Pakistan introduces bill in parliament to check nuclear proliferation

ISLAMABAD (AFP) Jun 07, 2004
A bill was introduced Monday in Pakistan's parliament to tighten controls on the export of nuclear weapons technology following a UN resolution calling on members to prevent weapons of mass destruction from falling into the hands of terrorists, state media reported.

The bill to control the export of goods, technologies, material and equipment related to nuclear and biological weapons and their delivery systems was put before the lower house by minister for parliamentary affairs Raza Hayat Hiraj, national television said.

Pakistan's cabinet last month approved this draft bill which provides imprisonment of up to 14 years, a maximum fine of five million rupeesdollars) or both for offenders.

The move followed a UN Security Council resolution, unanimously passed on April 28, aimed at keeping weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists and black market traders.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan was hit by an arms proliferation scandal recently when the architect of its atomic weapons programme, Abdul Qadeer Khan, publicly confessed to leaking nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Khan was given a conditional pardon by President Pervez Musharraf but he remains under virtual house arrest in the capital Islamabad.

The government has said a probe into the leaks has not been completed.

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