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
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.
This is supposedly for the benefit of the Xinjiang Uyger autonomous region of China. This could be a means by which the United States and Pakistan aid the Uighur separatists of Xinjiang in their efforts to break away from China. China has protested the establishment of a Uighur Government-in-Exile in Washington. #msg-4098311
If this is for the benefit of the whole of China this would put the Chinese, albeit non-military vessels, next to Iran’s shipping lane the Strait of Hormuz. If the Chinese have access to these ports in time their military vessels will probably visit. The Chinese have a considerable investment in Iran’s oil and gas. Bush plans on attacking Iran by choking the Strait of Hormuz.
While this may change, an amphibious attack was originally targeted against Iran from the Arabian Sea, with a provocative US blockade in the Gulf of Oman to choke Iran’s sealanes of communications. Pakistan would be the base for mounting massive air reconnaissance and surveillance of Iran, while Iranian dissidents, backed by the US army, would launch land assaults from the Iraq-Iran border. Diplomatic sources say, the main body of the plan would remain the same, although component tactics could change.
I am not sure if Pakistan is helping the United States or China with this move.
-Am
Xingjian offered use of Gwadar, Karachi ports
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has formally offered to allow the Chinese province of Xingjian use of Pakistan’s Gwadar and Karachi ports to export goods.
Both sides also decided to form a two-tier committee to enhance trade between Pakistan (particularly the Northern Areas) and Xingjian. This was stated by Minister for Kashmir and Northern Areas Faisal Saleh Hayat at his joint press briefing with visiting Governor of Xingjian Islami Tiliwaldi on Wednesday.
Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Zhang Chunxiang and a 19-member delegation accompanying the governor were also present on the occasion. Mr Hayat said that Pakistan offered the Xingjian governor use of the port facilities at Gawadar and Karachi because “the land route through Karakorum and Sust are economical for the exports of their products.”He said the committee would identify areas in which trade and commerce relations could be enhanced to benefit both sides.
One committee would be headed by the chief secretary of the Northern Areas and the other would be headed by the deputy chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau. Governor Tiliwaldi lauded Pakistan’s cooperation with China in general and with Xingjian in particular in the area of anti-terrorism.
ISLAMABAD, Oct 6: Pakistan on Wednesday offered China its seaports for trade with Middle East countries.
This was announced at a press conference addressed jointly by Minister for Kashmir Affairs Faisal Saleh Hayat and Ismail Tiliwaldi, the visiting governor of the Xinjiang Uyger autonomous region of China, at the ministry of Kashmir Affairs here.
Mr Hayat said Pakistan could earn millions by becoming a transit country for China's trade. He said that businessmen of both countries could benefit from the Karachi port, the under-construction port at Gwadar and the Karakoram Highway.
Mr Hayat said the two countries had agreed to boost tourism and trade and utilize their natural resources in their respective northern areas. "Pakistan can benefit from the tourism industry of Xinjiang as 10 million foreign tourists visit this Chinese region every year," the minister said.
Mr Tiliwaldi said Pakistan and China shared common views on all international issues, specially on countering terrorism. He said the killing of a most wanted Chinese terrorist, Maqsoom, in Wana by Pakistani security agencies last year was highly appreciated by the government of China and its people.
Mr Tiliwaldi said his meeting with Pakistani minister and officials had assured him that the time-tested relations between the two countries would continue to grow further.
He said Pakistan was fully united under the leadership of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and making rapid progress. "We also take pride in your (Pakistan's) development," he added.
Accompanied by a strong business delegation on a three-day visit here, the Chinese governor met Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and also held talks with the ministers of commerce, interior and Kashmir Affairs.
Mr Hayat said his meeting with the Chinese governor covered subjects ranging from politics to economics to cultural cooperation and there was a broad consensus on all vital issues.
The two sides agreed to set up a two-tier committee to increase economic and trade interaction between the Northern Areas and Xinjiang which, with an area of 1.66 million square kilometres, constitutes one-sixth of the total Chinese territory.
Xinjiang is rich in natural resources and offers great opportunities to Pakistani entrepreneurs to exploit trade potential of this land-locked region. Last year its crude oil production reached 21 million tonnes, making it the third largest oil producing Chinese province.
Having a strong cotton production-base, the province accounts for about 40 per cent of the total Chinese cotton output. Governor Tiliwaldi said the two-tier committee could play an important role in promoting trade and commercial cooperation between his province and the Northern Areas.
He identified tourism as one of the many areas that offered mutual benefit. Mr Hayat said a strong Pakistani business delegation will soon visit Xinjiang to explore opportunities of business and joint0 ventures with their Chinese counterpart.
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