NYT: Pakistani(Dr. Khan) Tells of North Korean Nuclear Devices

[DeepModem Mom]

Pakistani Tells of North Korean Nuclear Devices
By DAVID E. SANGER

Published: April 13, 2004


WASHINGTON, April 12 — Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani scientist who sold nuclear technology around the world, has told his interrogators that during a trip to North Korea five years ago he was taken to a secret underground nuclear plant and shown what he described as three nuclear devices, according to Asian and American officials who have been briefed by the Pakistanis.

If Dr. Khan's report is true, it would be the first time that any foreigner has reported inspecting an actual North Korean nuclear weapon. Past C.I.A. assessments of North Korea's nuclear capacity have been based on estimates of how much plutonium it could produce and assessments of its technical capability to turn that plutonium into weapons.

Dr. Khan, known as the father of the Pakistani bomb, said he was allowed to inspect the weapons briefly, according to the account that Pakistan has begun to provide in classified briefings to nations within reach of North Korea's missiles. American intelligence officials caution that they cannot say whether Dr. Khan had the time, expertise or equipment to verify the claims. But they note that the number of plutonium weapons roughly accords with previous C.I.A. estimates that North Korea had one or two weapons and the ability to produce more....

***

American officials have known about the Pakistani reports for at least three or four weeks, Asian and American officials say. But they have kept them quiet, and President Bush has not mentioned the country in public for weeks. Many Democrats say they believe that Mr. Bush is trying to play down the issue in an election year, especially because North Korea may be making more bombs as talks drag on....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/13/politics/13NUKE.html

[James T. Kirk]

1. Yikes! This is not good.

If they had three of them in 1999, I hate to think about what they have now, five years later.
:scared:

[teryang]

2. Third hand info from a questionable source

Sounds like a rumor to me. The timing and nature of the report lacks credibility as well. Why is such top secret information published in the NY Times?

Cheney the biggest deceiver and coddler of nuclear proliferation in the world, now breaks this unbelievable story on his trip to Asia?

It is totally improbable that a foreigner would be taken to a top secret nuclear weapons facility in paranoid N.Korea. It is extremely unlikely that N.Korea would export any portion of an extremely limited number of nuclear weapons, which is only guesstimated.

[Tempest]

3. Remember how Shrub was suckered by Chabali?

Chabali coached Iraqi dissidents to lie about Saddam having WMD. And Chabali's reward was $340,000 a month from the U.S.

This is no different.