicly about the matter and his office said Wednesday he was overseas until early March. A security guard at the house listed on company documents as his residence told AP it was owned by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but that nobody now lives there.
The AP traced Nazimah, 35, to an apartment in one of Kuala Lumpur's most exclusive suburbs. She declined comment, except to say, "My husband is not here; he's away." She said she did not know where Tahir went.
Police say they have interviewed Tahir but he is not in custody because he has committed no crime in Malaysia.
Abdullah took office last October and was deputy prime minister at the time of the business dealings between his son and Tahir.
Tahir is believed to have started developing social and business ties in Malaysia in the mid-1990s, and by 1998 held a society wedding attended by Khan. Tahir's wife is the daughter of a former Malaysian diplomat, officials have said.
The revelations of deeper links between Tahir and Kamaluddin come as Malaysian officials complain that this mostly Muslim Southeas
t Asian country has been unfairly singled out by Washington for its role in the nuclear black market.
Bush, in his speech last week, alleged Tahir used a Dubai computer company as a front for Khan's network, and directed the Malaysian company to produce centrifuge parts based on Pakistani designs. Bush said Khan's network used front companies to "deceive legitimate firms into selling them tightly controlled materials."
A senior US official said during a visit to China on Monday that Bush doesn't hold Malaysia responsible.
"There was never any suggestion that the government of Malaysia was involved," said John Bolton, an undersecretary of state, adding that the Malaysian firm might not have known its equipment was for nuclear use.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to