ADVANCED NUKE WARHEAD DESIGN POSSIBLY SOLD

Washington, June 16 (PTI) - Rogue nations and groups may
have gained access to an advanced nuclear weapon design
through an international smuggling ring, linked to disgraced
Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan, a former U.N. arms inspector
said.

A copy of the inspector's draft report said the drawings
of the blueprints included essential details for building a
compact nuclear device and could be fitted on a type of
ballistic missile used by Iran and more than a dozen
developing countries, the Washington Post said.

The soon-to-be published report suggested the designs
could have been sold to "rogue" nations and groups.

Drawings for the device was discovered in 2006 on
computers owned by Swiss businessmen. The contents — among
more than 1,000 gigabytes of data — were recently destroyed by
Swiss authorities under the supervision of the U.N.'s nuclear
watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency (I.A.E.A.), the
newspaper said.

I.A.E.A. is investigating the now-defunct smuggling ring
previously led by Khan for its involvement in the new
discovery. The smuggling ring had supplied bomb-related parts
to Libya, Iran and North Korea.

U.N. officials could not rule out the possibility of the
new blueprints being shared with others before their
discovery, said the author of the report, David Albright, who
had spent four years researching the international smuggling
network.

"These advanced nuclear weapons designs may have long ago
been sold off to some of the most treacherous regimes in the
world," Albright said in the draft report about the
blueprint's discovery.

According to what has been published, the A.Q. Khan
smuggling ring was previously known to have provided Libya
with design information for a nuclear bomb. "But the
blueprints found in 2006 are far more troubling," Albright has
said in his report.

While Libya was given plans for an older and relatively
unsophisticated weapon that was bulky and difficult to
deliver, the newly discovered blueprints offered instructions
for building a compact device, the report said.

"The lethality of such a bomb would be little enhanced,
but its smaller size might allow for delivery by ballistic
missiles.

"To many of these countries, it's all about size and
weight," according to Albright. "They need to be able to fit
the device on the missiles they have."

The Pakistani government did not rebut the findings in
the report but said it had cooperated extensively with U.N.
investigators.

"The government of Pakistan has adequately investigated
allegations of nuclear proliferation by A.Q. Khan and shared
the information with I.A.E.A.," Nadeem Kiani, a spokesman for
the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington, has told the Post.

"Pakistan considers the A.Q. Khan affair to be over,"
Nadeem was quoted as saying.