Scientists working on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program were barred Tuesday from leaving the country as the government intensified its inquiry into allegations that nuclear technology had been shared with Iran.
A senior intelligence official also said a former army commander had approved the transfer of technology to Iran.
The official said the scientist who had led the effort to build an atomic bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, had told investigators that any sharing of nuclear technology with Iran had the approval of Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg, the commander of Pakistan’s army from 1988 to 1991. The official said aides to Khan had told investigators the same thing.
It is not known if the retired general has been questioned about the matter. While army chief, Beg publicly advocated a strategic partnership between Iran and Pakistan. But in a November interview, the general said he had not approved the transfer of nuclear technology to Iran or any other country.
“I was privy to the nuclear policy,” he said. “There was a policy of nuclear restraint.”
U.S. officials have suspected that Pakistan has shared nuclear technology with Iran, North Korea and Libya. Pakistani officials have said that no technology was given to Libya, that no technology is currently going to North Korea and that the allegations about Iran are being aggressively investigated.
They have said that individuals may have leaked technology to Iran in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but that the government never authorized such action.
In a speech to parliament on Saturday, President Pervez Musharraf, a general who seized power in a 1999 coup, said Pakistan had to prove to the world community that it was a responsible nuclear power.
Within hours eight former and current officials were taken into custody for questioning, government officials said. Three scientists had been detained for questioning in November and December.
The aggressiveness of the inquiry has provoked protests across the political spectrum and accusations that the Musharraf government is reacting to pressure from Washington.
Pro-Western political parties and analysts as well as the families of the scientists also criticized the government, saying the scientists lauded as national heroes just weeks ago were now being humiliated. They charge senior army and government officials of using the men as scapegoats to increase their credibility with Western leaders.