Pakistan’s president vowed Thursday to prosecute any scientists found to have sold atomic secrets amid growing suspicion that Pakistani experts aided the nuclear programs of Iran, North Korea and Libya.
| "Le Gume, my suspicions continue growing!" |
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said his government has never exported nuclear know-how, but he said it was possible individual scientists may have sold secrets. Pakistan has acknowledged detaining "five to six" scientists and administrators for what it calls "debriefings." Most have not been released, relatives say, and no formal appearances or charges have been made in court. "Let me assure this gathering that Pakistan is an extremely responsible state," Musharraf said. "All the nuclear and strategic assets are under total custodial control. The Pakistan government has never and will never proliferate." The head of the U.N. atomic agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said the allegations involved a "very sophisticated network of black market" operators and said he had not seen any evidence that the Pakistani government was involved.
| "But then, we didn't look, either..." |
ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he had ideas to improve nonproliferation efforts in the wake of disclosures about Pakistan. "Clearly, it needs to be looked at," he said. "The [inspection] regime is under a good deal of stress." |