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Sunday, December 12, 2010
Burma's nuclear plans exposed by WikiLeaks
The Australian weekend news
BURMA is believed to be building a secret nuclear program with the help of North Korea, in a move that could pose a major threat to regional stability.
Classified US government documents released by WikiLeaks disclose a series of suspicious events in Burma since 2004 that indicate a clandestine joint military program with the maverick nuclear-armed North Korean regime.
The documents reveal that the US embassy in Canberra was told in November last year "something is certainly happening" in relation to military and possibly nuclear co-operation between the two dictatorships.
One cable refers to Australia's ambassador to Burma, Michelle Chan, trying to verify the accuracy of a report she received that the regimes of Kim Jong-il and Than Shwe were "engaged in peaceful nuclear co-operation". Another cable said that a source in the Burmese military government had said General Shwe had visited North Korea in 2008.
The disclosures have fuelled fears that North Korea is providing direct technical and physical assistance to Burma's military regime to help it develop a nuclear weapons program that could alter the balance of power in the region.
They will intensify international condemnation of Pyongyang, which has been accused of selling nuclear technology to Iran and this year torpedoed a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors.
Last month, it launched an artillery barrage on a South Korean island, killing four people.
A spokesman for Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the government shared international concerns about Burmese authorities taking steps towards the development of a nuclear weapons capability, and urged Rangoon to abide by its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The US cables report the construction of suspicious underground military facilities alongside the construction of an unusually large airstrip, as well as suspected shipments of uranium from Burma to China.
A 2004 classified US cable reports: "North Korean workers are reportedly assembling surface-to-air missiles and constructing an underground facility at a Burmese military site about 315 miles (500km) north-northwest of Rangoon. Some 300 North Koreans are working on (the) secret construction site.
"The North Koreans, aided by Burmese workers, are constructing a concrete-reinforced underground facility that is 500 foot (152m) from the top of the cave to the top of the hill above."
Buildings for 20 Burmese army battalions were being built next to the secret site. The US said the report of these facilities could not be confirmed beyond doubt, but it "generally tracks with other information" the US embassy in Rangoon and others had reported "in various channels".
For years, the West has been suspicious about the nature of North Korea's military links with the repressive regime in Burma and the role played by China, an ally of both. Burma recently held elections that reinforced the power of the military junta but were widely discredited as rigged.
In 2006, The Australian broke the news that Burma's military junta had attempted to buy nuclear weapons technology from North Korea.
In July this year, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "We continue to be concerned by the reports that Burma may be seeking assistance from North Korea with regard to a nuclear program."
Burma has repeatedly denied it is involved in a nuclear program with North Korea.
A 2004 US cable reports that unusually large shipments of reinforced steel were observed being shipped in barges to the area of the suspected underground facility.
The cable noted that there was a new airport built near Minbu with a landing strip that, based on its length and thickness, seemed "excessive".
It concludes that "rumours of ongoing construction of a nuclear reactor are surprisingly consistent, and observations of activity such as that described above appear to be increasing, as are alleged sightings of North Korean technicians inside Burma".
A 2008 cable revealed a suspicious attempt by a Burmese man to sell non-fissile uranium 238 to US officials. He claimed he could obtain "up to 2000kg of uranium-bearing rock" from a remote location in the country.
This episode led the US diplomats to conclude that "Burmese-North Korean co-operation remains opaque".
"Something is certainly happening; whether that something includes nukes is a very open question, which remains a very high priority for embassy reporting."
Another US cable in 2007 reveals concerns that Burma is exporting uranium to China.
The cable describes the "suspicious" behaviour of authorities when handling a shipment of mixed ore from Burma to China via Singapore in January that year.
"Embassy contacts noticed that authorities treated the shipment as highly sensitive, and suspect it may have included uranium."Rest of your post
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