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.