KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN police confirmed on Thursday they have
seized two containers which may contain parts used to make nuclear
weapons, from a ship bound for western Asia.
'I can confirm that we have seized the containers at Port Klang
but we do not know yet whether these are possibly parts to help
make weapons of mass destruction or nuclear items,' national police
chief Ismail Omar told AFP.
'We are waiting for a report from our nuclear agency on the
parts seized before we can make any determination and
investigations are still ongoing,' he added.
His comments follow a front page story in the influential Sun
daily which said police had seized 'parts of an equipment believed
used to make weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear
warhead' from a ship about 10 days ago.
The paper said the Malaysian-registered vessel, which had
arrived from China and was headed for western Asia, carried
dismantled equipment parts which were listed among items subject to
controlled and restricted sale by the UN Security Council and other
international laws.
It said the captain and crew were questioned by police before
being allowed to leave port with their vessel, while authorities
impounded the two containers and their contents. Last April,
Premier Najib Razak said his country would strictly enforce a new
law to curb trafficking of nuclear weapons components after being
linked to the illegal supply of sensitive technology to Iran and
Libya.
-- AFP
