Engineer gets prison for aiding Libya

STUTTGART, Germany, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- A German engineer has received a prison term for helping Libya build a uranium enrichment plant in return for millions of dollars.

A judge in Stuttgart imposed a 5 1/2-year sentence on Gotthard Lerch, The New York Times reported. Lerch, 65, admitted violating German laws on the export of nuclear technology.

Libya allegedly paid Lerch almost $5 million between 1999 and 2003, Med Basin News Line reported. Investigators said that he was part of a ring of scientists and engineers led by Abdul Qadeer Khan of Pakistan, who allegedly assisted the nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea.

Libya abandoned its nuclear program in 2003.