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The director-general of the state-run Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research, Ahmad Sobri Hashim, said the country lacked the capacity to fulfil the obligations of the protocol, the paper reported.
The protocol covers the import or export of items including centrifuge parts which can be used for enriching uranium -- such as those which were the centre of a controversy involving a company owned by the son of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
The company, Scomi Precision Engineering (SCOPE), admits manufacturing parts seized on a ship bound for Libya but says it had been misled about their destination and believed they were for use in the oil and gas industry.
Malaysian police cleared the company of any wrongdoing and the government last week lodged an official protest over remarks by President George W. Bush linking the country to the nuclear weapons black market.
Envoy Robert Pollard was called to the foreign ministry and handed a note in which Malaysia said it was "offended that it has been unfairly and deliberately targeted by President Bush".
Asked to comment on the protest, US embassy spokesman Frank Whitaker told AFP: "I can tell you that we are encouraging Malaysia to take the necessary steps to bring its export control in line with international standards.
"We believe this would prevent future proliferation activities."
Malaysia is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, which governs the movement of materials such as uranium which can be used to make atomic bombs, but has not signed the additional protocol covering nuclear related parts.
Ahmad Sobri said components such as centrifuge parts could have multiple uses and it was often difficult even for experts to tell if they were meant for nuclear weapons development.
"If trained nuclear scientists find it difficult to identify, how much more for frontliners like customs officials? At the moment we lack the capacity at that level," he said.
Prime Minister Abdullah on Tuesday brushed off suggestions in a Newsweek report that the United States might impose sanctions over the local company's role.
"I don't think the US will go to that extent of imposing sanctions because of this one small incident," Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told a news conference.
US officials have clarified that when Bush referred to the Malaysian factory in a major anti-proliferation speech recently, he did not suggest that the government was involved in the nuclear black market.
WAR.WIRE |