Pakistan supplies countries with nuke technology

Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - the UN's nuclear watchdog - have recently uncovered a huge procurement network developed by Iran during the past 17 years to provide it with materials, tools and specialist knowledge.

Iran has not yet directly identified Pakistan as a supplier but reports say there is ample evidence to conclude it has provided crucial blueprints, technical guidance and equipment.

Pakistan responded by saying recently that the father of its nuclear bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, is being questioned by officials about possible links between Pakistan and the Iranian nuclear programme.

Reports suggested he had been under house arrest for several weeks following Iran's acknowledgement that it had been using centrifuge designs apparently identical to those used in Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme.

Masood Khan, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Dr Khan, regarded as a national hero for creating an "Islamic atomic bomb" to rival India, is being questioned by Pakistani authorities, who are conducting interviews with several nuclear scientists working at Dr A Q Khan Research Laboratories.

Masood Khan said: "He is too eminent a scientist to undergo a normal debriefing session. However, some questions have been raised with him in relation to the ongoing debriefing sessions."

Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Pakistan's Information minister, said: "Some individuals may have been doing something on their own. The government of Pakistan has not authorised any transfers of sensitive nuclear technology to other countries. Only individuals are being investigated."

The investigators believe that Pakistan's transfer of information happened many years ago and before General Pervez Musharraf, the current military ruler, came to power. But the revelation will further complicate the relationship between the US and Pakistan, which President Bush claims has been an ally in the so-called war on terror. There was no immediate comment recently from Washington, though reports suggest American officials are involved in the investigations and possibly the questioning of the Pakistani scientists.

Experts said Pakistan's transfer of key information was vital to Iran. David Albright, a former IAEA inspector in Iraq and president of the Institute for Science and International Security - a Washington research group that has tracked Iran's nuclear progress - said: "The possession of detailed designs could allow Iran to skip many difficult research steps."

Until now, Islamabad has steadfastly denied allegations that it has helped Iran and North Korea, countries regarded by the Bush administration as "axis of evil" states, with atomic programmes.

Diplomats from Britain, France and Germany obtained an agreement from Iran last month to open its nuclear facilities to international inspectors. The IAEA revealed soon afterwards that Iran had been secretly manufacturing small amounts of plutonium, normally associated with nuclear weapons. Iran has denied trying to develop such weapons, claiming that it is only developing a supply of nuclear fuel.