The Washington Post has more disturbing information on the discovery of a nuclear black market that aided the Libyan weapons program, including the revelation that one of the “secret factories” that manufactures components is located in Malaysia—whose ex-prime minister Mahathir Mohammad has on many occasions called for Muslims to arm themselves with modern weapons: Probe of Libya Finds Nuclear Black Market.

The scale of the black-market operation — described by one expert as an “international supermarket” for nuclear parts — exceeds anything seen before, and it was undetected by Western intelligence agencies until recent months, the officials said. The same operation also is believed to have aided Iran, they said.

The smuggling enterprise supplied Libya with thousands of parts for gas centrifuges — machines that enrich uranium for nuclear weapons — as well as machine tools for making additional centrifuges, the sources said. It also provided Libya with designs for making a nuclear bomb, officials with the International Atomic Energy Agency revealed yesterday.

Investigators believe some of the centrifuge parts came from factories built expressly to manufacture nuclear components for the black market — a development that would represent a new and problematic milestone in nuclear proliferation. U.S. and IAEA officials are investigating one possible manufacturing site in Malaysia, with the help of that country’s government, well-placed officials said. The site has been visited by U.S. officials in the past two weeks, the sources said.

It’s another benefit of the Bush foreign policy that we’ve become aware of this nuclear conspiracy; let’s hope it’s not too late.