Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=2-3-04

TYPE=INTERVIEW

NUMBER=3-865

TITLE=PAKISTAN-NUCLEAR

BYLINE=DAVID BORGIDA

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

INTRODUCTION

Michael Krepon, discusses recent developments regarding Pakistan's nuclear program. Mr. Krepon is Founding President of the Henry L. Stimson Center. The Stimson Center, founded in 1989, specializes in threat reduction and international security issues where policy, technology and politics intersect.

MR. BORGIDA

And now joining us with further insight into the story is Michael Krepon, Founding President of the Henry L. Stimson Center, and an analyst on South Asia. Thanks so much for being with us to talk about this.

And I guess the big question is who knew and who didn't know, and could Mr. Khan have in fact been operating this way, with the assets that he had, a number of houses and so on, without the knowledge of the military and officials in government?

MR. KREPON

I'm sure that military officials knew about Abdul Qadeer Khan's real estate holdings in country. They knew he was living beyond his means, but they may not have known of every single illicit nuclear transaction he engaged in. If he was traveling with blueprints and not with heavy equipment, it's possible that only he and his immediate colleagues knew. But there are other transactions that Pakistan was engaged in that certainly did have the consent and the approval of the military hierarchy.

MR. BORGIDA

Such as?

MR. KREPON

Well, transactions that involve military aircraft, barter arrangements with North Korea, in which uranium enrichment technology went in one direction and missiles went in the other direction. There are several motives behind these transactions. One of the motives was bottlenecks within production lines within Pakistan. A.Q. Khan's laboratory had difficulty producing the goods, and so they went outside the country for help. Certainly, in those circumstances the military leadership knew what was going on.

MR. BORGIDA

How does Pakistan find itself? Give us a little bit of history, recent history, about how Pakistan finds itself at the intersection of many things nuclear at this point. Explain that for us, how it got to this place.

MR. KREPON

Well, Pakistan got into a nuclear program after losing a war with India and losing badly, and having the country vivisected, divided in two. And the political leader at the time said that his country would eat grass, his countrymen, would eat grass in order to get the bomb. And to get the bomb, another motive was financial assistance from abroad. And that financial assistance might have come with strings attached. So that's one of the reasons why Pakistan is now enmeshed. Production line problems is another. Venality is another. And Abdul Qadeer Khan has a lot to answer for in that regard.

MR. BORGIDA

What do you think is going to happen? You visit frequently the region. You understand the culture and the politics. What is going to come of this? He has now left his post in the government. Will he be brought up on criminal charges? What would you expect will be his future in the weeks and months ahead?

MR. KREPON

I'd be surprised if there were a public trial. I would not be surprised if he lost some of his assets.

MR. BORGIDA

Is all this because he's such a revered figure and there is a reluctance to push?

MR. KREPON

He's a national hero. But when you start pulling the string, it's quite possible to lose all one's clothing, because there are connections. In the lingo of the Nixon administration, we would call this a limited hang-out. That is to say, I suspect that the leadership in Pakistan will do some things publicly, will do other things privately, to try and get control of this problem.

We're better off today than we were yesterday. The netherworld of illicit nuclear transactions is being exposed and rolled up. So there is good news coming out of this story.

MR. BORGIDA

Well, we hope so. Michael Krepon is the Founding President of the Stimson Center here in Washington and an expert on South Asia. Thanks so much for your views. We appreciate your time.

MR. KREPON

You're welcome.

(End of interview.)

NEB/PT