Pakistan scientist gave nuke secrets to Iran, North Korea

THE founder of Pakistan’s nuclear programme Abdul Qadeer Khan has admitted he transferred nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea, a Pakistani government official said yesterday.

Mr Khan made the confession in a written statement submitted "a couple of days ago" to investigators probing allegations of nuclear proliferation by Pakistan, the official said. The transfers were made in the late 1980s and the early and mid 1990s, and were motivated by "personal greed and ambition", the official said.

The official could not give details of the nuclear transfers.

A meeting of the National Command Authority that controls Pakistan's nuclear assets was briefed on the statement at a meeting on Saturday, when Mr Khan long regarded as a national hero in Pakistan was sacked from his position as a scientific adviser to the prime minister.

A military official briefed a number of Pakistani journalists late on Saturday about Mr Khan's confession. Mr Khan had previously been reported as denying any wrongdoing.