Top nuclear scientist takes blame for technology leaks

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- In a startling confession made on national television, the founder of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program said Wednesday that he -- not the government -- leaked secrets to countries abroad.

Abdul Qadeer Khan's solemn speech begging forgiveness came after the government indicated that an apology would help him avoid a messy public prosecution for providing nuclear technology to Libya, Iran and North Korea, intelligence officials told The Associated Press.

The Cabinet was to meet today to decide whether to recommend a trial.

"I have chosen to appear before you to offer my deepest regrets and unqualified apologies to a traumatized nation," Khan said, hours after meeting with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to submit a plea for clemency.

"I take full responsibility for my actions and seek your pardon."

Musharraf scheduled a news conference for today to announce a decision. The government had earlier promised to take legal action against anyone implicated.

In Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan offered no opinion when asked if the Bush administration approved of Pakistan's apparent decision not to prosecute Khan.

Khan's apology came amid widespread suspicion that the government, despite years of denials, played a role in leaking nuclear technology. President Bush has called Iran and North Korea part of an "axis of evil."

Although a trial would satisfy the international community, it could also lead to embarrassing revelations about top government and military officials -- and expose Musharraf to considerable anger among Pakistanis who regard Khan as a national hero.

Opposition parties said they believed Khan's televised statement Wednesday was made under coercion.

Hailed in this country for giving the Islamic world its first nuclear bomb, Khan is the focus of a Pakistani investigation that began in November after Iran told the U.N. nuclear watchdog it obtained nuclear technology from Pakistan. After years of international suspicions and denials, Musharraf said for the first time last month that "individuals" had sold Pakistan's weapons secrets for personal gain.

After meeting Wednesday with Khan, Musharraf chaired a meeting of the National Command Authority, a body of top officials who control Pakistan's nuclear assets, to discuss his mercy plea.

A senior government official said they referred Khan's plea to the Cabinet, which would consider it Thursday morning. The prime minister will inform Musharraf of the results of that meeting and they will make a decision together, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Officials say Khan has confessed to sending sensitive centrifuge technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. "Disused equipment" was also sent to Malaysia for reconditioning before being forwarded to the other countries, they said. Libya also received designs for a nuclear bomb from Pakistan, European diplomats say.

Deliveries of such closely guarded equipment -- sometimes using military cargo aircraft -- to countries where Pakistan has strategic interests have raised strong suspicions both here and abroad that the government oversaw the transfers.

Khan, who founded the nuclear program in the 1970s, maintained Wednesday that government officials weren't in on the leaks. Two former army chiefs have also been questioned and denied any approval for giving away technology.

"I also wish to clarify that there was never ever any kind of authorization for these activities by the government," Khan said.

Six other scientists and security officials have been detained in the probe. Relatives protested their innocence Wednesday, saying Khan's confession was made under duress.

"Khan was forced to make this statement," said Mohammed Shafiq, whose father was director-general of maintenance and construction at the Khan Research Laboratories, the top nuclear facility named after Khan. "We don't know if it's true or not."

"My dad said he was innocent. The team members at KRL have never dealt with Iran or Libya," said Shafiq, who visited his father Tuesday to mark a Muslim holiday. He said three intelligence officials sat in on their meeting.

Khan retired in 2001 and was appointed a top government adviser. He was fired from that post Saturday and told by authorities to stay at his Islamabad home, where he is under tight security, but officials have said he isn't under arrest.

The probe has also raised the ire of opposition parties who allege responsibility for proliferation lies at higher levels than the scientists, whom they view as national heroes. A leading Islamic party has called for a national day of protest Friday, and said the plans were still on despite Khan's apology.

"The government has insulted Abdul Qadeer Khan by forcing him to read out a statement on state television," said Shahid Shamsi, spokesman for Jamaat-e-Islami. He called for evidence against the scientists to be presented in parliament or a court.

"The defendants aren't being allowed to express their views independently and in a free and fair manner," he said.

Khan called for calm, appealing "to all citizens of Pakistan, in the supreme national interest, to refrain from any further speculations and not to politicize this extremely sensitive issue of national security."