Burma has rejected a suggestion by a senior US congressional adviser that it might be seeking nuclear technology from North Korea. Keith Luse warned that the US should pay special attention to what he called a growing relationship between the two.
Let’s see, Burma and North Korea are both dirt poor dictatorships run by incompetent Generals for decades, and both are allies of few countries other than China. Also, Pakistan sent several nuclear scientists to Burma after the reports of meetings between them and Osama Bin Ladin were reported in the media. Not that I expect Burma to actually have a nuclear program, but it can’t be automatically ruled out either.
He was part of a US delegation that visited North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear plant in January. In a statement, the Burmese government said it did not require nor want to develop weapons of mass destruction. Mr Luse, who works for Senator Richard Lugar, the chairman of the US Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, did not give any details about alleged contact between Burma and North Korea. During a speech in Washington he said that the relationship needed to be monitored and he asked the open question: "Is North Korea providing nuclear technology to the Burma military?" Russia agreed to help Burma build a nuclear reactor for research purposes in 2002, though it is not clear how far the project has advanced. |