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Link with Iraq propels Indian firm into notoriety

Shyam Bhatia in London

The Indian firm singled out for allegedly assisting Iraq President Saddam Hussein's clandestine procurement of weapons of mass destruction has been under investigation since earlier this year.

New Delhi-based NEC Engineering Private Limited has been named in the British government's Iraq dossier as having helped to provide a key ingredient in the production of solid propellant rocket motors.

NEC is the only foreign company named in the dossier, which warns that Saddam has made remarkable progress in producing chemical, biological, and nuclear (CBN) weapons that could threaten British and Western interests.

The dossier says CBN warheads mounted on Iraqi rockets could soon reach British sovereign bases in Cyprus as well as the territories of London's North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies Greece and Turkey.

NEC's alleged role in this has been to help Iraq produce ammonium perchlorate, a key ingredient in the solid rocket propellant that Baghdad has been turning out at a plant at al-Mamoun.

Knowledgeable sources in London, speaking on condition of anonymity, said NEC general manager Rajiv Dhir was arrested last June and charged with shipping banned materials to Iraq.

His company has also been accused of deliberately mislabelling materials intended for Iraq that included uranium powder, vacuum pumps, and titanium vessels.

After Dhir's arrest, the Indian government issued a nationwide customs alert to intercept any other banned items intended for Iraq.

Dhir's lawyer has since admitted to the authorities in New Delhi that his client's company was involved in exporting equipment to Iraq, but insisted that none of the material was for military use.

In response to questions about the allegations contained in the British government's dossier, a spokesman for the Indian high commission in London said any activities that violate India's export control laws are thoroughly investigated and action is taken against the company concerned.

"As far as NEC is concerned, there has been a certain investigation and as the matter is sub judice, we cannot comment," the spokesman added.

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