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Inventors of the `Islamic bomb' lose hero status

Taipei Times, Taiwan
AP , ISLAMABAD
Thursday, Jan 22, 2004

NUCLEAR DETERRENT: The scientists behind Pakistan's nuclear weapons were once treated as heroes, but they are now being rounded up amid fears over proliferation

In a country that takes great pride in having produced the only "Islamic bomb," few people enjoy higher esteem than the scientists at the heart of Pakistan`'s three-decade-old drive to produce a nuclear deterrent to archrival India.

But now, prominent members of the nuclear establishment -- accustomed to being treated as national heroes -- are suffering a humiliating fall from grace.

An investigation into alleged leaks of sensitive secrets abroad has picked up steam since a scientist was first detained two months ago. Over the weekend, a half-dozen more scientists and administrators were rounded up for open-ended interrogation.

The US government has made nonproliferation a priority, fearing nuclear material could end up with terrorists or rogue states. Pressure has mounted on Pakistan to investigate allegations that its program has spilled sensitive technology or know-how to countries such as Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Relatives say as many as 24 men, many of them respected scientists, may be in custody, a far higher number than the government has acknowledged. Family members say they have had no reassurance from the government, no indication where the men are being held and no word on when they might come home.

Defying warnings from government agents, the wives, sons and daughters of several detained men appealed Tuesday for their release.

"First, they treated them as heroes of the nation," an angry Sobia Nazeer Ahmad, daughter of one detainee, told reporters in Islamabad. "Then they treated them like criminals."

Her father, Nazeer Ahmad, is director general of scientific technology and cooperation at Khan Research Laboratories, Pakistan's top nuclear weapons lab. It is named for Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program and a household name nationwide.

On Saturday night, a half-dozen men in civilian clothes turned up at the family's home. They told Ahmad to come for questioning and, the family says, manhandled a servant. They haven't had word of Ahmad since.

In the living room sits a poster-size photograph of a former president hanging Pakistan's most prestigious medal around Ahmad's neck. Above it hangs a plate painted with two nuclear-capable missiles to commemorate the 1998 nuclear missile tests that shocked the world, coming days after a similar demonstration by archrival India. Pakistan is the only predominantly Islamic country with nuclear weapons.

"He's a patriotic and aboveboard man," said another daughter, Saima Adil. "What happened to him was disgraceful. The whole street saw it."

Similar scenes played out at other homes around the capital over the weekend. In one case, a director of the laboratory was taken into custody by a pair of men as he was dining with the now-retired Khan himself.

Ruled by the military for most of its 56 years, the country of 146 million people exists in a permanent state of edginess toward neighboring India. The countries have fought three wars, and nearly had a fourth as recently as two years ago. Relations have warmed in recent months, with talk of comprehensive peace talks to begin soon.

The nuclear establishment is revered for protecting national security. And in a country where so much goes wrong -- from illiteracy and poverty to fitful attempts to restore democracy -- Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) is considered a peerless success.

"KRL is the only institution that our country can boast of in the world, where we are on a par with the developed world," said Shafiq-ur Rahman, whose father, Sajawal Khan Malik, the lab's retired head of maintenance and general services, was detained Saturday.

Until recently, the detentions would have been unthinkable, but since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the US, President General Pervez Musharraf has become a key US ally.

Pakistan has denied officially proliferating nuclear technology, but has acknowledged that rogue individuals may have been the source of leaks.

The government has acknowledged detaining "five to six" scientists and administrators for what it calls "debriefings." Almost none has been released, relatives say, and no formal appearances or charges have been made in court.

"We are moving toward the conclusion of these debriefing sessions," Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said Monday. "We haven't made our final determination yet. There is no presumption of guilt. It is probable that some of these people would be cleared."

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/01/22/2003092273

There is cynicism in Iran, but civil society will recover

Almost a century after the 1906 constitutional revolution, a new crisis is brewing in Iran, a fact highlighted by the recent decision of the Council og Guardians to bar candidates to next months parliamentary elections. The outcome of this nascent parliamentary struggle remains to be seen. However the implications of the contest are great not only for the 70 million Iranians who have repeatedly voted for political reform, but also for the wider Middle East region, where opposition and reformist political expression is seldom permitted.

Understanding Iran?s political landscape requires distinguishing between theory and practice. In theory, the Iranian political system has democratic manifestations, most prominently a popularly elected president and Parliament. In practice, however, unelected institutions such as the Council of Guardians often intervene in this landscape to reject parliamentary bills and to vet, and sometimes rebuff, potential presidential and parliamentary candidates.
This vetting process is what pushed the current Majlis, or Parliament, to stage a continuing sit-in to protest against the disqualification of potential candidates from the upcoming Feb. 20 legislative elections. Earlier this month the Council of Guardians barred 3,605 candidates from running (some 200 have since been reinstated), 84 of whom were incumbents, including President Mohammed Khatami?s brother, Mohammad Reza Khatami, and others from the dominant reformist Second of Khordad Party. Candidates can be disqualified for any number of reasons, ranging from bribery charges to refusing to support the constitution, the notion of Velayat-e Faqih (guardianship of the jurisconsult) or the supreme leader.

However, the reasons for the recent disqualifications have yet to be disclosed. In solidarity with the Majlis representatives, Irans 27 provincial governors threatened to resign, along with at least 10 members of Khatamis Cabinet. The president himself has vacillated in his usual manner, blending statements of support such as ?at this stage my historical mission is to prevent the illegal seizure of the levers of power, to appeals for compromise and concessions in line with the official position of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The political chaos has emerged at a unique moment in Iranian history. Having barely recovered from the earthquake at Bam, the Iranian government has been under pressure to accommodate its domestic constituency, while also playing its hand internationally. The reform movement and Khatamis 1997 election brought hope and promise to many Iranians, who overwhelmingly sought a reversal of the countrys international isolation and relief from the impact of the Iran-Iraq war and economic and political repression.

Such hope proved elusive, however, as conservative-dominated institutions threatened by the prospect of political transformation exerted every effort to emasculate the reform movement. And they have succeeded, with Khatami and his reformist allies blocked at every turn. Yet what many Iran analysts and policymakers have overlooked is the lack of unity among reformists themselves in the formulation of their political and economic objectives. And as reformists have pursued diverse, over-ambitious aims, they have further alienated apprehensive conservative bastions of power, such as the judiciary and the Council of Guardians.

Conservative clerics have been awaiting an opportunity to reassert control over Iran?s system, and the parliamentary elections provide the perfect occasion. However, this power play is strategically significant for other reasons besides the obvious aspiration of conservatives to tighten their hold on power. Though marginalized by the wave of popular support for the reform movement, the hardliners remain the ultimate decision-makers in Iran. By rendering the reform movement impotent, they hope to regain the initiative with a cynical population disappointed by the failed promises of the reformists.

Change engineered by the conservatives would most likely seek to emulate a Chinese model favoring economic and cultural liberalization over political openness which is already the trend in Iran. With unemployment and inflation skyrocketing, social controls would continue to be relaxed in such a way that youths, who make up half of the Iranian population, would be allowed greater freedom to interact in public, even being permitted to attend open-air concerts a recent development. Such changes could prolong the life span of the failing Islamic regime, albeit ephemerally since the existence of an autonomous civil society is now inherent to Iran?s political conscious.

A conservative victory and unified government could also provide a solid opening for engagement with the United States. Khatami was allowed to pursue a policy of detente and dialogue that restored Iran?s reputation with the European Union (EU) and the Arab world, but little progress has been made with the US. With no domestic reformist threat on the horizon, the conservatives may choose to pursue a policy of engagement with Washington, even compromising on such issues as weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, Israel and human rights. This process would be delicate, however, as the Bush administration and the EU have opposed the undemocratic exclusion of parliamentary candidates.
Khamenei could intervene at the eleventh hour and allow all the disqualified candidates to run for office. By doing so he would come across as a benevolent leader supportive of democracy. This maneuver would be astute considering the apathy that has taken hold of the Iranian electorate. In light of the lack of popular participation in the last municipal elections, as well as the generally pessimistic mood among youths after the protests and arrests last summer, it is likely that the decline in voter participation will continue, enabling conservative candidates to dominate in the forthcoming elections.

Most noteworthy during this time of political discord is the lack of public solidarity with the ongoing protest efforts in the Majlis. Perhaps Iranians are bored with watching the unending power struggle between members of the political elite, or maybe students, who are in the midst of their examination period, have grown tired of protesting in vain. Whatever the answer, such skepticism and discord, by demobilizing the potential reformist opposition, are strategically important to the conservatives? strategy.
Ultimately, however, the fatigue and doubt prevailing among Iran?s dynamic, young and pro-Western population will only be temporary. The seeds of political reform have been planted in the collective imagination. The future prospects for political change are undeniable, since Iran?s century-long democratic struggle has finally taken root in a blooming civil society.

A conservative clampdown, and the ensuing political respite, might in fact re-energize Iran?s vibrant population and induce Iranians to once again push for the political, economic and social reforms needed to embrace the challenges of the new century. This struggle for self-determination is without doubt the most promising in the region and one that should be observed and championed from the sidelines.

Sanam Vakil, who was recently in Iran, is a doctoral candidate and lecturer in Middle East Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/opinion/22_01_04_e.asp