Arms Smugglers Had Nuke Blueprints

Design could have been passed to any 'treacherous regime'
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 15, 2008 11:02 AM CDT
Arms Smugglers Had Nuke Blueprints
Supporters of Pakistan's nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan light candles to pay tribute to him. Khan is the former leader of the arms smugglers who a report says had nuclear weapons blueprints.   (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer)

Smugglers who sold weapons parts to Libya, Iran, and North Korea also had blueprints for a compact nuclear weapon—plans that could have been sold “to some of the most treacherous regimes in the world," warns an upcoming report by American and international investigators. The device could be attached to missiles used by Iran and many developing countries, according to the Washington Post .

The blueprints are now destroyed, but it's possible they were copied and sold to dangerous governments before they were found. The blueprints “would have been ideal” for two of the smuggling ring’s “major customers—Iran and North Korea," said the report, written by a former UN arms inspector. (More nuclear weapons stories.)

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