Pak denies transferring nuke know-how's to North Korea - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Pakistan has denied reports suggesting that it had transferred nuclear know-how's to North Korea. Referring to an article published in The Washington Post on December 28 titled,"Pakistani scientist depicts more advanced nuclear programme in North Korea", Foreign Office (FO) spokesman, Abdul Basit said the assertions and insinuations made in the story were baseless. "At no point in time were there any authorised transfers of nuclear-related materials. In fact the so-called 'Khan proliferation network' has been effectively dismantled and all relevant information was shared with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the concerned states," The Dawn quoted Basit, as saying. Basit said that nuclear scientist Dr. A.Q. Khan is a closed chapter. "There is no point over dramatising the A.Q. Khan related stories which are more a fiction than fact," he added. The Washington Post had quoted Dr Khan as saying that he negotiated the purchase of 10 Nodong missiles and related technology for 150 million dollars after visiting North Korea in 1994 at the request of the then Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, and top army officials. Meanwhile, Army spokesperson Major General Athar Abbas has also rejected the report, saying Pakistan had already shared all relevant information with countries concerned and the IAEA and that the chapter was now closed. When asked about the alleged involvement of the Pakistani leadership in the nuclear proliferation, Major General Abbas said there is no truth in those claims. "These are dismissed with contempt as a pack of lies, relying on dubious sources that have already been discredited," he said.