Washington/Islamabad, Sep 27 (IANS) Pakistan’s exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has reiterated her willingness to permit the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to disgraced nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan, saying she does not believe in a “cover up”.
Her assertion in Washington Wednesday came ostensibly in response to a rejection to the proposal by the Foreign Office in Islamabad.
However, there was confusion within her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) back home that first denied her statement and then played it down saying there was “nothing new”.
At a press conference at the Middle East Institute, she not only repeated what her party secretariat had earlier denied but elaborated on her reasons for permitting access to the nuclear watchdog agency to question Khan, Daily Times reported from Washington.
She said she did not want Pakistan to be known as a “rogue nation”, nor did she believe in Pakistan exporting nuclear technology. She stressed that she wanted Pakistan to be known as a law-abiding state.
Bhutto referred to a statement issued by the government in Islamabad on Tuesday saying that questions submitted by the IAEA for Khan had been entertained. She asked what the difference was between having Khan answer questions and having the IAEA question him in person.
In Islamabad, her statement was viewed as “contentious… stirring controversy in the run-up to the elections”, the newspaper said.
Foreign Office spokesperson Taslim Aslam said on Wednesday that Pakistan’s position was that it had fully investigated the matter and, “in case there is new information… we will conduct investigations and provide information to the IAEA”.
Other countries have failed to match Pakistan’s efforts to prevent proliferation, for instance by clamping down on Western companies involved in smuggling, she added.
Bhutto, when asked after a speech in Washington on Tuesday whether she would let Western officials interview Khan, reportedly responded: “We do believe that the IAEA… would have the right to question A.Q. Khan.”
She also reportedly said a parliamentary committee should investigate the matter. “Many Pakistanis are cynical about whether A.Q. Khan could have done this without any official sanction.”
Khan headed Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme for several years and was hailed as a national hero.
He has been accused of illegally passing on nuclear designs and devices to Libya, Iran, North Korea and Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda. President Pervez Musharraf placed him under house arrest in January 2004 after he was confronted with evidence by US’ CIA that Khan had continued to engage in illegal transactions even after Pakistan’s denials in the wake of 9/11.
Pakistani media reports earlier this month said Khan was moving to challenge his detention in the Supreme Court, contending that he has been held illegally by a government that has failed to prove any charge against him.