US Secretary of State Colin Powell is to visit Pakistan and meet President Pervez Musharraf to discuss the nuclear proliferation probe.
Powell spoke to Musharraf by telephone yesterday about the sale of sensitive nuclear information by the country's top scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, revered as the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb and pardoned by the government for his actions.
"During the conversation President Musharraf asked Powell to visit Pakistan, and he said he would do so quite soon," the official, who wished not to be named, told Reuters.
In a dramatic televised confession on Wednesday, Khan said he acted independently in leaking secrets as head of Pakistan's nuclear programme from the 1970's. His admission came after two months of an investigation by Pakistan.
The English-language daily Dawn said Powell would visit this month, but the official said dates had yet to be fixed for the visit.