Thursday, February 16, 2006

Nuke trail traced to M'sia

Japanese newspaper The Daily Yomiuri reported today (Wed Feb 15) that Tokyo's Metropolitan Police has found that a 3-D measuring tool, which was illegally exported by Mitutoyo Corp and discovered in Libya, was first sold to a Malaysian firm with close ties to a Pakistani scientist suspected of establishing an international black market for nuclear materials.

The Kawasaki-based precision toolmaker is being investigated on suspicion of exporting products without government permission in violation of Japan's Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law.

The device was found in a Libyan nuclear development research facility at the time of International Atomic Energy Agency inspections between DECEMBER 2003 and JANUARY 2004.

As widely reported in 2004, the tool was initially shipped by Mitutoyo to Scomi Precision Engineering (SCOPE), in Dec 2001.

I wonder whether this piece of news will appear in the Malaysian newspapers on Thursday.

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