Rogue Groups May Possess Advanced Nuclear Weapon Blueprints

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - An international smuggling ring may have secretly distributed the electronic blueprints for an advanced nuclear weapon to rogue nations and groups, reports said on Sunday.

American and international investigators are speculating that the blueprints found on computers of the rogue Pakistani scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, may have been shared with Iran, North Korea and other rogue countries.

A former U.N. arms inspector David Albright, who investigated the nuclear smuggling network previously run by Khan, said in a report due to be released later this week that he had found the drawings in 2006.

His report suggested that the plans may have been sold to rogue regimes, according to the Washington Post, which acquired a copy of the inspector's draft report.

"These advanced nuclear weapons designs may have long ago been sold off to some of the most treacherous regimes in the world," the Post quotes him saying in his report.

The soon-to-be published report said the plans included essential details for building a compact nuclear device, which could be fitted on a type of ballistic missile used by Iran and more than a dozen developing countries.

The experts said if a rogue nation or group acquires bomb design, it would significantly improve their chances of creating a dangerous weapon as well as reduce the time period to build the weapon.

The blueprints reportedly resemble a nuclear weapon that was built and tested by the government of Pakistan, which the authorities have denied when confronted by officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last year.

A. Q. Khan was placed under house arrest since 2004 and have been lobbying to be released since last few months.

The computers, which were owned by a Swiss businessmen, contained more than 1,000 gigabytes of data that was recently destroyed by Swiss authorities under the supervision of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, IAEA.