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Dr Khan ‘confesses’ to leaking N-secrets

Islamabad, February 2
Pakistan's nuclear pioneer Abdul Qadeer Khan and four others have confessed to leaking nuclear secrets to groups working for Iran, Libya and North Korea, an official close to the government's nuclear proliferation probe said late yesterday.

"Dr Khan and four others have accepted that they were involved in leaking nuclear know-how outside Pakistan to groups working for Iran, Libya and North Korea," said the official, who could not be named. The information was leaked between 1986 and 1993, he added.

It was the first time that North Korea had been named in the government's investigation. The official said an 11-page report carrying the confessions had been submitted to President General Pervez Musharraf.

Asked if there would be criminal proceedings against those who had confessed he said: "It is up to the National Command Authority of which President Musharraf is the Chairman to take a decision."

It was not yet clear whether Dr Khan had admitted to giving centrifuge designs for uranium enrichment to Iran and Libya, he said.

Dr Khan could not be reached for comment, but Ali Farooq, son of scientist Dr Farooq Mohammad, who was the first to be detained at the start of the probe, said yesterday that “these are just mere allegations. The authorities are trying to put all responsibility on the scientists.”

Intelligence sources said evidence against Dr Khan was strong enough to formally charge him, and included a statement from a key middleman in Dubai that could prove damning.

Western diplomats and analysts say a trial could open a “Pandora’s box” for Pakistan and in particular its powerful military, which could be implicated in the case. — AFP, Reuters