More Arrests in Pakistan Nuclear Probe

05/02/2004| IslamWeb

Five scientists and administrators from Pakistan's main nuclear facility have been detained after a probe into the illegal transfer of technology to other countries. "At least five people have been detained for a period of three months, Interior Ministry spokesman Rauf Chaudhry said in Islamabad on Thursday. "They include nuclear scientists and administrators belonging to the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL)," he said. They were detained under Pakistan's security law, he said. However, former KRL chief Abdul Qadeer Khan, known as the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, was not among those in detention, Chaudhry said. **Confession*** Khan admitted to proliferating nuclear technology in a televised address late Wednesday and begged for the nation's forgiveness. The founder of Pakistan's nuclear programme, who is revered as a national hero, read out his confession on state-run television soon after meeting President Pervez Musharraf. His dramatic confession followed the questioning of more than a dozen nuclear scientists, engineers and administrators during a probe into leaks of Pakistan's nuclear know how. The investigation was prompted by information from Iran via the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that was forwarded to Pakistan in November. Khan was sacked as a government science advisor last week after a two month investigation into the leaking of nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. The Pakistan cabinet is to decide at a special meeting on Thursday whether to agree to his plea for pardon, officials said. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Abdul Qadeer Khan (L) chats with Pervez Musharraf in Rawalpindi. (AFP/PID/HO)