Myanmar abandons nuclear research

DHAKA: Myanmar has abandoned research on a nuclear programme that never progressed very far, and has stepped back from close military and political ties with North Korea, the Southeast Asian country’s defense minister said on Saturday.

News reports two years ago indicated Myanmar obtained technology for enriching uranium from North Korea along with parts for a nuclear weapons programme.

The reports were based on interviews with an army major who was involved in the program and defected with files he said documented the project.

‘We have already said very clearly it was not for defense, it was not for weapons, it was just research in the past’, the defense minister, Lieutenant General Hla Min, said at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual security forum in Singapore attended by senior regional civilian and military leaders.

BDST: 1723 HRS, JUN 2, 2012

Edited by Robab Rosan, Cultural Affairs Editor