Friedrich Tinner, also known as Fred Tinner; Born 1937, is a Swiss nuclear engineer and a long-associated friend of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan

Abdul Qadeer Khan

Abdul Qadeer Khan , also known in Pakistan as Mohsin-e-Pakistan , D.Eng, Sc.D, HI, NI , FPAS; more widely known as Dr. A. Q...

— Pakistan's former top scientist— and connected with the Khan nuclear network trafficking in the proliferation of nuclear materials and centrifuge

Gas centrifuge

A gas centrifuge is a device that performs isotope separation of gases. A centrifuge relies on the principles of centripetal force accelerating molecules so that particles of different masses are physically separated in a gradient along the radius of a rotating container.A prominent use of gas...

 designs to Iran, Libya, and North Korea

North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

. In 2006, Tinner was revealed by the IAEA's investigators as the foreign director and technical head of the Libyan nuclear program. In Libya, Tinner ran the illicit nuclear experiments, using the expertise and technical information he received from his friend dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, in behalf of Libyan nuclear program. According to Khan, Tinner was the former researcher of the Kahuta Research Laboratories during 1970s, where he worked there as a research scientist under the supervision of Dr. A.Q. Khan. Tinner is known and has been connected in particular with gas centrifuge

Gas centrifuge

A gas centrifuge is a device that performs isotope separation of gases. A centrifuge relies on the principles of centripetal force accelerating molecules so that particles of different masses are physically separated in a gradient along the radius of a rotating container.A prominent use of gas...

 technology used for isotopic enrichment of uranium.

Education

Friedrich Tinner was born in Bern, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, in 1937 to a Swiss family. He received his early and intermediate education there at Bern where he studied science and per-mathematical courses at a local school. In 1961, Tinner went to Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 to attend a technical university to study engineering and attended Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...

. During this time, Abdul Qadeer Khan

Abdul Qadeer Khan

Abdul Qadeer Khan , also known in Pakistan as Mohsin-e-Pakistan , D.Eng, Sc.D, HI, NI , FPAS; more widely known as Dr. A. Q...

 was also studying for his master's degree in engineering. It was Tinner's college life when he met with Khan and befriended with him in short time. Tinner and Khan studied at Leuven and stayed in a same dorm room. Tinner received his master of science in Nuclear engineering

Nuclear engineering

Nuclear engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of the breakdown as well as the fusion of atomic nuclei and/or the application of other sub-atomic physics, based on the principles of nuclear physics...

 and took an government assignment in Vienna. Even after Khan moved to Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 as he joined the URENCO Group, Tinner continued his close association with Khan. After his college years, Tinner went on to work for International Atomic Energy Agency

International Atomic Energy Agency

The International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957...

 (IAEA) and was made responsible for uranium reactor for the purpose of power generation. Throughout this time, Tinner kept close contact with Dr. A. Q. Khan.

Nuclear Proliferation

There are many controversial media and intelligence reports that Friedrich Tinner and his sons Urs and Marco Tinner, have lived in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 for a long time, where they have worked for Khan Labs as research associates under the supervision of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan

Abdul Qadeer Khan

Abdul Qadeer Khan , also known in Pakistan as Mohsin-e-Pakistan , D.Eng, Sc.D, HI, NI , FPAS; more widely known as Dr. A. Q...

. According to the New York Times, Tinner had a long and close relationship with Dr. A.Q. Khan. Tinner and Dr. Khan were college friends in Belgium where they studied together. Tinner, who were working at International Atomic Energy Agency

International Atomic Energy Agency

The International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957...

 as a uranium expert in 1980s, resigned from his job and moved to Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, along with his family, where he joined Dr. Khan's KRL in early 1980s. The Swiss news agency also reported that Tinner had been working with Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan in mid-1970s, using his expertise in vacuum technology to develop atomic centrifuges.

However, Khan maintained that Khan first met with Tinner in 1976 when Khan and Tinner were placing sensitive projects for the Vakuum-Apparate-Technik (VTA) (English: Vacuum Apparatus Technology). A competent nuclear engineer, Tinner left VTA and traveled to Pakistan quite often as he was employed at Khan's Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL). Tinner resides with Khan and his family where, at ERL, Tinner performed experiments under Khan's supervision. However, in 1980s, Tinner left for Libya and was invited by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi

Muammar Gaddafi

Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...

 to join and head the Libyan nuclear program. From 1980s till 1989, Tinner tried to maintain the Libyan nuclear program and performed illicit and illegal experiments. However, Tinner again left for Pakistan and the program was dismantled. In 1995, Tinner again returned to Libya with the documentation provided by Khan. Following his return, Tinner became technical directorate officer of Libyan nuclear program, using Khan's expertise to developed the centrifuges. However, due to Libya's academic progress and lack of technicians, the program could not prevailed and suffered many sat backs. In 2000, Khan provided sensitive centrifuge designs to Tinner on gas-centrifuge method. But due to its complexity and difficulty, Tinner was unable to established the gas-cetrifuge program for Libyan nuclear program, therefore, Colonel Gaddafi dismantle and rolled back the program. In 2004, Libya dismantled its program and provided its technical and nuclear materials to IAEA and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Libyan revelation also led the arrest of its former head of the program, Frederich Tinner. In Pakistan, Abdul Qadeer Khan was debriefed by the Pakistan Armed Forces which continued until next 4 years.

Arrest and Allegations

His 43 year-old son Urs Tinner has been in custody since 2004 as a suspect in the same network. His brother, Marco Tinner, is also in custody on similar charges.

In May, the President of the Swiss Confederation, Pascal Couchepin

Pascal Couchepin

Pascal Couchepin is a Swiss politician, former member of the Swiss Federal Council and President of the Confederation in 2003 and 2008...

 announced that the Tinner files, believed to number around 30,000 documents, had been shredded. This was justified to avoid them, "getting into the hands of a terrorist organisation or an unauthorised state", according to Couchepin. However it is alleged that this was a cover-up, to hide the involvement of Urs Tinner with the CIA. Although the Swiss government claimed that the shredding was a security requirement of the IAEA as a measure against nuclear proliferation, it is widely alleged that this was done solely under American pressure, either to hide their involvement or to avoid damage to their own propaganda. Swiss senator

Swiss Council of States

The Council of States of Switzerland is the smaller chamber of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, and is considered the Assembly's upper house. There are 46 Councillors....

 Dick Marty

Dick Marty

Dick Marty is a Swiss politician and former state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. He is a member of the Swiss Council of States , and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.-Education:Marty holds a doctorate in law from the University of Neuchâtel with the thesis:...

has questioned the need for their destruction, pointing out that they could merely have been held secret.