The Bush administration is 'very satisfied' and 'quite comfortable' with the way Islamabad has handled the issue of nuclear scientist A Q Khan's proliferation network, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said.
In an interview with Sixty Minutes of CBS, some portions of which already made news in the last several days, Musharraf brushed aside the suspicion that since no one in the outside world has been allowed to talk to Khan because he may have something to say about the participation of the Pakistani army in the sale of nuclear technology.
"That is absolutely not the case. President Bush is very satisfied and quite comfortable with what we have done," Musharraf remarked, making the point that Pakistani people will not have tolerated a long trial and prison sentence for A Q Khan.
Stating that Khan leaked the secrets because of 'ego, satisfaction and money,' the Pakistani President pointed out that while the outside world may have wanted tougher punishment for the Pakistani scientist, domestic opinion will have nothing along those lines.
"Today, he is a hero of Pakistan because he has given us the atom bomb. But otherwise now he does not even speak on telephone," Musharraf maintained. It was pointed out that by his own account in his book Khan had shipped two dozen centrifuges to North Korea and 18 tons of material and centrifuges to Libya and Iran.
When asked how it was possible to move all this material without someone in the government or the army coming to know Musharraf replied: "Bringing these centrifuges or their parts, these are not huge elements. They can be put into your car and moved," and the material must have been "transported many times" to Iran and Libya.
"What is the military meant for? That is to safeguard them from outside attack." Musharraf said, asserting that the internal controls were not weak but 'very strong' and agreeing with the interviewer that this was exception of the person running the operation.
"He tells his security man this vehicle has to move, okay, to the airport. Okay. Put it in a C-130 aircraft and send it," the Pakistani President explained.
The interview for Sixty Minutes was done in Pakistan and covered a range of issues that aside from Pakistan included the subject of extremism inside Pakistan, what Musharraf thought of the Pakistani-origin
Last week, CBS released transcripts of that portion of the interview in which Musharraf said that the United States through a senior State Department official -- the Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage -- had threatened to bomb Pakistan back to the 'Stone Age' if it did not fall in line in the war on terror. Armitage has disputed the exact language but has said that a tough message was indeed passed on to Pakistan.
"It was a threat certainly. I took it that the United States after having whatever happened to the World Trade Center will be a wounded country, a wounded sole superpower and they are going to do anything to counter and to punish the perpetrators. Now, if we stand in the way of that we are going to suffer," Musharraf said.
On the people who tried to assassinate him, Musharraf said: "These people are extremists, terrorists they believe in forcing their views on others. So, I am standing in their way, frankly."
Musharraf went on to say that it did indeed 'disturb' him that in the suicide attack most of the plotters were from Pakistan's Air Force. "It is all the lower ranks. They are susceptible to such extremist, terrorist tendencies and to be indoctrinated to do these things," he said.
In the context of the more recent developments such as the plot to blow up civilian airliners over the Atlantic, Musharraf was asked if it bothered or surprised him that seven of the accused were Pakistani and with dual citizenship.
"It disappoints me, yes. But at the same time, it annoys us also. They are not Pakistanis. They are born and bred in Britain, and they are British," Musharraf said.
Pointed out that President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has complained for a long time that the Taliban is getting assistance from within Pakistan and if this was going to end, Musharraf replied: "Yes, indeed people could be coming here. People could be training and going back. And we will act against them. We are trying to do our best."
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