Pakistani nuke program used Japanese parts

TOKYO, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Abdul Qadeer Khan, the scientist behind Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, bought some of his key equipment in Japan, Kyodo News Service reported Tuesday.

Western Trading, an import-export company in Tokyo that went bankrupt in 2004, played an integral part in Khan's acquisitions, working with a now-dead Pakistani importer, Mian Mohammad Farooq, Kyodo said.

Khan told the news service in a written response to questions that Japan, like a number of other countries, was "a very, very important country for our imports."

Pakistan began its nuclear program after India held a nuclear test in 1974. Khan, known as "the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb," was put in charge in 1976, while a separate agency worked on developing a plutonium bomb.

Khan not only helped made Pakistan a nuclear-armed country, he shared technology with Iran, Libya and North Korea. He was recently released from house arrest.