Sat 31 January, 2004 15:47
By Zeeshan Haider
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan has sacked top nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan as scientific adviser to the prime minister amid a probe into the sale of nuclear technology to Iran and Libya, a government official says.
A government statement said Khan had "ceased to hold the office" of special adviser to the prime minister on the strategic programme, which holds the status of federal minister.
"Yes, he has been removed from this post," the official told Reuters on Saturday.
Khan's removal is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, where he is revered as the "father" of the country's and the Islamic world's atomic bomb, seen by many Pakistanis as a vital deterrent to nuclear rival India.
The decision coincided with a meeting of the National Command Authority (NCA) chaired by President Pervez Musharraf. The NCA is made up of military, political and scientific officials and controls Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
The military repeated former general Musharraf's assertions that any illegal proliferation was carried out by rogue scientists without official involvement.
"The NCA... reiterated Pakistan's strong resolve and commitment in adherence to international agreements of non-proliferation," a statement said.
"The government condemns and distances itself in categorical terms from individual acts of indiscretion in the past."
But Pakistani experts and Western diplomats doubt whether top scientists could have traded secrets abroad without the knowledge of senior military and intelligence officials.
KHAN'S SECURITY ENHANCED
Pakistan has questioned Khan, several of his colleagues and former military officers in recent weeks after a U.N. nuclear watchdog began investigating links between Pakistan's nuclear programme and those of Iran and Libya.
Hours after government's decision to remove Khan, the military said security had been enhanced for the founder of country's nuclear programme.
"It is done because the government is concerned about his security," Major General Shaukat Sultan, top military spokesman, told Reuters. "There are allegations and things are under investigation...that's why his security has been enhanced."
Western diplomats have said Pakistani scientists might also have sold nuclear technology to North Korea.
The Pakistani investigation is nearing a conclusion.
Musharraf, a general who first took power in a bloodless October 1999 coup is also a key U.S. ally in its "war on terror". He said earlier this month it appeared Pakistani scientists had sold nuclear secrets abroad and that he would deal harshly with anyone found guilty "because they are the enemy of the state".
Musharraf's critics say the military as a whole should be held accountable, not the odd scientist or mid-ranking officer who might have known about any black market nuclear secrets trade.
"He (Musharraf) has omitted to note the most critical factor... the unaccountable status of the Pakistan army as the guardian of the nuclear programme and its overbearing control of civil society," the weekly Friday Times said in an editorial.
The military statement said that since the formation of the NCA in February, 2000, no illegal peddling of nuclear technology had taken place "and there was no chance of such acts taking place in the future".
But it added that Pakistan would not curtail its nuclear weapons programme as a result of the investigation and the intense media spotlight on Pakistan.
"Far from roll back or freeze, Pakistan would continue to undertake qualitative and, if necessary, quantitative upgrades with the objective of consolidating the national deterrence in line with its minimum deterrence needs," it said.