A leaked MI5 document lists hundreds of organisations suspected of involvement in procuring goods and technology for weapons of mass destruction programmes in Asia and the Middle East, it was reported today.
The MI5 list included private companies, university departments and government organisations in eight countries, including the Pakistan High Commission in London, reported The Guardiannewspaper.
The document was compiled in a bid to prevent British companies inadvertently exporting sensitive goods or expertise to organisations which might be involved in WMD programmes overseas.
According to the newspaper, it says: "It is not suggested that the companies and organisations on the list have committed an offence under UK legislation.
"However, in addition to conducting non-proliferation related business, they have procured goods and/or technology for weapons of mass destruction programmes."
The 17-page document, entitled Companies and Organisations of Proliferation Concern, reportedly identifies 95 Pakistani organisations and government bodies as having assisted in the country's nuclear programme.
Some 114 Iranian organisations are named as having acquired nuclear, chemical, biological or missile technology.
Eleven Israeli organisations and 73 Indian bodies appear on the list, compiled two years ago, along with a private chemical company in Egypt and the Syrian atomic energy commission, which are both claimed to have procured technology for a nuclear weapons programme.
The document warns that the United Arab Emirates is a hub for the trade and cautions British companies to be wary of front companies operating in the Gulf state.
Some 24 private companies there are identified as having acquired WMD technology for Iran, Pakistan or India. Concerns are also raised that companies in Malta and Cyprus have been used as fronts for WMD programmes. Pakistan's deputy high commissioner Abdul Basit objected to his country's inclusion in the document.
He told The Guardian: "It is absolute rubbish for Pakistan to be included. We take exception to these links." And a spokesman for the UAE government said it had always worked "very closely" with the British authorities to prevent the spread of WMD.
Neither the Home Office nor the Foreign Office would this morning comment on the authenticity of the document, or its contents. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The UK continues to support efforts to prevent the spread of WMD. "We do this in a number of ways, including supporting multi-national non-proliferation treaties and conventions. "And we also support export control regimes aimed at countering WMD proliferation."