RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s top nuclear authority yesterday rejected claims by atomic scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan that the army and President Pervez Musharraf sent centrifuges to North Korea in 2000. Lt. Gen. Khalid Kidwai, head of the Strategic Planning Division (SPD), told a select group of reporters there was “enough evidence” about the proliferation network that Qadeer had run from 1987.

Kidwai reiterated that there had been no involvement by the army, Musharraf, SPD or the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency in the transfer of centrifuges to North Korea.

The briefing followed media interviews with Qadeer in which he made the claim which Kidwai said was damaging the national interest. “Technically, yes it happened in his (Musharraf) tenure, but giving an impression that he or the army was aware or supervised it is wrong,” Kidwai said.

“I would like to categorically say it is absolutely wrong, false.” He said they had evidence about Qadeer’s network which was dismantled more than four years ago and “we can produce it in camera at any level — court, parliamentary committee, tribunal or any group of people.” Kidwai said a dozen centrifuges — used for enriching uranium — were sent to North Korea by Qadeer’s network in 2000 and one was sent several years earlier.

He said the government got suspicious about Qadeer’s activities around the same time, which finally led to his termination as head of the country’s main nuclear research laboratory in 2001. Qadeer was pardoned by Musharraf in 2004 after making a televised statement admitting to passing nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya but has not been allowed out in public.

However, after Musharraf’s allies lost general elections in February, Qadeer retracted his confession and said that it was forced. The new government has recently relaxed restrictions on Qadeer, including allowing him to meet friends at a scientific institute and take phone calls, although he remains effectively confined to his house. Qadeer, 72, was placed under house arrest in Islamabad in 2004 soon after a televised confession to selling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya. On Friday, the Associated Press quoted Qadeer as saying the army had “complete knowledge” of the shipment of used P-1 centrifuges to North Korea in 2000, and Musharraf must have given his consent.

Speaking to other media later, including Reuters, Qadeer backed off from this account, referring to passages from Musharraf’s autobiography, published in 2006. Musharraf wrote: “We were once informed that a chartered aircraft going to North Korea for conventional missiles was also going to carry some “irregular cargo on his (Qadeer’s) behalf.” Musharraf said he ordered a search of the aircraft but nothing was found.

Meanwhile, Musharraf hit back at calls for his resignation on Friday, saying he was needed to help political parties avoid an economic meltdown and tackle a militant threat gripping the country. “We cannot address the problems of terrorism and extremism and the economic crisis if there is no political stability,” Musharraf told businessmen in Karachi in his first public address since his allies lost an election last February.

The key US ally in the war on terrorism lost parliamentary support, but the Bush administration has voiced support for Musharraf, who came to power as a general in a coup in 1999.

During a visit to Pakistan earlier this week, US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher urged parties to focus on these challenges rather than be drawn into a fight to drive Musharraf from office.

Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated two-time Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, led the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to victory in the polls. The PPP formed a coalition with three other parties including the runner up led by Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf overthrew.

Musharraf said the politicians should bury the past and work together with him for Pakistan’s future, adding that he would be happy for the coalition to complete its five-year term.