Pakistan Nuke Founder Questioned

Pakistan has questioned the founder of its nuclear program as part of investigations into whether any of its scientists leaked sensitive technology to other countries, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.

Scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan is not in custody but was questioned in connection with "the ongoing debriefing sessions" of a "very small number of scientists," ministry spokesman Masood Khan said.

"No restrictions have been imposed on him," he added.

Pakistan's government strongly denies allegations it spread nuclear technology to countries such as Iran, North Korea and Libya but acknowledged Monday the possibility that individual scientists may have acted without authorization.

At least two scientists from Khan Research Laboratories, the country's top nuclear laboratory named after its founder, were held for questioning this month — including Mohammad Farooq, its former director general and aide to Khan.

Farooq is still in custody. "Dr. Farooq is still undergoing a dependability and debriefing session," said the ministry spokesman said.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Pakistan's government had not authorized the spread of sensitive technology to any country, but acknowledged it was looking into whether individuals involved in its nuclear program had.

"Some individuals may have been doing something on their own. We are investigating that," Ahmed told The Associated Press.

Officials have declined to give details about the "in-house" investigations and what allegations the scientists faced.

Pakistan, which carried out nuclear weapons tests in 1998, "takes its responsibilities as a nuclear weapons state very seriously," he said.

"The government of Pakistan has not authorized any transfers of sensitive nuclear technology to other countries. We have a strong command and control system. Only individuals are being investigated," he said.

Pakistan's admission came just days after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's surprise announcement Friday that his country was abandoning its weapons of mass destruction. On Monday, Libya agreed to open its nuclear activities to pervasive inspection by the U.N. atomic agency as early as next week.

According to diplomats, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency has identified Russia, China and Pakistan as probable sources for equipment used by Iran for possible nuclear weapons development.

Ahmed said the investigations followed "IAEA reservations and recent news reports in the Western world."

This month, Iran signed a key accord Thursday that gives U.N. experts full access to its nuclear facilities. That followed international pressure on Iran to prove it had not tried to build atomic weapons.

Recent newspaper reports have suggested that some of Iran's technology, such as designs for centrifuges used for enriching uranium, may have been come from Pakistan. Pakistan has also been accused of exchanging nuclear know-how with North Korea in return for missiles.

Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said last month that his country obtained short-range missiles and technology from North Korea, but denied giving any nuclear weapons secrets in return.

Khan Research Laboratories is Pakistan's main nuclear weapons laboratory where uranium is enriched, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

Last year, Pakistan detained a former nuclear scientist Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood on suspicion of his links with Osama bin Laden.

Mehmood, who worked for Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission until his retirement in 1999, was later freed.