Scientist’s Friend Says Army Knew of Nuclear Transfers

The father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb told investigators that he gave nuclear weapons technology to other nations with the full knowledge of top army officials, including the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a friend of the scientist said Tuesday.

A military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, denied that Musharraf was privy to any transfer of nuclear technology or had authorized Khan to do it.

A leading Islamic party, Jamaat-i-Islami, said Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan’s leading nuclear scientist, denied confessing to investigators as government officials have alleged.

Authorities are focusing on seven suspects -- three scientists including Khan and four former security officials at Khan Research Laboratories, a nuclear weapons facility named after him.

Khan told Qazi Hussain Ahmed, head of Jamaat-i-Islami, that he eventually would disclose his side of the story but, for now, his case “is in the court of God almighty,” party spokesman Ameer ul-Azeem said.

The party has called for a nationwide protest Friday to support Khan and other detained scientists.

Khan told a friend that he had not violated Pakistan’s laws by giving machines for enriching uranium to Iran, North Korea and other countries, the friend said on condition of anonymity.

The scientist also said two former military chiefs -- Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg and Gen. Jehangir Karamat -- and Musharraf were “aware of everything” he was doing, the friend said.

But Sultan said: “It is absolutely wrong.” Musharraf “was not involved in any such matter. No such thing has happened since he seized power in 1999,” Sultan said.

Musharraf has headed the army since 1998; before that he held a number of top positions in the military.

Khan, who gave Pakistan the Islamic world’s first nuclear bomb, was removed Saturday from his post as scientific advisor to the prime minister. Senior Pakistani military officials said Sunday that Khan had confessed to leaking nuclear secrets.

Officials said Tuesday that Khan smuggled high-tech centrifuges -- used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons -- and other equipment to Iran, Libya, North Korea and Malaysia.

The two retired army chiefs, Karamat and Beg, have told investigators that they didn’t authorize nuclear transfers. Musharraf and other government officials have repeatedly said there was no official involvement.