PAKISTAN: Pakistan's leading atomic scientist apologised on national television yesterday for selling nuclear secrets and admitted "full responsibility" for what he had done.
But he denied any wider Pakistan government involvement in the scandal and asked to be forgiven.
"I have chosen to appear before you to offer my deepest regrets and unqualified apologies to a traumatised nation," Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan (69), considered a national icon for creating Pakistan's military nuclear capability, said on state-run TV.
"I take full responsibility for my actions and seek your pardon," he added in an unscheduled broadcast.
Reading from a previously prepared statement, a sombre and bedraggled Dr Khan admitted selling nuclear secrets, including hardware and blueprints, to Iran, Libya and North Korea in violation of international norms.
Investigations have revealed that Dr Khan and some colleagues proliferated atomic weapons know-how for over a decade in exchange for vast amounts of money through the shadowy but thriving global nuclear black market.
Earlier, a cowed Dr Khan met President Pervez Musharraf and in a "mercy petition" requested clemency in light of his contribution of having bolstered Pakistan's deterrent against India.
Gen Musharraf has called a meeting of the National Command Authority, which controls Pakistan's nuclear assets, at which Dr Khan's fate would be decided. Dr Musharraf is expected to make a nationwide address later this week on the episode.
The scientist admitted his involvement in leaking nuclear technology after being confronted with evidence from Pakistani investigators, who initiated their inquiry last November following Iran's revelations to the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
But Dr Khan said he and his subordinates had acted in "good faith". Six other scientists and at least one military officer, all closely associated with Dr Khan, are also being investigated for the nuclear leaks.
"I also wish to clarify that there was never, ever any kind of authorisation for these activities by the government," he said.
He contritely added an assurance that "such activities will never take place in the future".
Earlier reports from Islamabad, after Dr Khan was sacked as adviser to the prime minister last Saturday, indicated that the scientist was claiming that all nuclear transfers had taken place with the "full knowledge" of the military that controls Pakistan's atomic programme. Dr Khan had also hinted at President Musharraf's connivance in clearing nuclear secrets to North Korea over the past year, a claim that the authorities deny. Gen Musharraf is Pakistan's army chief.
Dr Khan apparently had told investigators to question army commanders as well as Gen Musharraf, claiming that no debriefing would be complete unless they brought every one of the military men and questioned them together. Two former army chiefs were questioned but absolved of any wrongdoing.
Official sources said President Musharraf, backed by the US and Britain, had brokered a deal with Dr Khan, since a trial would have exposed the army's involvement in the scandal. This would have proved disastrous for Gen Musharraf, who, since September 11th, had become a reliable US ally in its war against terror.
A trial would also have made a martyr of Dr Khan.
President Musharraf, on the other hand, has alienated the fundamentalist parties and Islamist elements within the military and the security establishment by supporting the US.
"I don't think people like Khan should be tried. He is a national hero," Mr Qazi Hussain Ahmed, head of Pakistan's main Islamic coalition, said, adding that the US was responsible for "hounding" him and making him a scapegoat for the military's nuclear misdeeds.
Western diplomats, meanwhile, said the US will probably not press Gen Musharraf to try Dr Khan, having already indicated its willingness to put the past behind and to "let bygones be bygones".