S.Africa arrests two on WMD charges(Abdul Qadeer Khan link)

[seemslikeadream]

Thu 9 September, 2004 10:58

By Ed Stoddard

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African police say two suspects have been arrested in a probe into violations of laws related to weapons of mass destruction (WMD), just one day after charges were dropped against another suspect.


Prosecutors dropped charges on Wednesday against a local businessman. Engineer Johan Andries Muller Meyer, 53, was arrested last week under laws outlawing nuclear proliferation.


South Africa's Council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Destruction said on Tuesday it had seized 11 shipping containers of uranium enrichment material from Meyer's factory in Vanderbijlpark, 60 km (35 miles) southwest of Johannesburg.

Crucially, the council said the material it seized did not constitute weapons of mass destruction, although it could be used in the process to enrich uranium.

After Meyer's arrest, the United States said the case was linked to an international nuclear black market established in the 1980s by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme -- a charge dismissed by his lawyer.


more
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=580164§ion=news

[seemslikeadream]

1. Nuclear Weapons Charges Against South African Man Dropped

By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, September 8, 2004; 2:54 PM

JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 8 -- South African authorities on Wednesday abruptly dropped criminal charges against a Pretoria man charged last week with possessing components for the construction of nuclear weapons.

Today's move was part of a deal in which the man, Johan Andries Muller Meyer, 53, will cooperate with prosecutors to pursue other targets of the investigation, said a source familiar with the probe who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Eleven shipping containers of components for a gas centrifuge, used in the enrichment of uranium, were confiscated, as was related documentation and a machine that can be used to make other weapons components, officials here say.

The arrest was part of a wide-ranging international investigation into the nuclear black market that was established by Pakistan's top nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, and that helped Libya and other countries develop nuclear weapons programs.

more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5652-2004Sep8.html

South African court postpones nuclear smuggling ring case




South African businessman Johan Meyer leaves Vanderbijlpark court

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 08 September 2004 2038 hrs

VANDERBIJLPARK, South Africa : A South African businessman with alleged links to a global nuclear smuggling ring was remanded in custody for further investigation after unexpectedly withdrawing his bail application.

Johan Meyer, 53, was arrested on Thursday last week and was charged a day later with three counts of possessing sensitive nuclear-related equipment and of illegally importing and exporting nuclear material.

"At this stage, the case will be postponed for further investigation," state prosecutor Chris MacAdam told the court.

"I have been informed (by Meyer's lawyers) that at this stage the bail application has been provisionally withdrawn."

more
http://iafrica.com/news/sa/346152.htm


Charges dropped in WMD case

Posted Wed, 08 Sep 2004

In his first appearance the court was told that his bail application was withdrawn and he was later whisked away, supposedly to prison until his next appearance on October 11.

Meyer was arrested last week and 11 shipping containers containing components of a centrifuge uranium plant and related documentation were seized from his factory premises in the town's industrial zone.

He faced three charges under South Africa's Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act and the Nuclear Energy Act as part of an international investigation which includes the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

A statement on Tuesday from South Africa's Council for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons said the investigation was "in the context" of the AQ Khan "network"

Abdul Khan was a leading figure in Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme, and was involved in the final test detonation of Pakistan's first nuclear bomb.

Council chairperson Abdul Minty said the items confiscated did not "constitute a weapon of mass destruction, but they are essential components in the process to enrich uranium".
http://iafrica.com/news/sa/346152.htm


S. Africa seizes uranium enrichment materials
Tuesday, September 7, 2004 Posted: 2045 GMT (0445 HKT)


JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- South Africa seized 11 shipping containers of uranium enrichment materials in a raid on a firm run by a man it has charged under laws forbidding nuclear proliferation, a government agency said on Tuesday.

The South African Council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction said the containers were now stored at a safe location and had been sealed by both South African police and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the two agencies would maintain control.

"IAEA inspectors will visit South Africa on a regular basis to inspect nuclear material and related equipment," the council said in a statement.

It was the first detailed description of the raid last week by police and other investigators on a small engineering firm that led to charges against 53-year-old Johan Andries Muller Meyer for manufacturing nuclear-related material and exporting goods that could be used to develop nuclear weapons.
more
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/09/07/security.safrica.reut/

[seemslikeadream]

2. WMD suspect arrested in Durban

September 09 2004 at 11:07AM

By Anil Singh and Sapa

Hours after the withdrawal of charges against Gauteng businessman Johan Meyer for contravening laws governing weapons of mass destruction and nuclear energy, Durban police swooped on a luxury penthouse on the beachfront and arrested a German-born engineer on similar charges.


The 65-year-old engineer is also facing similar charges in Germany and was arrested a forthnight ago.

'I expect my client to make a court appearance later in the day'
While Durban detectives were making the arrest on the beachfront, detectives arrested another suspect in Sandton.

Spokesperson for the police national commissioner Director Sally de Beer on Thursday confirmed the arrests.


De Beer said she had very few details as the arrests were made late on Thursday night. Police would not release any further information due to the sensitive nature of the investigations. "At this stage we cannot rule out further arrests," said De Beer.

more
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20040909101451312C767341

[seemslikeadream]

3. WMD suspect vows to fight 'tooth and nail'

By Jenni Evans

The owner of a Randburg engineering company and one of his engineers appeared in the Vanderbijlpark regional court on Thursday on charges under the Nuclear Energy Act and Weapons of Mass Destruction Act.

Gerhard Wisser and his colleague Daniel Geiges of Krisch Engineering in Strijdompark were appearing for the first time since their arrest on Wednesday night.

Krisch Engineering told Sapa that police had removed files and a computer
Wisser's lawyer Claudia Privato confirmed that Wisser was the same person taken in for questioning by German authorities last month.

Geiges's attorney Kevin Cross said his client was in "complete shock" and was going to be fighting the charges "tooth and nail". Neither attorney said they knew the finer details of the charges.
more
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?sf=2813&click_id=13&art_id=qw1094737141190B263&set_id=

[seemslikeadream]

4. contravening the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act

Indications late yesterday were that Meyer had turned state witness and was providing information to investigators about people and companies that had allegedly been supplying and working for the nuclear black market
more
http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=271&fArticleId=2217944

[seemslikeadream]

5. Pakistan via South Africa.

South African police said in February Washington had asked for their help in investigating possible associates of Asher Karni, a former Israeli army officer accused by the U.S. government of conspiring to export 200 U.S.-made nuclear weapons detonators to Pakistan via South Africa.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=580164§ion=news

[seemslikeadream]

6. S. Africa cuts deal with nuclear smuggler

Johan Meyer, 53, was arrested last week at his Tradefin Engineering company in Vanderbijlpark and charged with violating South Africa's weapons proliferation laws.

"He's squealing and willing to do a deal to tell us ... all we want to know," a senior South African official told the Times on condition of anonymity.


Meyer is believed to have been involved in a secretive South African government program to develop nuclear weapons, which was dismantled under international supervision in 1994.
more
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040909-014644-1929r.htm

[seemslikeadream]

7. South African Council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruc

The allegations being investigated relate to the import and export of a controlled flow- forming lathe as well as the production and possession of certain components of a centrifuge enrichment plant without the necessary permits. These items do not constitute a weapon of mass destruction, but they are essential components in the process to enrich uranium. It is alleged that these activities were intended to assist in the now abandoned nuclear weapons programme of the Libyan Government.

Acting upon information obtained during the course of the investigation into the activities of some companies and individuals, who may have been involved in the alleged contravention of the relevant South African legislation, a search warrant was obtained to search the premises of Tradefin Engineering, situated in Vanderbijlpark.

On 1 September 2004 this facility was searched by members of the Office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions, the South African Police Services (SAPS) and inspectors as well as other South African technical advisors appointed in terms of the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act.

At the premises of Tradefin Engineering, 11 shipping containers were found containing components of a centrifuge uranium enrichment plant as well as related documentation. In terms of a warrant of arrest, Mr JAM Meyer, a Director at Tradefin Engineering was arrested on 2 September 2004. Mr Meyer was charged with contravening the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act by importing and exporting a flow-forming lathe without the necessary permits.
http://www.dfa.gov.za/docs/2004/weap0906.htm

[emad]

8. Charges dropped....BBC on the case:

charges against businessman Johan Meyer, who was arrested last week accused of trafficking nuclear material, have been dropped. The charges - which Mr Meyer denied - had followed a lengthy police investigation, which involved the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.

Officials said the case was linked to an international nuclear black market set up in the 1980s by Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3639244.stm

[seemslikeadream]

9. S. Africa to brief UN on N-smuggling

PRETORIA, Sept 10: South Africa will next week brief the UN's nuclear watchdog agency about recent arrests in connection with an international nuclear smuggling ring with ties to Libya, a senior official said on Friday.

Abdul Minty, chairman of the Council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, said the report to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be made as part of the board's review of Libya's efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

Two German men living permanently in South Africa were charged on Thursday by a South African court with illegally exporting equipment to enrich uranium, a week after a South African businessman was arrested on similar charges.

South African officials said the arrests were part of a probe into ties with a nuclear smuggling network thought to be linked to Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan who admitted in February to helping Libya and other nations develop their weapons programme. -AFP
http://www.dawn.com/2004/09/11/top18.htm