Reuters Posted online: Friday, February 06, 2004 at 1917 hours IST Updated: Tuesday, February 10, 2004 at 1450 hours IST 1 234Next » Islamabad, February 6: At first glance it's the perfect face-saving solution. But a dramatic confession by Pakistan's top nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan that he was personally responsible for selling nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea is unlikely to draw a line under one of the largest proliferation scandals ever.
"A.Q. Khan has been made a scapegoat," said Samina Ahmed, Pakistan director of the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think thank. "Will the issue die that easily in Pakistan? It will be interesting to see."
The scientist's carefully scripted television apology was the result of a deal between Khan and the army, newspapers said.
Khan absolved the government and military of any responsibility for the nuclear leaks, and on Thursday Musharraf said he had officially pardoned Khan.
Washington appears to have agreed to stand by Pakistan's embattled president and not push for a full investigation into the military's role in selling nuclear secrets that could undermine one of its most important allies in the Muslim world.
US administration officials said that they are satisfied with assurances from Musharraf of no further proliferation, and do not seem to want to unsettle a man who survived two assassination attempts late last year.
