Kuala Lumpur, April 06: Malaysia has outlawed the shipment through its waters of weapons of mass destruction which could end up in the hands of rogue states, reports said on Tuesday.
Activists say the country’s lack of export controls meant fugitive arms dealers were able to ship nuclear weapons to pariah states like North Korea and Iran, a charge the government denies.
But Malaysia will now control the shipment of military hardware through its waters and the “designing, development and production of WMD and its delivery”, law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz was quoted as saying by the Star daily.
The new law follows the government’s denial late last year of involvement in the illegal 2008 export of nuclear weapons to Iran although it confirmed the involvement of one of its nationals.
“The act also calls for the protection of Malaysian exporters from being used as a channel for providing strategic arms illegally,” Nazri added.
No new agency will be created to monitor the movement of “dual use” components — technology that can have military or commercial applications — manufactured in Malaysia, he told the New Straits Times newspaper.
An aide to the minister confirmed the reports but would not comment further.
Last November, the government admitted Malaysian Brian Kaam and Iranian Majid Seif, who lives in Malaysia, along with two local firms, were among eight people and eight companies charged in connection with the export of thousands of US strategic goods to Iran.
Kaam and Majid were named in a 13-count Justice Department indictment in September 2008 that included charges of conspiracy, violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the United States Iran Embargo.
It said the eight individuals had bought and then illegally exported dual use items to buyers in Iran.
–Agencies