swissinfo - US frustrates Swiss probe into nuclear smuggling.

swissinfo - US frustrates Swiss probe into nuclear smuggling.: "A Swiss investigation into an international nuclear smuggling network is being hampered by a lack of cooperation from the United States.

The Swiss authorities say they asked US officials for judicial assistance a year ago but have yet to receive a reply.



'We are confident we will get an answer because it is in the best interests not only of Switzerland but also the United States that the criminal investigation led by the Swiss authorities in this difficult matter of nuclear proliferation can be carried out successfully,' Hansjürg Mark Wiedmer, spokesman for the Federal Prosecutor's Office, told swissinfo.

Washington's failure to respond to 'multiple' Swiss appeals was revealed last week by former United Nations weapons inspector David Albright.

He told a US hearing into the nuclear trafficking ring run by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's atom bomb, that he found the lack of cooperation by the US 'frankly embarrassing'.

'It is difficult to understand the actions of the US government. Its lack of assistance needlessly complicates this important investigation,' said Albright, who is president of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security."