Home > Israeli Businessman Sentenced in Plot to Ship Nuclear Detonation Devices
Israeli Businessman Sentenced in Plot to Ship Nuclear Detonation Devices
by Open-Publishing - Saturday 6 August 20051 comment
WASHINGTON (AP) - An Israeli businessman who conspired to ship controlled nuclear technology to Pakistan was sentenced to three years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina on Thursday imposed the sentence on Asher Karni, who pleaded guilty last year to helping ship devices that could be used to test, develop and detonate nuclear weapons.
Karni, who was based in South Africa, admitted routing sophisticated oscilloscopes and high-speed electrical switches through South Africa to avoid raising authorities’ suspicions. The scopes and the switches were then shipped to Pakistan.
A federal indictment is pending against Humayun A. Khan, a Pakistan businessman who the government says was Karni’s partner. Khan remains at large.
The United States prohibits the export of the switches - also known as "triggered spark gaps," which can be used in medical and military devices - to Pakistan and some other countries to prevent nuclear proliferation.
Karni was arrested on New Year’s Day 2004 as he entered the U.S. at Denver International Airport.
Forum posts
7 August 2005, 05:45
Not to forget that Israel maintained weapons for Iran till 2002! A Israeli freighter was also caught in Hamburg with spare parts for weapon systems for an Arab country.