A.Q. Khan was the world's leading black market dealer in nuclear technology, described by a former CIA Director as "at least as dangerous as Osama bin Laden." A hero in Pakistan and revered as the Father of the Bomb, Khan built a global clandestine network that sold the most closely guarded nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea, and Libya. Here for the first time is the riveting inside story of the rise and fall of A.Q. Khan and his role in the devastating spread of nuclear technology over the last thirty years. Drawing on exclusive interviews with key players in Islamabad, London, and Washington, as well as with members of Khan's own network, BBC journalist Gordon Corera paints a truly unsettling picture of the ultimate arms bazaar. Corera reveals how Khan operated within a world of shadowy deals among rogue states and how his privileged position in Pakistan provided him with the protection to build his unique and deadly business empire. It explains why and how he was able to operate so freely for so many years. Brimming with revelations, the book provides new insight into Iran's nuclear ambitions and how close Tehran may be to the bomb. In addition, the book contains startling new information on how the CIA and MI6 penetrated Khan's network, how the U.S. and UK ultimately broke Khan's ring, and how they persuaded Pakistan's President Musharraf to arrest a national hero. The book also provides the first detailed account of the high-wire dealings with Muammar Gadaffi, which led to Libya's renunciation of nuclear weapons and which played a key role in Khan's downfall.The spread of nuclear weapons technology around the globe presents the greatest security challenge of our time. Shopping for Bombs presents a unique window into the challenges of stopping a new nuclear arms race, a race that A.Q. Khan himself did more than any other individual to promote.
Author(s): Gordon Corera
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 305
0195304950......Page 1
Contents......Page 8
Taranto—October 2003......Page 10
Introduction......Page 12
Part 1 RISE......Page 18
CHAPTER 1 Roots......Page 20
CHAPTER 2 The Bomb......Page 50
Natanz—February 2003......Page 74
CHAPTER 3 Iran—From Import to Export......Page 76
Chagai Hills—May 1998......Page 99
CHAPTER 4 North Korea—Pyongyang and Back......Page 103
Jordan—August 1995......Page 120
CHAPTER 5 The Network Expands—The Libya Deal......Page 123
Part 2 FALL......Page 144
CHAPTER 6 Picking up the Trail......Page 146
Washington, DC—September 2001......Page 169
CHAPTER 7 Watching......Page 172
London—March 2003......Page 191
CHAPTER 8 Dealing with Gadaffi......Page 193
New York—September 2003......Page 212
CHAPTER 9 Confronting Musharraf—Dealing with Khan......Page 213
Kuala Lumpur—November 2003......Page 234
CHAPTER 10 Unraveling the Network......Page 236
EPILOGUE The Spread......Page 258
Notes......Page 270
Acknowledgments......Page 292
A......Page 294
B......Page 295
E......Page 296
I......Page 297
K......Page 298
M......Page 300
N......Page 301
P......Page 302
S......Page 303
U......Page 304
Z......Page 305
