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Uranium that arrived at UK’s Heathrow not from Pakistan: Official | News

A Pakistani official denied British media reports after a package containing radioactive metal was discovered last month.

Islamabad, Pakistan – Islamabad has denied in the British media that a shipment of uranium, which arrived at London’s Heathrow airport in December, originated in Pakistan.

Newspapers including The Sun, a tabloid, and the Guardian issued the statement, as well as Sky News, a broadcaster.

“No information regarding this matter has been officially shared with us. We are confident that the reports are not true,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, a spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign ministry, told Al Jazeera on Thursday.

However, another government official told Al Jazeera, who spoke on condition of anonymity, that there was a sense of fear that the incident could “unwarrantly” affect Pakistan’s reputation.

Earlier this week, the London Metropolitan Police force confirmed that after routine cargo checks, a package containing “a very small amount of contaminated material” had been determined to have arrived in the UK. . Anti-terror police are investigating the incident.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office told Al Jazeera in a statement that there was no threat to public safety. “We do not comment on direct investigations. But operationally, we are not currently assessing that this poses any threat to the public,” the office said.

According to reports, uranium was embedded in metal rods in a package that arrived in London via Muscat, on an Oman Air commercial flight.

Uranium is a rare radioactive metal commonly used as a fuel for nuclear energy, including in reactors, submarines, power plants, and weapons.

An Islamabad-based security analyst, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said if the investigation found the package had originated in Pakistan, it would indicate negligence. serious in this country.

“The discovery of metal rods contaminated with ‘small amounts’ of uranium at London’s Heathrow Airport is very concerning. If the provenance of these metal rods is correct, it means that the radioactive rods have passed multiple scans and security checks at a Pakistani airport,” the analyst said.

For a detailed investigation, the identity of the sender can easily be traced if the UK authorities share relevant information with the Pakistani side.

The Sun, which first reported the story, claimed the package was “intended for Iranian citizens in [the] UK”.

Richard Smith, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter-Terrorism Command, said on Wednesday: “Part of the cargo has been identified as emitting a radioactive signal.”

“The number of documents we are talking about is very small and no threat to public health or public safety has been identified.”



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