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Pakistan Tied To N. Korea Nuke Deal

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The Associated Press

Published: July 5, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's army under President Pervez Musharraf supervised a shipment of uranium centrifuges to North Korea in 2000, the disgraced architect of Pakistan's atomic weapons program said Friday.

The claim is the most controversial leveled by Abdul Qadeer Khan, who in recent months has been agitating for an end to house arrest and backing off his 2004 confession that he was solely responsible for spreading Pakistan's nuclear arms technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya.

The retired scientist's comments could prove embarrassing for Pakistan, which has repeatedly denied the army or government knew about Khan's proliferation activities before they were uncovered in 2003.

His allegations also could become awkward for Washington in its support for Musharraf, who has been a key U.S. ally in the region but has seen his power and popularity at home slide over the past year from anger over his firings of judges and confrontations with Islamic extremists.

A spokesman for Musharraf rejected Khan's claims, calling them "all lies."

However, some Pakistani experts long have said Khan's network could not have operated without the knowledge of the country's pervasive intelligence agencies.

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