BERLIN, Sept 18: Three Swiss engineers accused of participating in a global nuclear smuggling ring are set to avoid further prison time, in part because they helped the CIA bust the network that was supplying Libya’s atomic weapons programme.

Prosecution documents released on Tuesday outline a plea bargain agreement under which Urs Tinner, 46, his brother Marco, 43, and their 74-year-old father, Friedrich, would accept the charges against them in return for prison terms that are shorter than the time they have already spent in investigative custody. The documents also shed light on the US intelligence agency's successful operation to destroy the alleged nuclear smuggling network of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the architect of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme.

Friedrich Tinner had longstanding contacts to Khan dating back to 1975, according to Swiss prosecutors. The two continued to do business — with Tinner supplying equipment and expertise for uranium enrichment to Khan.—AP