Case Reveals Nuts and Bolts of Nuclear Network, Officials Say
As they race to dismantle a global black market in nuclear weapons components, U.S. authorities are focusing on an unusual case: an Orthodox Jew from Israel accused of trying to sell nuclear weapons parts to a business associate in Islamic Pakistan. Asher Karni, 50, currently a resident of South Africa, was arrested at Denver’s international airport as he arrived with his wife and daughter for a New Year’s ski vacation. Friends and family have been pressing for his release, describing him as a hard-working electronics salesman just trying to earn a living. However, federal authorities contend that Karni is something more: a veteran player in an underground network of traffickers in parts, technology and know-how for the clandestine nuclear weapons programs of foreign governments. Full Story