Pakistan Denies It Tried to Import A-Arms Steel

The Pakistan government Thursday denied that it tried to import from an American company a type of steel used for making nuclear weapons and expressed concern that the issue would hurt ties with the United States.

“Neither the government of Pakistan nor any of its agencies sponsored any violation of the export laws of the United States,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

The spokesman, who cannot be identified under government rules, dismissed as baseless an allegation by Rep. Stephen J. Solarz, (D-N.Y.), that Pakistan flouted U.S. laws and tried to export steel used in the enrichment of weapons-grade uranium.

Western intelligence agencies say Pakistan is going ahead with a program to develop a nuclear device. Islamabad denies it.

The issue surfaced again with the July 10 arrest in Philadelphia of Arshad Z. Pervez, a Canadian resident of Pakistani origin. He was charged with bribing a U.S. Commerce Department official to obtain a license to export 25 tons of maraging 350 steel, as the alloy is called.

The State Department on Wednesday summoned Pakistani Ambassador K.A. Marker to explain Islamabad’s involvement in the alleged plan to buy the steel, in violation of export laws.

Details of the meeting between Marker and Under Secretary of State Michael H. Armacost were not disclosed.

“We cannot, and will not tolerate any clandestine, any illegal efforts to circumvent our export control laws,” said department spokesman Charles Redman. He said the incident still is under investigation.

Pakistani agents have been trying for at least two years in Europe and the United States to buy maraging steel. Because it resists corrosion and bending, it is used in high-speed centrifuges designed to produce weapons grade uranium, according to court papers in Philadelphia.

Solarz issued a statement Tuesday that said, “It now appears that Pakistan, despite repeated American warnings of both an official and unofficial nature, has attempted to export such materials from the United States.”

The Pakistani official said Islamabad “regrets and resents such brazen . . . propaganda.”