Hey, we can work with and negotiate with the Taliban, right?

Gertz:

Pakistani nuclear scientist videotaped speaking at pro-Taliban seminar

U.S. intelligence agencies recently detected a known Pakistani nuclear scientist working with Islamist Taliban militants, raising new fears of Al Qaida’s nuclear arms quest.

U.S. intelligence reports from November disclosed that Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, a Pakistani nuclear scientist included on the State Department’s “List of Individuals Belonging to or Associated with the Taliban,” recently was spotted on a private Pakistani TV station speaking at a pro-Taliban Pakistani group’s rally.

Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood.

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Mahmood, was videotaped seated in front of a banner of the pro-Taliban Pakistani group Tanzeem-e-Islami, on Dawn News TV Nov. 2.

Mahmood was seen talking to a correspondent with a large banner in the background reading: “Problems Facing Pakistan and Their Solutions; Tanzeem-e-Islami North Punjab Circle.” The banner suggested that Mahmood was a participant at the event — apparently a seminar on this topic. The interview appeared to be in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

Mahmood was converted to Islamist extremism through the influence of the late Israr Ahmad, founder of Tanzeem-e-Islami. Mahmood’s strong affiliation with the group and his extremist leanings cost him his career and he resigned as the director general of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in 1999.

In the interview, Mahmood did not comment on proliferation charges against Pakistan’s nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan and himself as well as the episode of his detention and interrogation in October 2001.

Mahmood was asked but was quoted as saying “I would not like to say anything” on the nuclear proliferation. He claimed he was not familiar with “whatever happened” to Khan, whose network sold nuclear goods to North Korea, Iran and Libya for their weapons programs.

U.S. intelligence agencies have tracked Mahmood’s appearances on Pakistani media several times between 2001 and 2010.

Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood is a former director general of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), a position he held from 1996 to 1999. He was among the pioneers of Pakistan’s nuclear program and served in key positions.

Mahmood wrote several books on the relationship between Islam and science. The late Israr Ahmad wrote the preface to Mahmood’s book, “Doomsday and Life After Death”. The book reportedly leads up to “Doomsday”.

Mahmood was interrogated by U.S. and Pakistani investigators along with another colleague, Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, regarding their ties to Osama Bin Laden and plans to help Al Qaida build a nuclear bomb.

Mahmood and Abdul Majeed were arrested on Oct 23, 2001, at the call of the United States. They were released after the Pakistani military insisted the charges of nuclear proliferation against the two scientists were not proved.

Al Qaida’s nuclear program was uncovered in documents recovered from U.S. forces in Afghanistan after the October 2001 invasion.

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