Opposition alleges KL nuke cover-up

Opposition alleges KL nuke cover-up

Rohan Sullivan, Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur

Opposition leaders have accused Malaysia's prime minister of trying to cover up his son's involvement in an international nuclear trafficking network by having an alleged middleman jailed without trial.

Two opposition parties on Thursday demanded that Sri Lankan businessman Buhary Syed Abu Tahir be brought before open court to answer charges stemming from his role in arranging for a Malaysian company to make parts for Libya's nuclear weapons programs.

The use of a security law that allows indefinite detention without trial - instead of regular criminal laws - against Tahir shows that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi wants to stop further incriminating or embarrassing details about his links to Malaysia coming out, they said.

Tahir, the trafficking network's alleged chief financial officer, ordered the parts for Libya from a company controlled by Abdullah's only son, Kamaluddin Abdullah, with whom he also once had close business ties.

"If this case comes to court, the truth will be exposed to the public," said Sallehuddin Ayub, the head of the opposition Pan- Malaysia Islamic Party's youth wing. "The Prime Minister has abused his powers as Internal Security Minister to save his son from being linked to this issue."

Azizah Ismail, president of the People's Justice Party, another opposition group, said in a statement on Thursday that Tahir must be charged in open court "so that he can have access to a fair trial and to ensure that necessary action is taken against anyone else involved."

Tahir's arrest on last Friday reignited the scandal over Malaysia's role in the trafficking network of Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who was pardoned after apologizing for selling the country's nuclear secrets and know-how to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

With Tahir's cooperation, Malaysian police investigated the country's role and concluded in February that the company involved had done nothing wrong, and that Tahir had broken no Malaysian laws. At the time, Abdullah said Tahir would remain free in Malaysia, where he lived part-time with his Malaysian wife.

The investigation was triggered by Western intelligence agencies' seizure last October of a shipment of parts for uranium enriching centrifuges on their way to Libya and made by the Malaysian company, Scomi Precision Engineering, or SCOPE.

Investigators concluded that SCOPE, a subsidiary of Kamaluddin's Scomi Group, did not know what the parts Tahir had ordered were for, and cleared it of any wrongdoing.

Investigations by The Associated Press and other press organizations revealed Tahir and his wife had close business ties with Kamaluddin, owning shares and holding directorships of companies linked to Scomi. The report of the police investigation didn't mention these links.

Kamaluddin has cut most ties with Tahir and his wife, and the Scomi Group has sold SCOPE.

Tahir's arrest on last Friday came as a surprise. Abdullah explained the timing by saying authorities had continued investigating after the earlier police report, and had now decided Tahir was a threat to Malaysia's national security.

Abdullah has consistently denied he is protecting his son from the scandal.