Khan played proof against Pak for pardon

He had instructed her to make the evidence public if the government were to prosecute or take other punitive action against him, according to a friend of Khan who has spoken with Khan twice during the investigation, the Post said.

It quoted a friend of Khan and senior investigator as saying that three Army chiefs of staff, including President Pervez Musharraf, were aware of the assistance provided to North Korea in exchange for help with Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme.

Many Pakistanis, the paper pointed out, have questioned how Khan could have conducted such an ambitious series of illicit sales without some level of official support. Though he enjoyed great autonomy as lab director, security at the facility was the responsibility of the military and ISI. The paper recalled that ‘‘partly in response to US pressure’’, Musharraf forced Khan to retire from his lab in 2001.