US warns Turkey on nuclear technology exports

The issue was highlighted by the revelations of Abdul Qadeer Khan, father of Pakistan’s nuclear program, who recently confessed to selling nuclear secrets and material to North Korea, Iran and Libya.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Wolf, who handles non-proliferation issues, came to Turkey and Malaysia to discuss U.S. efforts to rein in the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological arms.

Firms and organizations based in both countries have been implicated in the Khan nuclear black market.

"The United States and Europe are concerned that sophisticated skills and equipment not be abused by potential proliferators. So it makes sense for Malaysia, or Thailand or Turkey, or Abu Dhabi, India or a host of countries to improve their export controls," a senior U.S. official told Reuters.

According to the U.S. official, countries like Malaysia, India and Turkey could begin losing out on sophisticated technology trade that helps fuel their economic growth if they fail to crack down on the global nuclear black market, U.S. officials say.

He insisted, however, that Washington was not seeking to limit legitimate trade.

Washington is concerned that export controls have not kept up with the dynamic technological transformation experienced in recent years by many developing countries.

"Countries in that position need to have good export controls in order to avoid being targeted by predator proliferators who can take advantage of loose laws and loose enforcement," the official said.

"As they go up the technology ladder, (industrialized) countries and companies would be less inclined to release technology or the technology skills if they think that that can be misused."

The main concern is Malaysia
Malaysian police said Sri Lankan businessman Buhary Syed Abu Tahir had told them of a contract for nuclear centrifuge parts from Scomi Precision Engineering, or Scope, part of Scomi Group Bhd, controlled by the Malaysian leader’s son, Kamaluddin Abdullah.

Centrifuges can be used to enrich uranium as fuel for nuclear weapons.

President George W. Bush riled Malaysian leaders in February with a speech on weapons of mass destruction that mentioned Malaysia five times and described Tahir, a Malaysian resident, as Khan’s deputy and chief money launderer.

The Scope parts "had one unique design and they had one unique placement — in a P2 or L2 centrifuge. They were ordered, produced and distributed by the Khan network," a U.S. official said.

U.S. officials said Malaysian officials told Wolf they would look at what might be done on export controls but there was no commitment to act.

Washington hopes Malaysia’s intent will become clearer after snap elections this month. Malaysia signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and as such should not be shipping goods inconsistent with the NPT, officials said.

But countries must enforce export control laws as well as adopt them. "It is our feeling that a few well-chosen prosecutions that result in exemplary sentences will send a strong message to the marketplace," a U.S. official said.

In addition to stricter export controls, the administration has urged countries to adopt the NPT’s "additional protocol," which allows for snap inspections and join a U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative that aims to interdict WMD shipments, if necessary.