Pakistan sent nuclear investigative teams to Libya, Iran

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's decision to detain and question some of its leading nuclear scientists came after it dispatched top-secret investigative teams to Iran and Libya to check allegations that greed led the men to cash in on nuclear know-how, a senior Pakistani official told The Associated Press.

Disclosure of the investigative missions indicates the seriousness with which the government is taking allegations of nuclear proliferation after months of public denials.

The investigation also has resulted in some researchers being barred from leaving Pakistan.

"Yes, we sent our own teams to Iran and Libya and the debriefings began after that," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said the interrogations sprang from information learned on the trips, as well as evidence from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nation's nuclear watchdog. The official gave no details about the timing of trips or what had been uncovered.

IAEA officials said they were unaware of the visits, adding that Pakistan was under no obligation to inform the agency of such details of its investigations into possible nuclear technology transfers.

U.S., British and IAEA officials now are in Libya to facilitate Tripoli's pledge to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction.

Under U.S.pressure

Pakistan, a key Washington ally in the war on terrorism, is coming under intense U.S. pressure to curb the spread of technology for making atomic weapons. Authorities are investigating allegations that Pakistani scientists aided nuclear programs in Iran, Libya and North Korea.

The allegations have been a serious embarrassment for President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who is riding a wave of international popularity over his decision to seek peace with archenemy India and to crack down on Islamic militants.

The revelation of investigative trips to Iran and Libya came after assurances by Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed that scientists and engineers detained in the past few months were the government's "honored guests," not prisoners.

Several scientists were detained in a first wave of questioning that began late last year. They include Mohammad Farooq, the former director general of Khan Research Laboratories, Pakistan's top nuclear weapons lab, and Yasin Chuhan, a senior engineer at the lab.

At least one other person, whose name has not been revealed, also was detained at the time, but Ahmed said only Farooq remains in custody. Even Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of the country's atomic weapons program, has been questioned, though the government stresses he is not a suspect.

Eight more scientists and engineers were detained over the weekend, Ahmed said, adding that those still being questioned include two retired army brigadiers and a retired army major. One man, Islam ul-Haq, was arrested Saturday as he dined at Khan's home.

The latest arrests have sparked an outcry from family members accustomed to privileges in a country deeply proud of having produced the only "Islamic bomb" as a deterrent to nuclear-armed India.

A small group of relatives gathered in the rain outside Parliament on Wednesday to protest the detentions.

Protesters held placards with slogans such as "Where is my husband?" and "Why are you disgracing national heroes?"

Relatives of the detained men question the government figures, saying as many as 24 people, many of them respected scientists, may be in custody. Family members claim the government has not said where the men are being held or when they might be released.

Ahmed promised that family visits were being arranged with the scientists and that the questioning would be over "within a week."

He also said the men were innocent until proven guilty and that most would likely be cleared.

"We are conducting these debriefings to dispel the propaganda against Pakistan's nuclear program," he said, adding that the country was against nuclear proliferation. Pakistan has long-denied any government involvement in the plot to sell nuclear knowledge, and had for years scoffed at reports its scientists might have been involved in the illicit trade.

But Pakistan started to hedge those denials in December, after IAEA inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities showed that international and "Pakistani-linked individuals" had acted as "intermediaries and black marketeers."

Pakistani scientists were later implicated in a scheme to sell centrifuge technology to Libya, and have also been named in probes into North Korea's nuclear program.

In December, Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan acknowledged for the first time that some Pakistani scientists "might have been motivated by personal ambition or greed" to sell the secrets.

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Associated Press reporter Munir Ahmad contributed to this report.