Moreover, he said, there were numerous reports, all unconfirmed so far, of the sale or theft of fissionable materials or nuclear weapons from the old Soviet arsenal.
Mr. Bout, 45, was also found guilty of conspiring to acquire and export surface-to-air antiaircraft missiles, and of conspiring to provide material support or weapons to a foreign terrorist organization.
"It's one of the things that we're concerned about -- nuclear materials or weapons-related information falling into the hands of terrorists or states who harbor them -- irrespective of what country we're talking about," a State Department official said Monday.
In fact, I know that Israel did not: Israel neither offered and passed along nuclear weapons (and materials) nor weapons designs to the South Africans.
Now we are worried that Russia's financial trouble may lead to leaks of radioactive material or nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands.
The message we're sending here, consistent with what I said earlier about our overall approach, is that for you to assist a terrorist organization to obtain nuclear material or nuclear weapons, or for you to as a state to actively pursue a proliferation agenda is one that will leave you outside of our negative assurances.
"The plane's cargo was documented in detail on the bill of lading and the plane did not carry any illegal material or any weapons," the ministry said, urging Erdogan to "show the equipment and ammunition at least to his people".
Mr. Aziz also mocked top American officials for their insistence on a United Nations inspection mandate that would give immediate, unhindered access to eight of Mr. Hussein's palaces, saying inspections in 1998 had covered "each and every corner" of the palaces and found no trace of any forbidden weapons or weapons materials.
It concluded that the chances of a deliberate transfer of nuclear material or a weapon from Pakistan to a terror group was very low.
