CIA to quiz North Korean diplomat on Pak nuke programme

Senior North Korean diplomat Chang Sung-Il, who recently defected to the United States, is expected to be questioned by the Central Intelligence Agency about his country's ''secret co-operation'' with Pakistan's nuclear programme.

The interrogation is likely to revolve around the Communist regime's alleged pact with Pakistan to buy from Russia a special metal called maraging steel, reports the Washington Times.

The CIA believes the metal was meant to be sent to the Kahuta Research Laboratories, the suspected hub of Pakistan's nuclear weapons development programme, the newspaper said.

The Pakistan effort to obtain the steel, which can be used in both nuclear weapons production equipment and missile warheads, involves the Korea Mining Development Trading Bureau, the daily added.

UNI