KUALA LUMPUR: Sri Lankan businessman Buhary Seyed Abu (B.S.A.) Tahir, who was arrested under the Internal Security Act for allegedly deceiving Malaysian company Scomi Precision Engineering Sdn Bhd (Scope) into manufacturing a component believed to be for nuclear weapons, has been released.
It is learnt that Tahir, who is a Malaysian permanent resident, was released with conditions on June 6.
Sources said Tahir, who is married to a local and has three children, is required to report to the police weekly and would be re-arrested if he flouts the conditions.
They said he is also not allowed to leave his house after 9.30pm without getting prior approval from the authorities.
The sources added that Tahir was released as he no longer posed a threat to national security.
Tahir was arrested on May 28, 2004.
On Oct 4, 2003, a ship owned by a German company was examined at the port of Taranto, Italy, and five Libya-bound containers believed to contain components related to the Libyan uranium enrichment programme were seized.
The components were packed in wooden boxes with the Scope logo. Italian authorities then contacted Malaysian police for assistance.
However, investigations cleared Scomi.
The then Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Bakri Omar had said investigations revealed that Tahir had in 2001 offered a contract to Scomi for the completion of semi-finished products after assuring them it was a legitimate deal.
Scomi said in a statement it had shipped 14 semi-finished components to Dubai-based Gulf Technical Industries (GTI) LLC in four consignments from December 2002.
The end-use of these components, worth RM13mil, were never disclosed to Scope by GTI, it said.