Abdullah was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying he would "not interfere" in the probe of Scomi Precision Engineering Sdn. Bhd. (SCOPE), which allegedly supplied centrifuge components for Libya's uranium-enrichment programme.

SCOPE is a unit of listed oil and gas firm Scomi Group, in which the premier's son, Kamaluddin Abdullah, is the biggest shareholder.

"I have directed the police to carry out the investigations without fear or favour," Abdullah said.

He noted that the components produced by SCOPE were "generic" and could be used for a multitude of non-nuclear purposes.

Abdullah said he was not worried about Malaysia being linked to an international black-market nuclear weapons proliferation syndicate exposed by the admission of Pakistan's top nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, that he transferred know-how to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

"If we know the truth, we should not be worried. I hope that the investigations will reveal the truth. The police are working with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," he added.

The premier said he did not know whether reports that Khan had visited Malaysia were true but had ordered police to investigate.

Scomi, which has said it was never told of the end-use of the components, on Friday invited the media to visit its factory in central Selangor state.

The company has said the contract to manufacture 14 semi-finished components for Gulf Technical Industries LLC (GTI) in Dubai was arranged by Dubai-based Sri Lankan businessman B.S.A. Tahir in 2001.

It said the last consigmnent was shipped in August last year and there had been no order since.

Police late Wednesday said they had launched a probe after US and British intelligence services told them last November about SCOPE's role and identified Tahir as the middleman.

The intelligence revealed that five containers allegedly containing centrifuge components were seized from a ship, BBC China, in Taranto, Italy, on October 4.

Police said Tahir and SCOPE were "co-operating fully" in the probe and denied reports that Tahir was in custody.

The New Straits Times quoted intelligence agency sources as saying that the owner of GTI, which ordered the components from SCOPE, was a British citizen named Peter Griffin.

Raw materials for the components were sourced in Singapore from a subsidiary of a German company called Bikar Metalle Germany, the sources said.

They said US, British and Malaysian intelligence services and the IAEA were investigating the two links.

WAR.WIRE