By DPA,
Kuala Lumpur : Malaysia has freed a Sri Lankan businessman who was jailed four years ago for allegedly supplying nuclear weapon components to Libya, a government minister said Monday.
Buhary Seyed Abu Tahir, who was alleged to have deceived a company partly owned by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s son to buy the components, was reported to have been released from detention June 6, the Star daily said.
The report quoted unidentified officials as saying that Tahir, who is married to a Malaysian and has three children, is required to report to police every week and would be re-arrested if he flouts the conditions.
Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar Monday confirmed the report, adding that Tahir was not considered a security threat.
Tahir’s alleged activity came to light when authorities found five Libya-bound containers of components related to uranium enrichment, in a ship owned by a German company in 2003.
The parts were in wooden boxes with the logo of Scomi Precision Engineering, or SCOPE, which was a subsidiary of a group in which Prime Minister Abdullah’s son Kamaluddin had a stake.
Malaysian investigations subsequently cleared SCOPE of any involvement in the procurement.
Police had said that Tahir had offered a contract to SCOPE for supplying the semi-finished products, which he assured then were not related to nuclear technology.