'Big powers' pushed for arrest: Minister

'Big powers' pushed for arrest: Minister

Rohan Sullivan, Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia arrested a senior figure in a worldwide nuclear arms
network because he exposed the country to attacks and economic
sanctions from "big powers," a minister said on Saturday.

The minister did not name any country, but opposition leaders
accused the government of arresting Buhary Syed Abu Tahir to
appease Washington. His arrest was announced Friday, three months
after Malaysian officials had insisted he committed no crime.

Tahir was the highest-level operative of the nuclear
trafficking network of disgraced Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer
Khan to be jailed since it was exposed early this year.

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said
Washington was "delighted" with the arrest.

Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar said Tahir, a Sri
Lankan with permanent Malaysian residency, was arrested because
"he was involved in activities that were illegal at the
international level ... by involving himself in an illicit
international network of nuclear proliferation."

Noh said Tahir used Malaysia "as an illegal base" to organize
the manufacture of centrifuge parts for Libya's nuclear weapons
programs, and had secretly brought Libyan technicians to Malaysia
to receive training for those programs.

"These actions undermined Malaysia's security and economy, it
exposed the country to possible threats of attack by the big
powers and economic sanctions," Noh told reporters at Kamunting
prison camp, where Tahir was being held.

Noh denied the government had been pressured by Washington. He
also indicated U.S. authorities would not be allowed to question
Tahir. "We will solve our problems our way, we don't need foreign
intervention," he said.

Noh's comments were an about face from remarks by Prime
Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who previously insisted Tahir had
done nothing wrong by arranging for a Malaysian company to make
centrifuge parts for Libya's nuclear programs. The company, Scomi
Precision Engineering, or SCOPE, denied knowing what the parts
were for.

Abdullah's claim drew an outcry from the opposition because
SCOPE was a subsidiary of Scomi Group, an oil and gas company
controlled by the prime minister's only son, Kamaluddin Abdullah.
Scomi and Kamaluddin have since cut all ties with Tahir and sold
SCOPE.

Asked why Tahir was arrested now, Abdullah said police had
continued to investigate even after releasing what they called
their "complete report" on the case in February.

"On the basis of evidence available at that time, there was no
reason why he should be arrested," Abdullah told a news
conference in Beijing during an official visit to China. "But
investigation continues, and it is the opinion of the security
people that he now should be arrested."