The Libyan plant was code-named Project Machine Shop 1001. Crates shipped to the project used false export documents to disguise the contents, but each was stamped with a tracking number to indicate where in the assembly process the contents were intended.
The operating instructions were drawn from videos of Khan's top-secret, government-owned enrichment plant in Pakistan, designs from that plant and instructions assembled by network participants in Dubai, according to documents and investigators.
Detailed instructions discovered in Libya specified the number of minutes required for each step in the enrichment process and the number of skilled technicians needed at each station in the plant.
Collections of photographs uncovered by investigators provided a surprisingly extensive inventory of machinery that had been shipped to Libya. Because export records and bills of lading routinely were falsified, photos were used as proof to guarantee final payments after delivery.
"They didn't trust each other and they didn't have proper documentation, so they took pictures to prove what they had sent," the senior investigator said.
Using shipping records and information from Libyan officials, investigators determined that much of the machinery had been shipped to Dubai. Once there, it was repackaged for shipment to Libya.
Some components were sent separately, according to investigators and documents.
For instance, two specialized lathes were purchased from a Spanish company without the computerized controls necessary to make precision centrifuge parts. Such computers would have alerted Spanish authorities.
Photos of the machinery shown to The Times indicate that computer controls were purchased separately and attached to the lathes in South Africa and Libya.
Tahir told Malaysian police that in late 1994 or early 1995 he delivered two suitcases containing about $3 million in cash to a Dubai apartment used by Khan.
The money was payment for two containers of centrifuge components sold to Iran. Investigators said far larger sums were sent to bank accounts in Dubai, Switzerland and other countries.
Investigators said that they believed other sensitive components of the Libyan enrichment plant had been manufactured, and that they were urgently trying to find them.
"Big quantities did not end up in Libya, and the question is, where are they?" said the senior investigator.
