U.S. suspects Pakistan nukes ended in Syria

The United States is concerned that centrifuges sold to North Korea by Pakistan in the 1990s may have been passed on to Syria or another country, current and former U.S. officials said yesterday.

Pakistan has acknowledged that renegade scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan sold North Korea the centrifuges, which the United States suspects were intended for use to enrich uranium for a clandestine nuclear-weapons program.

But Pyongyang, which has never admitted to having a uranium-based program, has told U.S. officials that it does not possess the centrifuges, raising doubts whether North Korea will be truthful when it declares its nuclear programs, probably in the next few days.

Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. negotiator with the North, suggested yesterday that the centrifuges may have been transferred elsewhere. Speaking in Seoul about the uranium program, he referred to "past programs" and the "disposition of equipment."

"We need a complete understanding of [highly enriched uranium], of their program — or if it is not an active program, we need a complete understanding of its past programs," Mr. Hill said. "We need an acknowledgement of what went on, an explanation of how it went on, and the disposition of equipment." More...