Malaysia's Ex-Leader Tells AP U.S. Previously Asked It to Halt

Shipment of Suspected Nuclear Parts

03-18-2004 11:34 AM
By JASBANT SINGH, Associated Press Writer

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia -- The United States asked Malaysia to halt a shipment of suspected nuclear parts in the 1990s, years before a local company was linked to a network that supplied Libya, Iran and North Korea with weapons-making technology, Malaysia's former leader said Thursday.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told The Associated Press in an interview that Malaysia stopped one shipment years ago of stainless steel pipes at Washington's request.

"We didn't know where they were headed," Mahathir told The AP. "They didn't say if it was for centrifuges. There were some reports submitted to me, saying that there was this American objection. They said it was meant for some nuclear thing."

Mahathir retired as prime minister Oct. 31 after 22 years in power that saw Malaysia develop as a high-tech manufacturing center. The nuclear parts incident is believed to have occurred in the early 1990s.

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