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Pakistan quiet on nuclear scientist's trip to N Korea

Pakistan said it was sharing information with other countries divulged by disgraced top scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, but refused comment on a report he had visited a secret underground plant in communist North Korea and seen nuclear devices.

The New York Times reported this week that Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, told interrogators he inspected the weapons briefly during a trip to North Korea five years ago. If true, it would be the first time that any foreigner has reported inspecting an actual North Korean nuclear weapon, the newspaper said.

The report cited unnamed Asian and US officials who have been briefed by the Pakistanis.

Jon Wolfsthal, who served as a US government monitor at North Korea's main plutonium site in the 1990s, said Washington had believed that North Korea had enough material for one or two bombs.

Khan was not a credible source, however, Wolfsthal said.

"A.Q. Khan is a liar, and he's doing whatever he feels necessary to protect his own interests and protect the government that has pardoned him," said Wolfsthal, now with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.

Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Tuesday that Pakistan shared information arising from its investigation with other countries, but he did not elaborate.

The Times said that Pakistan had begun to provide classified briefings to nations within reach of North Korea's missiles.

A high-level South Korean official confirmed on Tuesday that its government had received information linked to the report from Pakistan and "related countries."

In the meantime, South Korean officials said yesterday they were not changing their assessment of North Korea's nuclear capabilities.
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