ISLAMABAD, 8 February 2004 — US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday he would ask Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf why he pardoned Abdul Qadeer Khan after the scientist went on Pakistan TV and admitted transferring nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
But Powell stressed that the clemency for Khan was a domestic question for Musharraf, who has emerged as a key US ally since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
“This is a matter between Mr. Khan, who is a Pakistani citizen, and his government. But it is a matter also that I’ll be talking to President Musharraf about,” Powell told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.
The top US diplomat said “goal No. 1” was making sure that no more sensitive nuclear details were passed on by any Pakistani scientists, including Khan, dubbed by Powell as the “biggest” of all nuclear proliferators.
Admitting that it “sounds rather odd” to have pardoned Khan amid efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said: “Obviously the president of the country has to manage his own national situation.”
On Thursday, Musharraf rejected demands for an independent investigation, sharing of documents with the International Atomic Energy Agency or opening of nuclear installations to UN inspections.
“This is a sovereign country, no documents will be submitted to the IAEA, to an independent inquiry and we will not allow the UN to supervise our nuclear” program, Musharraf said.
But IAEA officials would be welcome to visit and Pakistan would discuss with them the results of its own investigation, he said.
The UN atomic watchdog insisted Friday that its investigation into Pakistani-led black market nuclear trading was on track despite Islamabad’s refusal to reveal documents or allow inspections of its facilities.
“We are intensely interested in this black market because it impacts on our ability to complete our work in Iran and Libya,” IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky said in Vienna.
Pakistan is a member of the IAEA but not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which empowers the agency to monitor worldwide compliance with nuclear safeguards.
