AI
Wednesday, September 29, 2004 5:29:52 PM
Kyrgyzstan intercepts 60 plutonium containers
One potential customer for the plutonium comes readily to mind although there are many.
Rumor is that the President of Kyrgyzstan sold himself out to the Chinese. Kyrgyzstan borders the far western Xinjiang region which is home to the Uighur minority of separatists which China refers to as terrorists. Bush has allowed the Uighur to create a government in exile in Washington.
In the spring of 2000 in Osha Province, Kyrgyzstan, agents of Uzbek secret services, freely operating on Kyrgyzstan’s soil, abducted someone named Bakhtiar K., ethnic Uigur, and brought him out of the country. Bakhtiar K. was suspected in cooperating with Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). During the interrogations, which involved severe tortures, Uzbek agents found out that Bakhtiar K. was really working for Chinese intelligence services and his assignment was to collect information about anti-Chinese activities among underground Muslim organizations operating in Southern Kyrgyzstan.
#msg-3705853
China has protested to the United States after members of China's Uighur minority group announced the creation of a government in exile in Washington.
Chinese officials blasted the United States following reports that the group headed by Uighur emigrants had announced their government in exile at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington.
#msg-4098311
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said China considers a number of Uighur separatists, who refer to their homeland as East Turkistan, as terrorists. The mostly Muslim Uighurs are the dominant ethnic group in China's western region of Xinjiang.
China claims some 1,000 Moslems in its far western Xinjiang region have trained with the al-Qaeda network of Saudi militant Osama bin Laden.
#msg-4126775
-Am
Kyrgyzstan intercepts 60 plutonium containers
BISHKEK: Kyrgyz security forces have foiled an attempt to sell 60 containers of plutonium-239, a substance used in nuclear weapons, a national security committee spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
It remained unclear how much plutonium was captured, but an official said its grade was high enough to make a so-called “dirty bomb” that disburses high doses of radiation over large areas.
One man was detained during the seizure of the plutonium last week while another suspect escaped, the spokeswoman said.
“Plutonium-239 is not used in Kyrgyzstan. The security service is trying to establish how this material reached the hands of the detained person,” she said.
Fears about chemical and nuclear site security in Kyrgyzstan have risen in recent years with the discovery of several such attempts to sell radioactive materials in the black market.
Although unsuspected of having produced nuclear weapons, this former part of USSR was a major uranium producer until its independence in 1991. afp
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-9-2004_pg7_5
Kyrgyz agents arrest man in radioactive sting
Detainee accused of trying to sell plutonium on black marketThe Associated Press
Updated: 9:54 a.m. ET Sept. 29, 2004BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - A man was arrested for trying to sell plutonium in an undercover investigation, the Kyrgyz security agency said Tuesday amid rising worries of a growing black market trade in radioactive materials.
National Security Service agents posing as buyers arrested the man on Sept. 21 after confirming that he was in possession of plutonium-239, agency spokeswoman Chinara Asanova said.
Asanova did not say how much of the radioactive material — which can be used in atomic weapons and as a reactor fuel — was confiscated. But she said it was held in 60 small containers.
The suspect’s identity was not released.
Plutonium-239 is not used in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic in central Asia, Asanova said, and it was not known where it was obtained.
Rising interest in black market radioactives
The National Security Agency is concerned about rising interest in radioactive materials in the black market, she said.
Earlier this year, it arrested Arzykul Usupov, 49, who allegedly tried to sell nearly 4 ounces of the highly toxic material cesium-137, which could contaminate large areas if used as part of a “dirty bomb,” Asanova said.
Another man, Atamyrza Biyaliyev, 48, was arrested for alleged cooperation with Usupov.
The two were looking for foreign buyers, apparently after finding out that terrorist organizations might be interested in such material, Asanova said.
In July, Usupov was sentenced to five years in prison and Biyaliyev to two years.
Kyrgyzstan has inherited radioactive waste sites from the Soviet nuclear industry that contain 6,002,824 cubic feet of radioactive uranium waste. The sites are poorly secured and also pose a threat to the region’s drinking water reservoirs.
© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6130876/
One potential customer for the plutonium comes readily to mind although there are many.
Rumor is that the President of Kyrgyzstan sold himself out to the Chinese. Kyrgyzstan borders the far western Xinjiang region which is home to the Uighur minority of separatists which China refers to as terrorists. Bush has allowed the Uighur to create a government in exile in Washington.
In the spring of 2000 in Osha Province, Kyrgyzstan, agents of Uzbek secret services, freely operating on Kyrgyzstan’s soil, abducted someone named Bakhtiar K., ethnic Uigur, and brought him out of the country. Bakhtiar K. was suspected in cooperating with Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). During the interrogations, which involved severe tortures, Uzbek agents found out that Bakhtiar K. was really working for Chinese intelligence services and his assignment was to collect information about anti-Chinese activities among underground Muslim organizations operating in Southern Kyrgyzstan.
#msg-3705853
China has protested to the United States after members of China's Uighur minority group announced the creation of a government in exile in Washington.
Chinese officials blasted the United States following reports that the group headed by Uighur emigrants had announced their government in exile at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington.
#msg-4098311
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said China considers a number of Uighur separatists, who refer to their homeland as East Turkistan, as terrorists. The mostly Muslim Uighurs are the dominant ethnic group in China's western region of Xinjiang.
China claims some 1,000 Moslems in its far western Xinjiang region have trained with the al-Qaeda network of Saudi militant Osama bin Laden.
#msg-4126775
-Am
Kyrgyzstan intercepts 60 plutonium containers
BISHKEK: Kyrgyz security forces have foiled an attempt to sell 60 containers of plutonium-239, a substance used in nuclear weapons, a national security committee spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
It remained unclear how much plutonium was captured, but an official said its grade was high enough to make a so-called “dirty bomb” that disburses high doses of radiation over large areas.
One man was detained during the seizure of the plutonium last week while another suspect escaped, the spokeswoman said.
“Plutonium-239 is not used in Kyrgyzstan. The security service is trying to establish how this material reached the hands of the detained person,” she said.
Fears about chemical and nuclear site security in Kyrgyzstan have risen in recent years with the discovery of several such attempts to sell radioactive materials in the black market.
Although unsuspected of having produced nuclear weapons, this former part of USSR was a major uranium producer until its independence in 1991. afp
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-9-2004_pg7_5
Kyrgyz agents arrest man in radioactive sting
Detainee accused of trying to sell plutonium on black marketThe Associated Press
Updated: 9:54 a.m. ET Sept. 29, 2004BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - A man was arrested for trying to sell plutonium in an undercover investigation, the Kyrgyz security agency said Tuesday amid rising worries of a growing black market trade in radioactive materials.
National Security Service agents posing as buyers arrested the man on Sept. 21 after confirming that he was in possession of plutonium-239, agency spokeswoman Chinara Asanova said.
Asanova did not say how much of the radioactive material — which can be used in atomic weapons and as a reactor fuel — was confiscated. But she said it was held in 60 small containers.
The suspect’s identity was not released.
Plutonium-239 is not used in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic in central Asia, Asanova said, and it was not known where it was obtained.
Rising interest in black market radioactives
The National Security Agency is concerned about rising interest in radioactive materials in the black market, she said.
Earlier this year, it arrested Arzykul Usupov, 49, who allegedly tried to sell nearly 4 ounces of the highly toxic material cesium-137, which could contaminate large areas if used as part of a “dirty bomb,” Asanova said.
Another man, Atamyrza Biyaliyev, 48, was arrested for alleged cooperation with Usupov.
The two were looking for foreign buyers, apparently after finding out that terrorist organizations might be interested in such material, Asanova said.
In July, Usupov was sentenced to five years in prison and Biyaliyev to two years.
Kyrgyzstan has inherited radioactive waste sites from the Soviet nuclear industry that contain 6,002,824 cubic feet of radioactive uranium waste. The sites are poorly secured and also pose a threat to the region’s drinking water reservoirs.
© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6130876/
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