'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."