PakistanThe architect of Pakistan's atomic weapons programme, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, has reportedly told investigators that the country's army, including President Pervez Musharraf, knew when he was selling sensitive nuclear information and technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
"Whatever I did, it was in the knowledge of the bosses," Dr Khan told interrogators, according to reports from Islamabad quoting one of his friend's who remains unnamed. Dr Khan, however, told the friend that he had only shipped "disused centrifuge machines" and other equipment to these states.
Dr Khan also reportedly told the friend that two former army chiefs, Gen Mirza Aslam Beg and Gen Jehangir Karamat and even Gen Musharraf were "aware of everything" he was doing.
"I am convinced that he (Khan) couldn't act unilaterally," the friend said.
But the assertion was denied by the military. "It is absolutely wrong," military spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan said, denying that President Musharraf, the dictator who doubles as Pakistan's army chief, was aware of any transfer of nuclear technology.
Generals Beg and Karamat told investigators last week that they didn't authorise any overseas nuclear deals and reiterated that Pakistan was a responsible state with full control over its atomic arsenal.
The military also denied a New York Times report claiming that nuclear aid flowed to North Korea until 2002 and to Libya until last year, a charge embarrassing for President Musharraf as Washington's ally in the "war on terror". President Bush identified Libya, Iran and North Korea as members of his so-called "axis of evil" - rogue states with unstable leaderships dabbling in weapons of mass destruction.
However, as the pieces of Pakistan's proliferation puzzle unfold, mostly through leaks by informed but unnamed officials, it is becoming increasingly apparent that some element of state involvement and connivance in transferring nuclear secrets existed. It is also emerging that Pakistan's administration is desperate to conclude the investigation into Dr Khan, blaming greed for his actions.
Investigations into the proliferation issue began two months ago after Iran told the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency that Pakistan had help its nuclear weapons programme.
Meanwhile, reports from Islamabad, quoting officials who declined to be identified, said chartered planes were used in some instances to ferry nuclear equipment to Iran, Libya and North Korea from the 1980s until at least 1997. At least two people, allegedly from Sri Lanka and Germany involved with the international nuclear black market, collaborated with Dr Khan who headed Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme during that period, the reports said.
Dr Khan (69), who was sacked as advisor to the prime minister at the weekend after confessing to investigators that he had sold nuclear secrets to these states, is a hero in Pakistan for developing a nuclear deterrent against rival India.
Besides alarming many in Pakistan, Dr Khan's admission has also raised pertinent questions about how he could have sold nuclear information and hardware without the consent of the military that has tightly controlled Pakistan's secret atomic weapons programme.