A second trial began yesterday for alleged German nuclear smuggler Gotthard Lerch, whom authorities have accused of helping Libya acquire uranium enrichment technology through an illicit supply network led by former to Pakistani nuclear official Abdul Qadeer Khan, the German news agency ddp reported (see GSN, Nov. 17, 2007).
The network was exposed when a shipment of enrichment equipment was intercepted enroute to Libya. The subsequent investigation fingered the 65-year-old Lerch as working with a South African colleague to acquire the highly specialized tubing needed for uranium enrichment centrifuges, ddp reported.
Lerch was first tried in Mannheim, Germany, but a judge ended the proceedings after find that documents had been mishandled. Yesterday's court action opened in Stuttgart, but Lerch's attorney's have asked for the proceedings to return to Mannheim, according to ddp (ddp news agency/BBC Monitoring, June 6).