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...that the Pakistanis and the North Koreans would ever team up?
Tuesday April 1, 11:56 AM
U.S. sanctions on Pakistani firm, North Korea
By Vasantha Arora, Indo-Asian News Service
Washington, Apr 1 (IANS) U.S. sanctions are being imposed on North Korea and a Pakistani company for the alleged transfer of ballistic missiles to the latter in exchange for expertise in nuclear technology.
Administration officials were reluctant to provide details of the alleged transaction, partly because of the sensitive state of U.S. relations with Pakistan.
But they did confirm that a North Korean firm was being censured for a transfer of missiles or related technology, while a Pakistani entity is accused of making a "material contribution" to another country's weapons of mass destruction programme.
Formal word of the sanctions is expected to come later this week, with the publication of an announcement in the Federal Register, the U.S. government's official journal.
Being cited for violations are the private Pakistani company, the A.Q. Khan Nuclear Research Institute, and a state-owned North Korean export firm, the Changgwang Sinyong Corporation.
Because there are no private companies in communist North Korea, the Pyongyang government will be subject to U.S. penalties, as well as the corporate entity.
These include a two-year ban on any business activities between the cited entities and the U.S. government, as well as prohibition on sales of high-tech equipment to them by private American companies.
Briefing reporters, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said here Monday that the penalties would have a symbolic rather than practical impact on the two firms, which have no known dealings with the U.S., and that was important to uphold.
"We do this as a matter of law, first of all. Second of all, we have to decide as a matter of law the appropriate penalties under the law. These are the appropriate penalties under the law. Whether they lose out right now, or lose any future possibilities, that depends on a lot of factors I can't predict at this point," Boucher said at a briefing.
He said the violation involved a so-called "category-one" missile transfer, meaning complete or nearly complete missiles were sold to Pakistan.
The North Korean firm was censured for "involvement in transfer of missiles or missile related technology", which represented a "substantial contribution to missile proliferation", the State Department official said.
He added the Pakistani company was accused of "material contribution to the efforts of a foreign country, person or entity of proliferation concern, to use, acquire, design, develop and or secure weapons of mass destruction".
The Washington Times newspaper quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying that the sale involved North Korea's Nodong missile, an updated variant of the Soviet-era Scud missile, with a range of 1,500 km.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, said three to six Nodongs were delivered and American officials believe Pakistani scientists may have helped North Korea with the uranium enrichment programme that authorities in Pyongyang acknowledged as having last October.
Pakistan's embassy in Washington denied that Pakistan had acquired North Korean missiles and said whatever missile technology the country has is indigenous. An embassy spokesman termed the U.S. sanctions "misplaced and discriminatory".
