04 September 2004	Saturday	18 Rajab 1425

VANDERBIJLPARK, Sept 3: The United States on Friday linked a South African charged under weapons of mass destruction laws with Libya's clandestine nuclear programme and Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan's black market.

Johan Andries Muller Meyer, 53, appeared in court on Friday on charges of manufacturing nuclear-related material and exporting goods that could be used in developing weapons of mass destruction. Mr Meyer was remanded in custody until Sept 8.

Within hours the United States embassy in Pretoria issued a statement linking him to Libya's nuclear programme, which the north African country disclosed in December last year before agreeing earlier this year to a disarmament process.

Libya began its quest for nuclear arms in 1980 and decided in 1997 to seek centrifuge equipment via the atomic black market, allegedly established in the 1980s by Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan.

"South African government agencies worked long and hard with various partners to monitor sensitive materials that were integral to the A.Q. Khan network's efforts to supply Libya's clandestine nuclear programme," the embassy said.

"We understand that South African investigators successfully seized the materials in recent days and have made an initial arrest related to the illegal activities. South Africa's decisive action adds vital information to the world wide investigation into the network's reach and sends the right signal to proliferators everywhere," it added.

Charges against Mr Meyers, who appeared in court in Vanderbijl park, 60kms southwest of Johannesburg where he was arrested on Thursday, did not mention Libya. The charge sheet said Mr Meyer was accused of offences between 2000 and 2001 relating to the import and export of regulated goods "which could contribute to the design, development, manufacture and deployment" of weapons of mass destruction.

Meyer, the director of a local engineering company, was also accused of "unlawfully and wilfully possessing and manufacturing nuclear-related equipment and material" between 2002 and 2004.

Defence attorney Heinrich Badenhorst told national news agency SAPA his client was accused of manufacturing the banned goods at his engineering works, but denied the charges.

His lawyers said contravention of the country's anti-proliferation laws could result in anything from a fine to a 15-year jail sentence. Government officials have said they know of no link between the inquiry and Al Qaeda or international terrorism, and Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said simply that the government had "taken note" of the US statement.

South Africa voluntarily dismantled its nuclear arms before apartheid ended in 1994 - the only nuclear-armed state to do so. U.N. atomic weapons experts say more than 20 countries were involved in deals with the A.Q. Khan network, though it is trying to grasp the full extent of what IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei called a global supermarket for countries interesting in getting nuclear weapons. -Reuters