5 Men Indicted In United States For Aiding Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons Programme

Five men have been indicted in the United States for allegedly running an international network that procured US goods for Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, reports Hindustantimes.

They were purchasing US products for Pakistan’s Advanced Engineering Research Organisation and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and attempted to conceal the true destination by using a front company called “Business World” in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Assistant attorney general John Demers said in a statement said, “The defendants smuggled US origin goods to entities that have been designated for years as threats to US national security for their ties to Pakistan’s weapons programs.”

All the five men who have been indicted are living outside the United States and have not been apprehended. These men were indicted by a grand jury in October and the Justice Department unsealed their indictment on Wednesday (15 January). Notably, the arrest warrants are pending.

The defendants been identified as Muhammad Kamran Wali from Pakistan, Muhammad Ahsan Wali and Haji Wali Muhammad Sheikh from Canada, Ashraf Khan Muhammad from Hong Kong, and Ahmed Waheed, 52 from England.

They have been charged with conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Export Control Reform Act.