WASHINGTON, Feb 3: A day after absolving Pakistan of the charges of selling nuclear material to Libya, the US media are once again dragging Islamabad into the controversy, claiming that the International Atomic Energy Agency is not yet willing to let Pakistan off the hook.
This reflects an interesting pattern in the US media on Pakistan. Whenever named or unnamed US officials say anything positive about Pakistan, the next day another set of usually unnamed US officials are quoted as contradicting the earlier report.
In a similar turnaround, the Washington Post reported on Thursday that the UN nuclear watchdog is challenging US claims North Korea sold converted uranium to Libya. As issue is the source of uranium hexafluoride gas, which can be processed into material for a nuclear weapon that was recovered from Libya when it abandoned its nuclear programme.
Both the Post and New York Times reported on Wednesday the material had molecular "fingerprints" linking it to North Korea. But on Thursday the Post said that the IAEA, which conducted its own tests on the materials, did not reach the same finding and believes the evidence is inconclusive.
"In order to come to this conclusion, you need a sample from North Korea and no one has a uranium sample from North Korea," said one official investigating the network and Libya's former programmes.
The IAEA tests on the same container did not indicate the presence of plutonium, and the United States has not shared the results of its plutonium tests with the international agency. Moreover, the suspect container originated from Pakistan, officials said on Wednesday.
The Post said that claims by the Bush Administration that North Korea was the likely source of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) exported to Libya were based on evidence that could just as easily point to Pakistan.
The New York Times had reported on Wednesday that testing of isotopic traces of the UF6 obtained from Libya after the country declared it was giving up its nuclear programme pointed to North Korea as the source. The Washington Post reported the same day that traces of North Korean plutonium had been discovered in a canister obtained from Libya.
But on Thursday the Post wrote that the US did not report the results of its plutonium tests to the IAEA, and tests conducted by the international body on the canister using samples taken at the same time the US obtained its problematic samples last spring did not detect plutonium.
The paper said some US and IAEA inspectors believed that even if North Korea made the UF6 in question, it was unlikely that Pyongyang intended to sell it to Libya. It added that North Korea may have sold the material to Pakistan, which resold it to Libya.
Another theory is that North Korea sold raw uranium to Pakistan, where it was converted into UF6 and sold to Libya, the paper said. David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, would not rule out that the UF6 came from North Korea but told the Paper: "That has been a theory since last spring. What amazes me is why this is coming out again now."
