SHOWDOWN IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program may be a source of extreme national pride, and, as its father, A.Q. Khan — who headed Pakistan’s nuclear program for a few twenty five years — is considered a national hero. Though his full name is Abdul Qadeer Khan, he is commonly known as A.Q. Khan. Born in Bhopal, Dr. A.Q. Khan is aGerman-educated metallurgist who, from May 1972 to December1975 was employed by Physics Dynamic Research Laboratory (conjointly called FDO), an engineering firm based mostly in Amsterdam and a subcontractor to the URENCO consortium specializing in the manufacture of nuclear equipment. 

Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program was established in 1972 by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who founded the program while he was Minister for Fuel, Power and Natural Resources, and later became President and Prime Minister. Subsequently after the loss of East Pakistan with the 1971 war with India, Bhutto initiated the program.

India’s 1974 testing of a nuclear “device” gave Pakistan’s nuclear program new momentum. Through the late 1970s, Pakistan’s program acquired sensitive uranium enrichment technology and showed significant progress. The 1975 arrival of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan considerably advanced these efforts.  He was put in command of building, equipping and operating Pakistan’s Kahuta facility. Under Khan’s direction, Pakistan employed an extensive clandestine network in order to obtain the required materials and technology for its developing uranium enrichment capabilities.

In 2007, Syrian President Assad acknowledged having received a letter that appeared to have been from Khan, however he said his government had not responded and didn’t meet Khan.

IAEA investigators have homed in on the Al-Hasakah facility in an intensive search of satellite imagery sparked by a belief that Khan had a further government client, Syria. They identified the location, the biggest industrial complex in Al-Hasakah, when a 2006 report in a Kuwaiti newspaper claimed Syria had a secret nuclear program.

Al Hasakah has the second highest population in Syria, with the majority being Assyrians and Kurds. The city lies on the banks of the Khabur River (a tributary of the Euphrates) at its confluence with the Jaghjaghah.

It’s characterised by its trendy architectural and civilizational growth rather than its program. 

Under the Ottoman Empire it lost its importance, however it revived with the settlement of Assyrian refugees from Iraq during the French mandate of Syria in 1932. Currently it serves as an important road junction near the Turkish and Iraqi frontiers

Satellite imagery of the Al-Hasakah revealed similarities to plans for a uranium enrichment facility in Libya that were seized during a Swiss investigation related to Khan. The Swiss were investigating the Tinner family – Urs Tinner, his brother Marco and their father Friedrich – who are suspected of playing a crucial role in Khan’s smuggling network.

Another set of the identical plans was turned over to the IAEA after Libya abandoned its nuclear program. In December 2003 Libya abandoned its nuclear weapons program. This a dramatic shift and credited sanctions because the key motivator.  Libya told the IAEA that it had ordered 10,000 zero gas centrifuges from Khan, most of which it supposed for a facility that was to be engineered consistent with the plans.