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Pakistan 'knew of nuclear flight' | |
(about 6 hours later) | |
Disgraced scientist AQ Khan has said that Pakistan transported nuclear material to North Korea with the full knowledge of the country's army. | |
In media interviews, he said that the army supervised a flight of centrifuges to Pyongyang in 2000. | |
At the time, the current President Pervez Musharraf was head of the army. | |
He has repeatedly stated that no-one apart from Dr Khan had any knowledge of the nuclear transportations which caused international concern. | |
Dr Khan said that uranium enrichment equipment was sent in a North Korean plane loaded under the supervision of Pakistani security officials. | Dr Khan said that uranium enrichment equipment was sent in a North Korean plane loaded under the supervision of Pakistani security officials. |
'Complete knowledge' | |
The BBC's Barbara Plett, in Islamabad, says that Dr Khan's latest claims contradict a public confession he made in 2004 that he was solely responsible for exporting nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya. | |
Our correspondent says that the comments are the most controversial accusations made by Dr Khan since he recently began defending himself in statements to the media. | |
His remarks also contradict the oft-stated line of the Pakistani government that neither it nor the army had any knowledge of the exports. | |
AQ Khan has been at the forefront of developing Pakistan's nuclear capacity | |
"It was a North Korean plane, and the army had complete knowledge about it and the equipment," Dr Khan said. | "It was a North Korean plane, and the army had complete knowledge about it and the equipment," Dr Khan said. |
Pakistan's newly-elected government has relaxed restrictions on Mr Khan, who was put under house arrest in 2004 by the then military leader, President Musharraf. | |
He is still detained but has begun speaking to the media by telephone. | |
He said the army must have been aware of the centrifuges exports since it supervised all defence consignments and special flights. | |
'Extremely embarrassing' | |
Dr Khan also said the president must have known about the shipment, because he had written about it in his memoirs. | |
But when pressed he stopped short of directly implicating Mr Musharraf, saying he did not know who specifically was responsible. | |
The allegations are highly controversial, correspondents say, and could prove extremely embarrassing for the army. | |
President Musharraf argues that only AQ Khan knew of the nuclear transfers | |
President Musharraf's spokesman, Rashid Qureshi, dismissed Dr Khan's claims. | |
"I can say with full confidence that it is all lies and false statements," he said. | |
Other government departments - including the army and foreign ministry - declined to comment on Friday. | |
The retired scientist has spoken increasingly to the media since a new government was elected in Pakistan earlier this year. | |
When asked why he had taken sole responsibility for the nuclear scandal in 2004, Dr Khan said he had been persuaded that it was in the national interest. | |
In return, he said, he had been promised complete freedom, but "those promises were not honoured". | |
Dr Khan also said that he travelled to North Korea in 1999 with a Pakistani general to purchase shoulder-launched missiles. | |
His wife this week went to the Islamabad High Court in a bid to end restrictions on her husband's movements. | |
Dr Khan was pardoned by President Musharraf after admitting illegally transferring nuclear secrets to other countries including Libya, Iran and North Korea. | |
But in recent weeks he has retracted his confession. |