Top Pakistani scientist and national hero Abdul Qadeer Khan made a dramatic personal apology on Wednesday for leaking atomic secrets, the latest twist in a proliferation scandal stretching from Libya to N Korea. The National Command Authority, which oversees Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and is headed by President Musharraf, said on Wednesday it had deferred Khan’s ‘‘mercy petition’’ to the Cabinet, due to meet on Thursday. In a sombre address on state television, Khan, revered at home as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, absolved the government and fellow scientists of any blame in an apparent bid by all concerned to draw a line under the damaging affair. ‘‘I take full responsibility for my actions and seek your pardon,’’ the silver-haired 69-year-old said in an English speech on PTV. Commentators said his confession smacked of a cover-up, possibly part of a wider deal to spare the powerful military. An open trial of Khan could lead to embarrassing evidence implicating the Army, which Musharraf heads, and make a national martyr of the scientist. Analysts say Musharraf may have agreed to pardon Khan in return for his apology. Washington said a trial was an internal matter for Pakistan but appreciated the efforts. Khan sought to clear his fellow scientists saying they acted under his instructions. Meanwhile, four scientists and security officials have been charged under Security Law of 1952 and put under arrest for three months, TV channels reported. —(Reuters)
