- WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The United
States withheld criticism of Pakistan despite leaks of nuclear secrets
to Libya and other countries, so long as US troops could launch a search
for Osama bin Laden in the Islamic state, said a report released Sunday.
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- "It's a quid pro quo," a former senior intelligence
official told New Yorker reporter Seymour Hersh.
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- "We're going to get our troops inside Pakistan in
return for not forcing (Pakistani leader Pervez) Musharraf to deal with
(Pakistan's nuclear research director Abdul Qadeer) Khan," who admitted
sharing nuclear secrets with US foes Iran, Libya and North Korea.
-
- Musharraf pardoned Khan, who admitted "full responsibility"
for the leaks and denied military involvement in his proliferation.
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- "One thing we know is that this was not a rogue
operation," a Bush administration official told The New Yorker.
-
- "Suppose (atom bomb inventor) Edward Teller had
suddenly decided to spread nuclear technology and equipment around the
world. Do you really think he could do that without the government knowing?
How do you get missiles from North Korea to Pakistan? Do you think (Khan)
shipped all the centrifuges by Federal Express?"
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- Hersh's article appeared in the issue of the New York
weekly hitting newsstands Monday.
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- Washington said it had not pressured Islamabad for fear
of politically weakening Musharraf, a much-needed ally in President George
W. Bush's war on terror.
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- However, the amount of nuclear know-how Khan made available
to hostile nations put the United States in jeopardy, experts told The
New Yorker.
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- "We haven't been this vulnerable since the British
burned Washington in 1814," former UN weapons inspector Robert Gallucci
told The New Yorker.
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- All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse.
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- http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040229190439.q5jl04vh.html
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