Fired, but no charges: man accused of being nuclear whistleblower

[deminks]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/fired-but-no-charges-man-accused-of-being-nuclear-whistleblower-2060135.html

A British customs investigator who was accused of leaking classified information about an international nuclear smuggling ring to two US journalists has been dismissed from his job, despite being told that he will not face prosecution under the Official Secrets Act, it was announced yesterday.

Atif Amin, 41, claimed to have discovered evidence in 2000 that Abdul Qadeer Khan, a Pakistani scientist responsible for developing the country's nuclear arsenal, was involved in establishing Libya's nuclear programme. Mr Amin claimed that he told MI5 and the CIA of his concerns but, he said, they ignored his evidence and told him to drop his inquiries. The Libyan programme and its involvement with Mr Khan was not exposed and halted until 2003.

Mr Amin's claims were revealed in a 2007 book published in the US called America and the Islamic Bomb: The Deadly Compromise. Due to the confidential nature of the material in the book it was suspected Mr Amin had leaked the information to the book's authors, David Armstrong and Joseph Trento – something all three deny.

The book quoted from an official document which reported Mr Amin as telling colleagues: "They knew exactly what was going on all the time. If they'd wanted to, they could have blown the whistle on this long ago."

(end snip)

[truedelphi]

1. K & R Number Five.

Kickety-kick-kick.