07 February 2004	Saturday	15 Zilhaj 1424

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 6: Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Friday vowed a full investigation into charges that a company controlled by his son supplied parts for Libya's nuclear weapons programme , as the firm's factory threw open its doors to the media.

"I have directed the police to carry out the investigations without fear or favour," Mr Badawi said. The premier said the components produced by Scomi Precision Engineering Sdn Bhd (SCOPE), which allegedly supplied centrifuge components for Libya's uranium-enrichment programme, were "generic".

He said they could be used for a multitude of non-nuclear purposes, and Malaysian police were working with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the investigation.

The SCOPE is a unit of listed oil and gas firm Scomi Group, in which the premier's son, Kamaluddin Abdullah, is the biggest shareholder.

Abdullah Badawi said he hoped the investigation would "reveal the truth" about claims that Malaysia was linked to a proliferation syndicate exposed by the admission of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Factory manager Che Lokman Che Omar said SCOPE was told the parts were for use in the oil and gas industry and that no special export permit was needed for the products because they were not seen as sensitive items, adding that they went through normal customs procedures.

"If you show me a part I will not be able to tell you what it would be used for. We were told that it was for the oil and gas industry. We produced strictly according to the drawings provided by GTI," he said.

The factory was set up in 2001, specifically to produce the components for Gulf Technical Industries LLC (GTI) in Dubai in a deal arranged by Dubai-based Sri Lankan businessman B.S.A. Tahir.

The company said the last consignment was shipped in August last year and there had been no order since.

Police on Wednesday said they had launched a probe after US and British intelligence services told them in November about SCOPE's role and identified Tahir as the middleman.

The intelligence revealed that five containers allegedly containing centrifuge components were seized from a ship, BBC China, in Taranto, Italy, on Oct 4. Police said Tahir and SCOPE were "cooperating fully" in the probe and denied reports that Tahir was in custody.

The New Straits Times quoted intelligence agency sources as saying that the owner of GTI, which ordered the components from SCOPE, was a British citizen named Peter Griffin.

Raw materials for the components were sourced in Singapore from a subsidiary of a German company called Bikar Metalle Germany, the sources said.

They said US, British and Malaysian intelligence services and the IAEA were investigating the two links.

Scomi spokeswoman Rohida Ali Badaruddin said during the factory tour: "The message here is that we are not the subject of investigations. We are merely facilitating the investigations and the investigation is into one of our customers."

Lokman said that in its first year of operation the order from GTI made up 80 per cent of the factory's turnover, but the company had now expanded and had other overseas customers in the oil, gas and auto industries. None of its customers was in Libya, the Middle East or North Korea, he said. -AFP