Opposition alleges KL nuke cover-up<\/p>\n
Rohan Sullivan, Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Opposition leaders have accused Malaysia's prime minister of
\ntrying to cover up his son's involvement in an international
\nnuclear trafficking network by having an alleged middleman jailed
\nwithout trial.<\/p>\n
Two opposition parties on Thursday demanded that Sri Lankan
\nbusinessman Buhary Syed Abu Tahir be brought before open court to
\nanswer charges stemming from his role in arranging for a
\nMalaysian company to make parts for Libya's nuclear weapons
\nprograms.<\/p>\n
The use of a security law that allows indefinite detention
\nwithout trial - instead of regular criminal laws - against Tahir
\nshows that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi wants to stop
\nfurther incriminating or embarrassing details about his links to
\nMalaysia coming out, they said.<\/p>\n
Tahir, the trafficking network's alleged chief financial
\nofficer, ordered the parts for Libya from a company controlled by
\nAbdullah's only son, Kamaluddin Abdullah, with whom he also once
\nhad close business ties.<\/p>\n
\"If this case comes to court, the truth will be exposed to the
\npublic,\" said Sallehuddin Ayub, the head of the opposition Pan-
\nMalaysia Islamic Party's youth wing. \"The Prime Minister has
\nabused his powers as Internal Security Minister to save his son
\nfrom being linked to this issue.\"<\/p>\n
Azizah Ismail, president of the People's Justice Party,
\nanother opposition group, said in a statement on Thursday that
\nTahir must be charged in open court \"so that he can have access
\nto a fair trial and to ensure that necessary action is taken
\nagainst anyone else involved.\"<\/p>\n
Tahir's arrest on last Friday reignited the scandal over
\nMalaysia's role in the trafficking network of Pakistani scientist
\nAbdul Qadeer Khan, who was pardoned after apologizing for selling
\nthe country's nuclear secrets and know-how to Iran, Libya and
\nNorth Korea.<\/p>\n
With Tahir's cooperation, Malaysian police investigated the
\ncountry's role and concluded in February that the company
\ninvolved had done nothing wrong, and that Tahir had broken no
\nMalaysian laws. At the time, Abdullah said Tahir would remain
\nfree in Malaysia, where he lived part-time with his Malaysian
\nwife.<\/p>\n
The investigation was triggered by Western intelligence
\nagencies' seizure last October of a shipment of parts for uranium
\nenriching centrifuges on their way to Libya and made by the
\nMalaysian company, Scomi Precision Engineering, or SCOPE.<\/p>\n
Investigators concluded that SCOPE, a subsidiary of
\nKamaluddin's Scomi Group, did not know what the parts Tahir had
\nordered were for, and cleared it of any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
Investigations by The Associated Press and other press
\norganizations revealed Tahir and his wife had close business ties
\nwith Kamaluddin, owning shares and holding directorships of
\ncompanies linked to Scomi. The report of the police investigation
\ndidn't mention these links.<\/p>\n
Kamaluddin has cut most ties with Tahir and his wife, and the
\nScomi Group has sold SCOPE.<\/p>\n
Tahir's arrest on last Friday came as a surprise. Abdullah
\nexplained the timing by saying authorities had continued
\ninvestigating after the earlier police report, and had now
\ndecided Tahir was a threat to Malaysia's national security.<\/p>\n
Abdullah has consistently denied he is protecting his son from
\nthe scandal.<\/p>",
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