Yahoo! News - Libyan Nuclear Devices Missing : "The whereabouts of the parts is one of several mysteries that has preoccupied officials involved in the biggest investigation of nuclear smuggling in history -- the probe into the black-market network led by former Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. U.S. and U.N. investigators have identified many of the network's operatives and methods and recovered tens of thousands of parts in a dragnet that has reached from Southeast Asia to the Middle East and Europe. Yet, the investigators believe that some of the suppliers to the network have not yet been identified -- and perhaps some customers, as well.
'We haven't gotten to the bottom of the story,' acknowledged one senior Bush administration official involved in the investigation. 'We continue to look for, and expect to make, new discoveries. We don't think the story is fully revealed yet.'
Unraveling the network and recovering missing parts and blueprints are viewed as urgent because of the possibility that nuclear technology could be diverted to unfriendly governments or terrorist groups. Yet, despite cooperation by numerous countries -- and by Khan -- the investigation has proven difficult and time-consuming.
'It is taking longer than anyone expected,' said David Albright, a nuclear expert and president of the Institute for Science and International Security. 'But if we don't succeed, there's a real chance the network will reconstitute itself and spread again.'
Khan and a small group of business associates were the architects of the trading network, which coordinated the manufacture and shipment of nuclear components from as many as a dozen locations to Libya, North Korea, Iran and possibly other countries. Although the smuggling ring traded mostly in components for gas centrifuges -- complex machines used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons -- the network is also known to have supplied uranium and nuclear weapons blueprints to Libya.
The dramatic decision by Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi in December to renounce his pursuit of nuclear weapons brought the Khan network to light and provided investigators with clues that led to the discovery of suppliers and shipping routes, according to U.S. officials and documents.
In recent weeks, investigators for the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, have zeroed in on newly discovered suppliers as well as a handful of manufacturing centers described by investigators as workshops for centrifuge parts."
'We haven't gotten to the bottom of the story,' acknowledged one senior Bush administration official involved in the investigation. 'We continue to look for, and expect to make, new discoveries. We don't think the story is fully revealed yet.'
Unraveling the network and recovering missing parts and blueprints are viewed as urgent because of the possibility that nuclear technology could be diverted to unfriendly governments or terrorist groups. Yet, despite cooperation by numerous countries -- and by Khan -- the investigation has proven difficult and time-consuming.
'It is taking longer than anyone expected,' said David Albright, a nuclear expert and president of the Institute for Science and International Security. 'But if we don't succeed, there's a real chance the network will reconstitute itself and spread again.'
Khan and a small group of business associates were the architects of the trading network, which coordinated the manufacture and shipment of nuclear components from as many as a dozen locations to Libya, North Korea, Iran and possibly other countries. Although the smuggling ring traded mostly in components for gas centrifuges -- complex machines used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons -- the network is also known to have supplied uranium and nuclear weapons blueprints to Libya.
The dramatic decision by Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi in December to renounce his pursuit of nuclear weapons brought the Khan network to light and provided investigators with clues that led to the discovery of suppliers and shipping routes, according to U.S. officials and documents.
In recent weeks, investigators for the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, have zeroed in on newly discovered suppliers as well as a handful of manufacturing centers described by investigators as workshops for centrifuge parts."
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