Pak interrogating businessman over nuke links

Pakistan is interrogating Aizaz Jafri, a prominent Pakistani businessman detained along with six others, for allegedly acting as a middleman in the global trading network of nuclear devices established by A Q Khan, says a report.

Pakistan is interrogating Aizaz Jafri, a prominent Pakistani businessman detained along with six others, for allegedly acting as a middleman in the global trading network of nuclear devices established by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, said a report.

Jafri's dealings are shedding light on the vast business and financial networks established by Dr. Khan in more than two decades of global arms dealings, said The Wall Street Journal quoting Pakistani officials. "We believe Jafri was an intermediary" between Dr Khan and the larger illicit network," said a Pakistani official.

HT Image

Jafri, a man in his forties, is one of seven Pakistani nationals whom the government is investigating for an alleged role in Dr Khan's illicit sales, but he is the only private businessman in the group.

Three of the detainees are retired military officers, while the remaining three men worked with Dr Khan at his Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) said the Pakistani officials. KRL has been the leading research facility in developing Pakistan's atomic weapons programme.

Jafri, according to officials and colleagues, said the Journal, is a former Islamabad banker who serves as a front man for dozens of businesses established by Dr Khan during recent years.

He serves as the managing director of the Best Western Hotel in Islamabad, according to the hotel's management, and runs dozens of restaurants and hotels either partially or fully owned by Dr. Khan, explained investigators.