S'pore-based firm named in Libyan nuclear probe
But parts it supplies also meant for 'generic' use
By CHEN HUIFEN
(SINGAPORE) An international probe into the seized centrifuge parts that were meant for Libya's nuclear weapons programme has thrown up the name of a Singapore-based company.
Bikar Metal Asia Pte Ltd, a raw materials trading subsidiary of a German company, was said to have supplied parts to a Malaysian firm that had shipped the cargo.
But officials have so far deemed the components to be 'generic' or 'dual-purpose parts that can be used in any number of applications'.
When contacted yesterday, a Bikar spokesman said he is shocked by the link. 'Please understand that I also have to look into the issue,' the spokesman said. 'My first official comment is that we definitely have not supplied sensitive materials.'
Bikar said it will issue a press statement today.
A subsidiary of Bikar Metalle of Germany, Bikar is primarily involved in supplying aluminium products. The company imports raw materials from Europe and sells them to the region. It was incorporated here in 1999.
In 2002, the company generated a net profit of about $81,400 on a turnover of about $4.9 million.
Malaysian officials said yesterday that Bikar had supplied raw materials to Scomi Precision Engineering (Scope) - which is being investigated for a cargo that was seized by Italian authorities on a Libya-bound ship, BBC China, on Oct 4 last year.
The five containers with centrifuge components bore Scope's name when they were seized.
Centrifuges may be used for legitimate purposes in the waste water treatment, pharmaceutical or petrochemical industries. They can also be used in enriching uranium to produce nuclear energy.
Earlier news reports said that a Sri Lankan businessman, BSA Tahir, had helped negotiate a RM13 million contract for Scope to supply 14 semi-finished components to a Dubai-based company, Gulf Technical Industries (GTI).
The shipment was to be done in four consignments, between December 2002 and August 2003. Bikar was said to have supplied the raw materials to Scope for the order.
Malaysian authorities are working with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the investigation.
'We were told that it was for the oil and gas industry,' Scope's factory manager, Che Lokman Che Omar, said in an AFP report. 'We produced strictly according to the drawings provided by GTI.'
Mr Lokman added that the factory, set up in 2001, derived 80 per cent of its turnover from GTI during its first year of operation. But the company had since expanded and now serves other overseas customers in the oil, gas and auto industries. None of them are from Libya, the Middle East or North Korea, he said.
Scope is a subsidiary of oil and gas services company Scomi Group, which is controlled by Kamaludin Abdullah, the only son of Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. It is listed on the Second Board of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.
The Malaysian government has rejected claims by CIA director George Tenet that the factory under investigation is part of a nuclear black market network.
In a speech in Washington, Mr Tenet said the international proliferation network headed by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan had been dealt a crushing blow by his exposure, noting that several of his senior officers are in custody and that 'Malaysian authorities have shut down one of the network's largest plants'.
A senior Malaysian official flatly rejected Mr Tenet's claim, saying the factory under investigation has not closed and that US intelligence could not be trusted.
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Malaysia denies role in nuclear smuggling
By John Burton in Singapore
Published: February 7 2004 4:00 | Last Updated: February 7 2004 4:00
Malaysia yesterday rejected suggestions that it might have played a key role in an international nuclear technology smuggling network after George Tenet, the CIA director, said "one of the network's largest plants" was in the country.
The assertion by Mr Tenet came after Malaysia said it was investigating Scomi Group, a company owned by the son of the country's prime minister, for possibly supplying centrifuge parts for Libya's nuclear weapons programme.
In a speech on intelligence issues on Thursday, Mr Tenet apparently sought to commend Malaysia by saying that "Malaysian authorities have shut down one of network's largest plants." He refused to identify the plant when later asked whether he was referring to Scomi.
The reference, however, has embarrassed Malaysia. "To say it is the largest part of a network is totally inaccurate. It is coming from a CIA director who is discredited - he screwed up the intelligence going into Iraq," a senior Malaysian official told Associated Press.
Malaysian officials said there was no evidence suggesting Scomi manufactured centrifuge parts for export to Iran and North Korea as part of the underground nuclear network organised by Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's leading nuclear scientist.
They also said they were satisfied that the Scomi centrifuge parts had dual-use applications in the medical or petrochemical industries. Centrifuges can be used to enrich uranium in nuclear weapons programmes. Scomi said because the order was for parts only, it had no idea of their "end-use".
Malaysia yesterday sought to deflect attention by claiming that Bikar Metal Asia, a Singapore-based subsidiary of German company Bikar Metalle, supplied raw materials to Scomi and was being investigated. Bikar Metal confirmed that it had supplied aluminium sheets and steel components for industrial use to Scomi Precision Engineering, which made the centrifuge parts, but was unaware of any link to Libya's nuclear programme.
Scomi said it received a $3.4m (?2.7m, ?1.8m) order in 2002 to supply "14 semi-finished components" for Dubai-based Gulf Technical Industries. The deal was arranged by BSA Tahir, a Sri Lankan businessman, who "is the subject of an investigation by Malaysian, American and British intelligence authorities over his alleged involvement in the supply of nuclear technology to Libya", said Scomi.
The Malaysian police said Scomi built a factory outside Kuala Lumpur to handle the contract, "which was said to be a legitimate transaction".
Scomi's link to Libya was discovered when crates containing the centrifuge parts were found on a Libya-bound ship seized last October under the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative programme. Najib Razak, Malaysian deputy prime minister, said the issue was not raised by John Bolton, the US undersecretary of state for arms control, during his visit last month.
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German firm linked to Libyan nuke programme denies wrongdoing
6:00pm Sat Feb 7th, 2004
A German metals exporter toay denied any wrongdoing after being linked to a Malaysian firm under investigation for allegedly supplying parts for Libya's nuclear programme.
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Malaysians reject US claim over nuclear role for factory
ROHAN SULLIVAN IN KUALA LUMPUR
THE Malaysian government yesterday rejected the assertion by the CIA director, George Tenet, that a plant under investigation for making centrifuge parts for Libya was one of the largest servicing the international black market in nuclear technology.
Scomi Precision Engineering, which is linked to the son of the prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, insisted yesterday it was an unwitting participant in any illicit trade, and opened its doors to journalists in a bid to show it had nothing to hide.
The factory manager, Che Lokman Che Omar, said the parts that the CIA alleges were intended for Libya's nuclear programmes were indistinguishable from hundreds of components the company makes for the auto and oil and gas industries.
"To me, they were just normal parts," Mr Che Lokman said. "I have been using these machines for 15 years, and I have made many more difficult parts."
Rohaida Ali Badaruddin, a spokeswoman for the company, known by its acronym SCOPE, said it made sure its contract indemnified it from "any illegal activity". However, it did not ask what the components would ultimately be used for or check its customers' background, she said.
SCOPE is a precision-engineering subsidiary of the Scomi Group, whose majority shareholder is Kamaluddin Abdullah, 35, the prime minister's only son.
The firm made "14 semi-finished components" for the Dubai-based Gulf Technical Industries and shipped them between December 2002 and August 2003 in a $3.4 million (?18.5 million) deal negotiated by a Sri Lankan middleman, BSA Tahir.
Malaysian and western officials say Mr Tahir is an associate of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani scientist accused of selling nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
In a speech in Washington on Thursday, Mr Tenet said Mr Khan's global network had been dealt a crushing blow by his exposure, noting that several of his senior officers are in custody and "Malaysian authorities have shut down one of the network's largest plants".
A senior Malaysian official flatly rejected Mr Tenet's claim, saying the factory has not closed and that US intelligence could not be trusted.
The CIA and Britain's MI6 said the deal involved supplying centrifuge components for Libya's uranium enrichment programme. The parts, in boxes bearing SCOPE's name, were in a shipment seized in Italy in October en route to Libya.

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CIA chief wrong on plant closure in Malaysia
Raymond Bonner NYT
Friday, February 6, 2004
SHAH ALAM, Malaysia Did American intelligence get it wrong? And on something that was visible without sophisticated satellites or cloak-and-dagger work, but to the naked eye?
In his speech in defense of American intelligence-gathering at Georgetown University on Thursday, the director of central intelligence, George Tenet, pointed to what he described as success against the black-market nuclear proliferation network run by the Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.
"Malaysian authorities have shut down one of the network's largest plants," Tenet said. He repeated the assertion when answering a question: "The Malaysian government has closed the facility."
Categorical. Unequivocal. But, it appears, wrong. And if this was one of the networks "largest" plants, it does not appear to have been a very threatening network.
"It's business as usual," said Rohaida Ali Badaruddin, as she led a group of reporters, mostly Malaysian, through the spanking-clean, highly modern, air-conditioned Scomi Precision Engineering facility on Friday afternoon. The company has been accused of being part of the network that made the centrifuge components on a ship, the BBC China, that was seized last October on its way to Libya.
"We are still doing our manufacturing - milling, turning, cutting," said Badaruddin, the director of communications for the Scomi Group, the parent company of Scomi Precision Engineering, which has only 24 employees.
The factory's manager, Che Lokman Che Omar, said that the parts were "not very sophisticated, not very complicated." He added, "I have made more difficult parts many times before."
If someone came along today and wanted the same parts that were seized on the ship, the company could make them, he and Badarrudin agreed.
And might not have any reason to be suspicious - just as the company was not suspicious the first time.
In 2001, Scomi Group, a chemical, oil and gas trading and manufacturing company, was approached by a Dubai company, General Technical Industries, with an order for 14 centrifuge components. Scomi was in an expansion mode and decided to use this opportunity to set up Scomi Precision Engineering, Badaruddin said.
A two-year contract, worth about $3.5 million, was signed in December 2001, and the company began working in an airy 3,100 square-meter, or 33,000 square-foot, facility in the massive industrial park in Shah Alam, about 25 kilometers, or 15 miles, north of Kuala Lumpur. It bought modern machines from Britain, Japan, France and Taiwan.
It also needed the raw materials and bought high-quality aluminum from a German company, Bikar Metalle, through its Singapore subsidiary, Bikar Metal Asia. As the investigation into the nuclear network has expanded, and Scomi's involvement has become public, the Malaysian government on Friday tried to shift the focus to Singapore. It leaked the name of Bikar Metal Asia, which was prominently mentioned on the front page of the New Straits Times, the Malaysian newspaper that is controlled by the ruling party.
In Singapore on Friday, the managing director of Bikar Metal Asia, Thorsten Heise, confirmed that his company had sold aluminum tubes to Scomi Precision Engineering. But he said that his company had no idea what they were going to be used for. "If you sell your car, and someone uses it to commit a crime, are you responsible?" he asked. He was visibly angry and said that he was considering legal action against the New Straits Times for ruining his company's reputation.
Scomi officials also said that they had no idea where the components they were making were going to end up. They were so-called dual-use items, which means that they had legitimate uses as well, in this case in the oil and gas industry.
The company invited journalists to tour the plant to show that the company has nothing to hide, Badaruddin said. It was a striking display of corporate openness, even more so in a country and region where corporate and public officials are not accustomed to aggressive reporting. The New York Times
Copyright ? 2002 The International Herald Tribune
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Gov't denies nuclear link but local company under probe
10:33am Thu Feb 5th, 2004
The police are investigating a company controlled by a son of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi over allegations that it was involved in supplying parts for Libya's nuclear weapons programme. However, they denied any government involvement in producing nuclear components.
Four consignments shipped out
Factory in Selangor
Call for independent inquiry

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Ashtray or nuclear component? Malaysian machinists say it's impossible to say
ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer
Friday, February 6, 2004
(02-06) 19:10 PST SHAH ALAM, Malaysia (AP) --
The blue-shirted workers say they thought they were making parts for the oil and gas industry. The CIA says this nondescript factory on the outskirts of Malaysia's largest city was, in fact, churning out components for Libya's nuclear weapons program.
Malaysia has become the latest nation caught in a widening probe into the global black market in nuclear know-how and equipment, triggered by Pakistan's admission that its top nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, sold technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
Managers at the Malaysian factory owned by Scomi Precision Engineering, or SCOPE, opened their doors to journalists Friday in an effort to prove their contribution to nuclear proliferation -- if any -- was unwitting.
The case raises questions about export and trade regulations on so-called "dual-use" items, components for illegal technology that are indistinguishable from common machine parts to all but the experts.
"To me, they were just normal parts," said Che Lokman Che Omar, manager of the SCOPE factory. "I have been using these machines for 15 years, and I have made many more difficult parts."
Around him, technicians worked on tooling machines, carving precision edges onto bits of aluminum and stainless steel destined for car parts and industrial tubing.
Four months ago, according to the CIA and Britain's MI6, similar parts were found in boxes marked with SCOPE's name aboard a ship bound for Libya. Investigators say the parts were for centrifuges, machines that can be used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons production.
Scomi Precision Engineering's majority shareholder is the son of Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The government rejected CIA Director George Tenet's assertion that SCOPE was one of the largest plants servicing a nuclear black market.
"To say it is the largest part of a network is totally inaccurate," a government official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It is coming from a CIA director who is discredited -- he screwed up the intelligence going into Iraq."
According to Malaysian police, SCOPE built its Shah Alam factory to fill an order from the Dubai-based Gulf Technical Industries, which negotiated a $3.4 million contract through a Sri Lankan middleman named B.S.A. Tahir.
Between December 2002 and August 2003, SCOPE shipped four consignments to the Gulf company, according to SCOPE's parent company, the Scomi Group.
Using designs from the customer, SCOPE made 14 parts from high-grade stainless steel and aluminum obtained from the Singapore branch of a German supplier, Che Lokman said. He said 15 Malaysian contractors did the work, their employment terminated when the contract was filled.
Scomi group spokeswoman Rohaida Ali Badaruddin said the Gulf company never told SCOPE what the parts were for, and SCOPE never asked.
"We make sure we are indemnified against any illegal activity in the contract," Rohaida said, but the company makes no background checks of clients or inquires about the end-use of products it make.
Rohaida said SCOPE complied with government regulations in shipping the parts found in the Libya-destined crates. While an export permit is required for "sensitive items," none was sought in this case because nothing appeared out of the ordinary, she said.
Tahir, the middleman, visited the factory several times, as did engineers from Dubai, Che Lokman said. "To my memory," he said, Pakistan's top nuclear scientist, Khan, never came.
But a Malaysian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AP that Khan visited Malaysia several times -- including to attend Tahir's wedding.
National police chief Mohamed Bakri Omar said his Special Branch started investigating the Tahir-arranged deal after the CIA the MI6 informed them about the Libya shipment last November.
Che Lokman said Malaysian police first came to the factory "two or three weeks ago" and that no foreign investigators had visited. He also said there were up to 30 other companies in Malaysia able to make the components in the Dubai deal. SCOPE is the only company identified as under investigation.
He said the factory currently has several clients, Malaysian and international, but declined to give details citing confidentiality.
Rohaida said SCOPE's services were precision milling and cutting, and its engineers do not have the expertise to know the use of the items they are making. If the company received a similar order to the one SCOPE filled for the Libya shipment, it would have no reason to turn it down. "Milling and cutting is the same today as it was before," she said.
Malaysian authorities say they are satisfied that the components built by SCOPE may have had medical or petrochemical uses. But U.S. and European officials have told AP the components from Malaysia were highly sophisticated and would have few uses other than nuclear enrichment.