Swiss intrigue

The row has brought to light an extraordinary range of controversial issues, including the possible involvement of the CIA and links to disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.

The government in Bern has argued that it acted in the interest of national security when it took the unusual step of blocking access of key documents from the court and ordering their destruction.

Parliament has stood up against the decision, saying that the government's refusal of access is an act of interference which violates the Swiss constitution.

On Wednesday, President Hans-Rudolf Merz told Swiss public radio that ministers planned to shred some documents that were believed to contain nuclear warhead designs. Switzerland, which is not a nuclear power, is not permitted to possess such plans under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

A day later, cantonal police, armed with a court order, raided the Federal Criminal Police offices in Bern and seized a safe containing the key to the secret documents.

Following the court's extraordinary move to seize the safe, the government said all texts related to the manufacture of nuclear weapons would be destroyed.

"There is no appeal against this type of decision of the Federal Council. The decision is absolute," said a government statement. The federal judge's order had "no effect", it added.

Swiss engineers' role unclear

The court has directed the government to submit the papers as evidence in the so-called Tinner case relating to two brothers and their father, all engineers, who have been accused of helping Libya develop a nuclear weapons program.

The Tinners were also alleged to have been in contact with Abdul Qadeer Khan, the disgraced Pakistani scientist who is accused of being the kingpin of a network supplying nuclear technology to so-called "rogue states."

However, some reports claim that the Tinner family was, in fact, recruited by the US Central Intelligence Agency to help thwart attempts by Libya and Iran to develop nuclear weapons, and that Swiss and US authorities colluded after they were arrested.

According to a report published in the New York Times in October, the real reason for Bern's bid to conceal the documents was pressure from the CIA, which feared its ties with the family of Swiss engineers would be exposed.

The Tinners maintain they are innocent. One of them claimed he was working for American spies when word got out that a Libya-bound ship was carrying centrifuge parts essential for making a bomb.

That incident forced Libya to admit its nuclear ambitions, which it subsequently abandoned.

Uproar over disclosure

Last year, Switzerland revealed that the three Swiss engineers accused of having allegedly smuggled nuclear secrets to Libya were in possession of detailed plans on how to make such weapons. The government said it destroyed some of these documents in November 2007 "to prevent them falling into the hands of a terrorist organization or non-authorized state."

That disclosure sparked an uproar as judges and lawmakers said it would compromise investigations into the Swiss engineers' involvement.

However, authorities revealed in December that there were more case documents at the Swiss federal prosecutor's office. Subsequently, a parliamentary commission sought to have them preserved.

Sensitive documents

But earlier this month, the Swiss government vowed that it would destroy the remaining documents, saying that the parliamentary commission did not have the "competence" to issue such orders.

"From the point of view of security policies, it is imperative that the most sensitive documents, which detail the making of nuclear weapons, are destroyed," it added.

Insisting that there were no grounds to reverse its decision, the government said in a statement that it took into account "in a measured manner the needs of the prosecuting authorities and Switzerland's international engagements."

However, Swiss parliamentarians say their country has no international obligation to destroy the documents.

Crucial evidence

Meanwhile, investigators say the documents are crucial evidence in the nuclear-smuggling case.

In a statement posted on the government's website, Swiss authorities said they had agreed with the International Atomic Energy Agency that documents related to uranium enrichment or atomic weapon design posed a risk.

The Swiss were apparently told by the IAEA they could either transfer the files to one of the five nuclear powers allowed to possess such documents -- the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia -- or destroy them.

However, some reports quote the Vienna-based nuclear watchdog as saying that Switzerland is capable of safely storing the documents.

rb/AFP/AP

Editor: Nick Amies