Alleged German nuclear smuggler Gotthard Lerch has admitted playing a role in the illicit transfer of uranium enrichment components to Libya before the country halted its WMD programs in 2003, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, June 6).
(Oct. 10) -
A German exporter has admitted aiding the nuclear smuggling network once led by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan (above; Tanveer Mughal/Getty Images).
Lerch has been on trial since June in Stuttgart on charges of violating German trade and weapons laws. Prosecutors contend that the engineer worked within a “circle of trusted helpers” to former top Pakistani nuclear scientist and proliferator Abdul Qadeer Khan, who called on the group to deliver equipment to Libya starting in 1999.
Lerch "admitted having supported the production of … piping systems for a gas ultra centrifuge facility in South Africa," the Stuttgart state court said, adding in a statement that the International Atomic Energy Agency believes the site would have contributed to Libyan nuclear efforts.
The defendant confessed under a plea agreement that would prevent the court from handing down a prison sentence greater than six years. He could have faced as much as 15 years in prison.
The court is expected to issue a verdict next Thursday.
Lerch was first tried in 2006, but the case was scuttled due to the involvement of documents “about which the court knew nothing,” raising fairness concerns (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Oct. 9).