Security Lapses Said to Hit Pakistan Lab

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Loose controls at Pakistan's top nuclear facility allowed a small number of its employees to profit on the black market, intelligence and government officials said Saturday.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said investigators have submitted these findings in a report to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who is to chair a meeting later Saturday of Pakistan's National Command Authority - which controls the country's nuclear assets.

The authority was to discuss how to prevent a repeat of the security lapses at the nuclear lab, a government official said, adding there is no evidence of any proliferation since Musharraf took power in October 1999 in a bloodless coup.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan wouldn't say whether the meeting would take a decision on actions against accused scientists. The government has promised throughout the week that the two-month probe into alleged transfers of nuclear technology to Iran and Libya would soon be complete.

The founder of the nuclear program, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, and top aide Dr. Mohammed Farooq are among the key suspects. Officials have said the two scientists have failed to account for money in personal bank accounts.

In all, six scientists and security officials from the country's top nuclear facility - the Khan Research Laboratories, named after Khan - are being held. Khan isn't in custody, but acquaintances say he's been restricted to the capital Islamabad.

Any decision to punish top scientists, particularly Khan - long revered as the architect of Pakistan's nuclear deterrent against rival India - would be a tough one for Musharraf and would likely trigger an angry reaction from nationalists.

Officials told The Associated Press on Friday that "loose checks and controls" at the nuclear lab led to the transfer of nuclear technology from Pakistan.

"It is almost clear that a small number of people attached with Pakistan's nuclear program worked for international black market dealers in 1980s for personal gains," said a government official. These dealers supplied Iran and Libya, the official said, but he would not give details on the alleged involvement of Pakistanis.

Khan and Farooq have told investigators they didn't supply any technology to Iran and Libya, and Khan has maintained he did nothing to damage the interests of Pakistan, officials said.

Pakistan's government says it never sanctioned transfer of nuclear technology to other countries and will act against anyone guilty of doing so. The government has publicly acknowledged "one or two people" acted for personal gain.

Pakistan began its investigation in late November after admissions made by Iran about its nuclear program to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, that indicated a Pakistan connection. Allegations also have surfaced that Pakistani technology spread to Libya and North Korea.