Police have finished investigating a Malaysian company's role in supplying parts to an alleged international nuclear trafficking network, and will not arrest a man accused of being its chief financier, a senior government official said on Friday.
But Malaysian Special Branch police were keeping tight surveillance on the Sri Lankan man, Buhary Syed Abu Tahir - and would consider seizing his passport if he tries to leave Malaysia - the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Tahir vacated his apartment in one of Kuala Lumpur's most exclusive suburbs on Wednesday, after the AP sought comment from him there on allegations that he was a deputy in the nuclear technology trafficking network of disgraced Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Khan is viewed as the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme.
US President George W Bush last week called Tahir the "chief financial officer and money launderer" of Khan's network, which allegedly spanned three continents and sold nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya.
Police said on Friday they'd completed their investigation into Tahir's Malaysian connections, and had compiled a 12-page report that will be handed to the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA - the Vienna-based organization that oversees the international Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
{{/usCountry}}Police said on Friday they'd completed their investigation into Tahir's Malaysian connections, and had compiled a 12-page report that will be handed to the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA - the Vienna-based organization that oversees the international Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
{{/usCountry}}Malaysian police were expected to release a statement on the report soon.