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Pakistan Rejects Bhutto Plan For UN Access To Khan
Islamabad (AFP) Sept 26, 2007 Pakistan's government Wednesday condemned ex-premier Benazir Bhutto for saying she would let the UN quiz the disgraced father of the country's nuclear bomb if she regained power. Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and hardline Islamists also criticised Bhutto for saying that she would allow UN inspectors, but not Western powers, to question scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. Khan in 2004 admitted passing atomic secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya. President Pervez Musharraf has refused to grant any outside access to the scientist, who was pardoned but remains under virtual house arrest. "Pakistan cannot allow any interference in its affairs. We have ourselves investigated AQ Khan's case, we don't think it needs to be taken up again," Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azeem said. "There is a strong reaction in Pakistan over Benazir Bhutto's statement on AQ Khan. I think her statement is based on some wrong information," he told private Geo television. Bhutto, who has vowed to return to Pakistan on October 18, said in Washington that "we do believe that IAEA... would have the right to question AQ Khan," she said, referring to the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency. "Many Pakistanis are cynical about whether AQ Khan could have done this without any official sanction," she told the Middle East Institute, promising to hold parliamentary hearings on the question if re-elected prime minister. AQ Khan remains a national hero since Pakistan detonated its first nuclear bomb in 1998, and even opposition parties who are calling for Musharraf's ouster sided with the government on the issue. "This is highly shameful statement," Imran Khan said, adding that Bhutto wanted the blessing of the United States to "take power and rid herself of corruption cases." Two-time premier Bhutto faces several graft claims which forced her abroad in 1999. "Benazir Bhutto is doing everything to appease the United States," said Liaquat Baloch, a senior member of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, or United Action Front, the country's main alliance of Islamic parties. "She wants to gain power and the people of Pakistan know that to achieve her objective she is ready to compromise the country's nuclear programme," he told AFP. Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, leader of the pro-Taliban Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam party, said Bhutto's statement was "against the solidarity and integrity of the country." Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links News From Across The Stans
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