Islamabad, February 5
Acting on a recommendation of the Pakistan Cabinet, President Pervez Musharraf today granted pardon to Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of the country’s nuclear bomb, a day after he publicly admitted leaking sensitive nuclear know-how to Iran, Libya and North Korea, a local TV channel has reported.
The Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, earlier in the day recommended Mr Musharraf to accept the scientist’s mercy petition and forgive him.
Mr Khan yesterday met Mr Musharraf and admitted his involvement in leaking nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya and sought pardon.
“I give him pardon,” Mr Musharraf told a news conference a day after Dr Khan’s televised confession and request for forgiveness. “There’s a written appeal from his side and there’s a pardon written from my side,” the President told reporters.
— PTI
