- London (PTI) - Britain has stepped up its surveillance
of Pakistani activities in the country following reports that Islamabad
has been secretly buying from here equipment for making nuclear weapons.
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- Special high-grade metals have been smuggled out of the
country and are believed to have reached an uranium enrichment plant in
Kahuta, near Islamabad, a media report said today.
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- The discovery has infuriated the British foreign office,
which had assurances from Pakistan that it was not shopping in Britain
for weapons of mass destruction or related equipment.
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- The British security agency MI5 is said to have already
stepped up its surveillance of Pakistani activities in UK, including diplomats
in London involved in the procurement of military equipment, according
to a report in the influential Sunday Times.
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- At least one consignment of 47 tons of high-strength
aluminium worth £150,000 was sent to Pakistan from a British firm.
The material, made to a standard known as 6061 T6, is used to make centrifuges
for converting uranium ore to bomb-grade uranium 235.
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- "This is not the kind of aluminium you use for soft
drink cans, it has a very limited number of applications," the paper
quoted a source. Two people now face prosecution for alleged evasion of
export controls.
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- Customs and excise officers discovered the aluminium
had been secretly shipped to khan research laboratories in pakistan, which
manufactures nuclear weapons.
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- The mi5 visited the blackburn-based company that sold
the material and warned that pakistan and other states may try to circumvent
an export ban. Pti hsr tck 08251006 d
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