US slaps sanctions on 'Islamic Bomb' network

by Ahmar Mustikhan | January 12, 2009 at 09:18 pm

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The United States has imposed sanctions on A.Q. Khan and more than a dozen other individuals and companies who were part of his nuclear arms smuggling network. Khan, also known as 'Father of Islamic Bomb,' came on record to say last year that he was not alone in the underworld nuclear arms bazaar but that the country's army was fully involved in the racket.

The nationalities of the individuals include three Pakistanis, two Turks, two Britons, two Germans, two Malaysians, one Swiss, and one Sri Lankan.

Pakistan has blocked any international investigators from interviewing Khan.

Pakistanis raised the slogans of "Allah is Great," at the time of the nuclear tests on May 28, 1998 and Islamists celebrated the occasion by taking to the streets of Karachi with missile replicas mounted on trucks. These replicas had India, Israel and United States written on them.

But the Baluch people protest against the nuclear tests every May 28, saying those deadly tests have destroyed their ancestral lands for good. Last year there were protests all over Baluchistan, Karachi, Washington DC, Toronto and Vancouver against the tests. Two of the protesters were abducted by the Pakistani intelligence services.

WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Monday it had slapped sanctions on 13 individuals and three private companies because of their involvement in the nuclear-proliferation network associated with Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan. "We believe these sanctions will help prevent future proliferation-related activities by these private entities, provide a warning to other would-be proliferators," the department said in a statement.

U.S. citizens and permanent residents are prohibited from doing any business with those individuals whose names appear on the Specially Designated List of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. The individuals and entities were also designated by the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as being subject to the import ban of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Trade Control Regulations.

Khan's name appeared on both lists.

The following individuals have been added to OFAC's SDN list:

ALGUADIS, Selim; DOB 27 May 1944; POB Turkey; nationality United Kingdom; Passport 585843 (Turkey) issued 11 Nov 1999 (individual) [NPWMD]

CIRE, Kursad Zafer (a.k.a. CIRE, Kursat Zafer); DOB 30 Aug 1967; POB Germany; nationality Turkey; Passport 778456 (Turkey) issued 14 May 1997 expires 13 May 2007 (individual) [NPWMD]

FAROOQ, Muhammad; DOB 12 Mar 1949; nationality Pakistan; Passport S122252 (Pakistan) (individual) [NPWMD]

GEIGES, Daniel; DOB 25 Jan 1938; POB Lachen, Switzerland; nationality Switzerland; Passport 8071366 (Switzerland) (individual) [NPWMD]

GRIFFIN, Paul Nicholas; DOB 16 Feb 1964; nationality United Kingdom (individual) [NPWMD]

GRIFFIN, Peter; DOB 9 Sep 1935; POB Oxford, United Kingdom; nationality United Kingdom; Passport B401584 (United Kingdom) issued 28 Sep 1989 expires28 Sep 1999; alt. Passport B109455 (United Kingdom) issued 3 Oct 1979 (individual) [NPWMD]

KHAN, Abdul Qadeer (a.k.a. ZAMAN, Hayder); DOB 27 Apr 1936; POB Bhopal, India; nationality Pakistan; Passport D000428 (Pakistan) (individual) [NPWMD]

LERCH, Gotthard, Kreuzbergstrasse 4, 9472 Grabs, St Gallen Canton, Switzerland; DOB 21 Dec 1942; POB Germany; nationality Germany; Passport 3545767791D (Germany) issued 7 Aug 1998 expires 6 Aug 2008; alt. Passport 3545767791 (Germany) (individual) [NPWMD]

TAHIR, Buhary Seyed Abu; DOB 17 Apr 1959; POB Chennai, India; nationality Sri Lanka; Passport M2068357 (Sri Lanka) issued 4 Sep 2001 expires Sep 2006; alt. Passport M1754102 (Sri Lanka) issued 16 Mar 1999 expires 16 Mar 2004 (individual) [NPWMD]

WISSER, Gerhard; DOB 2 Jul 1939; POB Lohne, Germany; nationality Germany; Passport 3139001443 (Germany) (individual) [NPWMD]

The following foreign entities and individuals have been designated by the Secretary of State as being subject to the import ban of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Trade Control Regulations (31 C.F.R. Part 539):

ALGUADIS, Selim; DOB 27 May 1944; POB Turkey; nationality United Kingdom; Passport 585843 (Turkey) issued 11 Nov 1999 (individual)

BIN RUKIBAN, Shamsul Bahrin, Malaysia (individual)

CIRE, Kursad Zafer (a.k.a. CIRE, Kursat Zafer); DOB 30 Aug 1967; POB Germany; nationality Turkey; Passport 778456 (Turkey) issued 14 May 1997 expires 13 May 2007 (individual)

EKA ELEKTRONIK KONTROL ALETLERI SANAYI VE TICARET A.S., Turkey

ETI ELEKTROTEKNIK SANAYI VE TICARET A.S., Turkey

FAROOQ, Muhammad; DOB 12 Mar 1949; nationality Pakistan; Passport S122252 (Pakistan) (individual)

GEIGES, Daniel; DOB 25 Jan 1938; POB Lachen, Switzerland; nationality Switzerland; Passport 8071366 (Switzerland) (individual)

GRIFFIN, Paul Nicholas; DOB 16 Feb 1964; nationality United Kingdom (individual)

KHAN, Abdul Qadeer (a.k.a. ZAMAN, Hayder); DOB 27 Apr 1936; POB Bhopal, India; nationality Pakistan; Passport D000428 (Pakistan) (individual)

TRADEFIN ENGINEERING, South Africa

UD DIN, Muhammad Nasim, Pakistan (individual)

WISSER, Gerhard; DOB 2 Jul 1939; POB Lohne, Germany; nationality Germany; Passport 3139001443 (Germany) (individual)

ZAIN, Shah Hakim Shahnazim, Malaysia (individual)

Pakistan appears to have violated international law by testing its nuclear weapons in Baluchistan against the wishes of the Baluch people in May 1998. The Baluch insist they have documents to prove their homeland was annexed by Pakistan against their wishes in March 1948 -- seven months after the British left India divided in August 1947.

The Baloch complain they are being "Red Indianized."

They compare their situation to what happened when the United States broke the Treaty of Ruby Valley and took a huge chunk of Western Shoshone Indian land to turn it into the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. The Shoshone now call themselves "the most bombed nation on earth."