'Sorry' Saves Nuke Secrets Seller

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf pardoned the father of Pakistan's nuclear program Thursday for giving technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

The Pakistani leader's pardon headed off a showdown with the political and religious opposition which strongly opposed punishment for Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Musharraf accepted the scientist's plea for mercy after he admitted the leaks in a televised apology.

"There's a written appeal from his side and there's a pardon written from my side," Musharraf said at a news conference.

Two weeks ago, Musharraf vowed to move against proliferators he condemned as "enemies of the state," but a decision to prosecute Khan would have outraged many Pakistanis.

Earlier Thursday, the Cabinet had sent a recommendation to Musharraf that Khan be pardoned for the proliferation to the three countries that make up what President Bush had termed the "Axis of Evil."

In a televised apology Wednesday after meeting Musharraf, Khan accepted full responsibility for nuclear leaks he said were made without government knowledge or approval and asked for forgiveness.

"I have chosen to appear before you to offer my deepest regrets and unqualified apologies," Khan said in a solemn speech broadcast on state television. "I take full responsibility for my actions and seek your pardon."

Intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was an agreement not to prosecute Khan, who agreed to cooperate with investigators and give them all the required information for their probe into the nuclear transfers.

A friend of the scientist said Tuesday that Khan told him he gave nuclear weapons technology to other countries with the full knowledge of top army officials, including Musharraf.

But Khan said government officials were not involved in the leaks.

"I also wish to clarify that there was never ever any kind of authorization for these activities by the government," he said.

Khan said he admitted involvement in leaks of nuclear technology after being confronted with evidence from Pakistani investigators, who launched their probe in November after Iranian revelations to the U.N. nuclear watchdog. Pakistani nuclear technology also has spread to North Korea and Libya.

"The investigations have established that many of the reported activities did occur and these were inevitably initiated at my behest," Khan said. "In my interviews with the concerned officials I was confronted with the evidence and the findings and I have voluntarily admitted that much of it is true and accurate."

Also Wednesday, Khan met Musharraf at the president's office in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital Islamabad. The government said he requested forgiveness in a "mercy petition" to Musharraf, considering the services he had rendered to Pakistan's national security.

Television footage of the meeting showed a stony-faced Musharraf, wearing a camouflage jacket, speaking to a contrite-looking Khan.

Khan was sacked as a government adviser Saturday, and officials say he has confessed in a written statement to selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. He was told by authorities to stay at his Islamabad home, where he is guarded with tight security.

Khan's alleged admissions have shocked many in Pakistan, and raised questions about how he could have spread nuclear technology without the consent of the military — which has often ruled Pakistan since the country gained independence from Britain in 1947.

Two retired army chiefs have told investigators they did not authorize nuclear transfers. Musharraf and other government officials have repeatedly ruled out official involvement in proliferation.

The Bush administration has made Musharraf a key ally in the president's "war on terrorism."

Musharraf ended Pakistan's traditional alliance with the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan, and his security forces have helped U.S. agents pursue al Qaeda suspects in Pakistan.

In return for his help, Mr. Bush lifted sanctions imposed after Pakistan tested a nuclear bomb in 1998. Congress lifted other sanctions imposed after the 1999 coup in which Musharraf came to power.