New York, April 9
A Pakistani businessman has been charged by American prosecutors with illegally exporting devices from the country that could be used to develop nuclear weapons while his alleged South African partner has pleaded guilty to arranging illegal export of US-made equipment to Pakistan and India.
Asher Karni, an Israeli who lives in South Africa, entered the guilty plea last September and has been cooperating with investigators, federal prosecutors said.
The prosecutors, however, kept the proceeding secret until they unsealed the plea agreement and charges brought against Humayun Khan, an Islamabad businessman with longstanding ties to Pakistan’s
military. Khan is said to be Karni’s partner, the New York Times reported.
The Times said in Karni’s plea agreement, he “acknowledged” that he also was involved in 2002 in selling sophisticated electronic equipment to government agencies in India, some of which were allegedly involved in nuclear weapons and missile research.
It is not clear whether the goods he sold were useful for making nuclear weapons, the paper said.
The indictment of Khan states that he employed Karni in 2002 and 2003 to buy 200 high-speed electrical switches that can be used in a nuclear device, as well as oscilloscopes, and to export them to Pakistan without the required United States export licences, the Times said.
— PTI
