JOHANNESBURG, Feb 12: Washington has sent investigators to South Africa, a former atomic power, to probe a possible link to an illicit network in nuclear technology following the arrest of a Cape Town man in the United States.

South African police said on Thursday Washington had asked for their help in investigating possible associates of Asher Karni, a former Israeli army official accused by the US government of conspiring to export 200 US-made nuclear weapons detonators to Pakistan via South Africa.

Confirmation of the probe came a day after US President George Bush called for an intensive global effort to stop a nuclear black market and referred to "procurement agents" in Africa.

Diplomats have named South Africa, which voluntarily dismantled its nuclear weapons capability when white minority rule ended in 1994, as a possible link in a global "nuclear supermarket". They say several South African scientists are believed to have provided their technical expertise without government knowledge.

US federal agents arrested Asher Karni, 50, who has lived in South Africa for the last 18 years, when he arrived at Denver International Airport on Jan 1. He was released on bail last month but placed in home detention in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Prosecutors say Mr Karni, using an American broker, acquired nuclear triggering devices from their manufacturer in the United States after falsely representing they were destined for a South African hospital.

Agents from the FBI and the US Customs Service have since reinforced their offices in South Africa as they investigate a possible wider criminal web. "The Americans have asked us to help them with investigations," South African police spokeswoman Mary Martins-Engelbrecht said, adding that police were ready to assist in raiding and searching suspected premises.

IAEA PROBES NETWORK: US Justice Department official Channing Phillips said US authorities had reason to believe Mr Karni had other associates.

"If you look at the (charge) documents you will see the link between his domicile there with what he is alleged to have done and why we are really interested in his associations there in South Africa," he said.

Asher Karni's case has only added to South Africa's growing image as a magnet for international crime syndicates taking advantage of its world-class infrastructure and Third World law enforcement capabilities.

The activities of international syndicates from Israel, China, Nigeria, Bulgaria, Pakistan and India, dealing in everything from drugs and gold to human organs, are regularly headlined in South African newspapers.

"What you've got is a highly developed country - infrastructure, banking, communications, transport. You can fly in and out on 50 plus different flights a day," said Keith Campbell of Pretoria-based Executive Research Associates.

"You've got all those positive things and then you've got... a weak state enforcement system...immigration controls are weak, law enforcement is overwhelmed, the justice system is overwhelmed," Mr Campbell said. -Reuters