Speaking of wider proliferation concerns, I'd be remiss if I did not mention the recent report Project Butter Factory: Henk Slebos and the AQ Khan nuclear network by Frank Slijper (September 2007 ). From the press release:
Middle East
Germany: Keeping the tradition
You have to hand it to Germany: at least it is consistent. During Dr Khan’s day, some of his best suppliers were Germany companies. Firms like Leybold Heraeus helped with a uranium hexafluoride handling plant as well as other items. And a Leybold employee, Gotthard Lerch (who was on trial earlier this year, which I’ll post on in the future), remained in touch with the doctor long after he left Leybold to set up his own company.
Other unknown smuggling networks evidently exist
A National Defense University report released earlier this month makes a connection between Khan-like networks and nuclear terrorism.
The report from the NDU's Center for Technology and National Security Policy found that global cooperation between law enforcement agencies and a coordinated nuclear detection network is needed if the world hopes to prevent terrorists from acquiring WMD material.
AQ Khan’s nuclear Wal-Mart
For those of you who were away on vacation in the summer, I'd like to remind you about this hearing that took place on June 27. It took place shortly after IISS rolled out its Nuclear Black Markets strategic dossier edited by Mark Fitzpatrick.
Specifically, it was joint hearing of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia and Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, House Foreign Affairs Committee. The subject was 'AQ Khan's Nuclear Wal-Mart: Out of Business or Under New Management?'
What about those “30 proliferating companies in Europe”?
Not to beat a dead horse, but I think this [Pakistan] Daily Times editorial nicely encapsulates the furore over Ms Bhutto's remarks about Dr Khan:
Questioning President Musharraf’s hero?
We wonder how Dr Khan feels about this. Even though it was Pakistani President Musharraf who relieved Dr Khan of his job and put him in house arrest in February 2004, Musharraff has always been protective of him. In the past, he said, He is my hero. He always was and still is, because he made Pakistan a nuclear power
(Shopping For Bombs, p 214). That helps explain why Musharraf has steadfastly refused to allow Dr Khan to be interrogated by outsiders.
Dr Khan – Educator of the Year
Dr Khan is a man of many talents; not all of them appreciated. But it should be noted that he has done his part for the Pakistani educational system. In that regard we take our hats off to Ms Noreen Mushtaq D/O Mushtaq Ahmed. She is one of the three women who swept all top three positions in the Bachelor of Education (BEd) annual examination 2006, the result of which was announced by the University of Balochistan (UoB) Quetta this past Saturday. Ms Mushtaq is a student at the Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan College of Education in Quetta.
Khan and the Butter Factory
On May 6 2007, The Washington Times published an article by editor at large Arnaud de Borchgrave, talking about the common link between North Korea, Iran, and Libya. That would be Dr Khan's network, of course. Or as JRR Tolkien memorably put it in the Lord of the Rings, One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.