Police investigations into the nuclear black market scandal have uncovered that middleman BSA Tahir had known that the centrifuge components manufactured by Scomi Precise Engineering (Scope) were destined for use in Libya's uranium enrichment programme.

Tahir, a Sri Lankan citizen, has been at the centre of an international outcry over the transfer of nuclear weapons technology by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan - who is known as the father of Pakistan nuclear programme - to Libya, Iran and North Korea.

The 44-year-old businessman - whose full name is Buhary Seyed Abu Tahir - was instrumental in setting up a deal between Scope and Dubai-based company Gulf Technical Industries (GTI) in 2001 to produce the centrifuge components which later linked Malaysia to the nuclear arms proliferation scandal.

The connection was exposed after European officials intercepted a Libya-bound ship in Italy last October and seized five containers labelled with Scope's name.

Scope has since declared that it had no knowledge that the components that it produced had nuclear applicability.

Based on their interviews with Tahir, police said the businessman had been involved in the programme since 1997 when he accompanied Abdul Qadeer to Istanbul, Turkey, to meet with two Libyan operatives.

"During this meeting, the Libyans had asked the arms expert to supply centrifuge units for Libya's nuclear programme.

"Between 1998 and 2002, several meeting were held between the arms expert, accompanied by BSA Tahir and the Libyans headed by Mohamad Matuq Mohamad," said the police in a 12-page report released to the press today.

Tahir and Abdul Qadeer were said to have met with the Libyans for further discussions once in Casablanca, Morocco, and several other times in Dubai.

As a result of the discussions, police said a number of transactions took place between 2001 and 2002 which involved, among others, the shipment of enriched uranium and centrifuge units from Pakistan to Libya.

In addition, the investigations revealed that the Libyans with the assistance of Abdul Qadeer, set up a project known as Machine Shop 1001 to manufacture centrifuge components which could not be obtained from outside Libya.

"The machines for the workshop were obtained from Spain and Italy. BSA Tahir said the middleman involved in the project was Peter Griffin, a British citizen, who is believed to have once owned GTI (Scope's client)," said the report.

Loose network

Meanwhile, police investigations also uncovered an international network of arms dealers involved in the transfer of nuclear technology from declared nuclear weapons states to Pakistan dating back to the 1970s.

Pakistan had then sought to develop its own nuclear arms in response to a weapons test by India in 1974.

"This had to be done discreetly because Pakistan had to develop a nuclear weapon for national defence after India's nuclear test received opposition from many Western countries.

"Amid these difficulties, the nuclear expert successfully developed a network of middlemen that, not only involved BSA Tahir, but also several people and companies from Europe seeking to profit from selling certain materials and equipment.

"However, it was a loose network, without a rigid hierarchy or a head and a deputy head, as was alleged," the report said.

Among the individuals identified by Tahir, said the police, were:

  • Heinz Mebus
    • , a German engineer alleged to have been involved in discussions between Abdul Qadeer and Iran to supply centrifuge designs around 1984 and 1985.

  • Gotthard Lerch
    • , a German national alleged to have attempted, though unsuccessful, to obtain a supply of pipes for Libya's Machine Shop 1001 from South Africa.

  • Gunas Jireh
    • , a Turkish citizen alleged to have supplied aluminum casting and dynamos to Libya at Abdul Qadeer's request.

  • Selim Alguadis
    • , a Turkish engineer alleged to have supplied electrical cabinets and power regulators to Libya. (Tahir is alleged to have arranged for another shipment of the components from Selim to Libya two weeks after the Scope centrifuges were seized in Italy).

  • Peter Griffin
    • , a British citizen alleged to have supplied the layout plan for Machine Shop 1001 and former owner of Dubai-based GTI. (GTI is presently managed by Griffin's son, Paul).

  • Friedrich Tinner
    • , a Swiss mechanical engineer alleged to have had dealings with Abdul Qadeer since the 1980s. Tinner was said to be the source person for centrifuge components in Europe which were later delivered to Libya via Dubai.

  • Urs Friedrich Tinner
    • , a Swiss national and son of Friedrich Tinner. Urs, 39, is the consultant recommended by Tahir to set up the Scope factory in Shah Alam. He holds a Malaysian work permit.

    PM's son linked to Tahir

    The police said, however, that the governments of the countries concerned and some of the companies involved in supplying materials to these individuals were unaware of the true purpose of the components.

    Tahir was said to have earlier planned to manufacture the centrifuge components with Gunas in Turkey but later changed his mind and offered a new business plan to Scope in 2001.

    "The staff (of Scope) were under the impression that the production was for petroleum and gas (plants) intended for Dubai."

    The report also noted that Scope - a subsidiary of local company Scomi Group Bhd - is involved in the petroleum services industry, and is listed as a precision engineering services company which produces parts for cars and petroleum and gas plants.

    Aside from the controversy over Malaysia's role in the nuclear black market scandal, the case also attracted widespread controversy because the controlling interest in Scomi is held by another Malaysian company, Kaspadu, whose largest shareholder is Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's son, Kamaluddin ( photo ).

    Until last month, another major shareholder in Kaspadu was Tahir's Malaysian wife, Nazimah Syed Majid. Tahir too was reported to have once served as a director of Kaspadu.

    When contacted later, officials from the Bukit Aman police headquarters declined to state Tahir's present whereabouts or to confirm if he is still in Malaysia.

    According to the police, Tahir married Nazimah in 1998 and gained permanent residency but generally spent his time overseeing his businesses in Dubai.

    "(Tahir) only returns to Malaysia once in a while to visit his wife's family or to look for business opportunities," the report said.