Qadeer Khan, the architect of the country's atomic program, was a "closed case," a day after the disgraced icon alleged the president likely played a role in spreading the technology. Khan told The Associated Press on Friday that Pakistan's army supervised a 2000 shipment of used P-1 centrifuges to North Korea. It must have been sent with the approval of President Pervez Musharraf, an army chief who took power in a 1999 coup, Khan alleged.
The comments caused a stir in Pakistani media, and newspapers played the story prominently on their front pages Saturday.
"The nuclear proliferation issue is a closed case," said Mohammed Sadiq, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, reiterating a longtime Pakistani stance. "We do not think that a debate is required on it."
The allegations are the most controversial leveled by Khan, who in recent months has agitated for an end to his virtual house arrest and backed off his 2004 confession that he was solely responsible for spreading nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
"It was a North Korean plane, and the army had complete knowledge about it and the equipment," Khan said. "It must have gone with his (Musharraf's) consent."
Pakistan has repeatedly denied that its army or government knew about Khan's proliferation activities. Still, Khan's allegations would match expert assessments that running such a network would have been difficult without some involvement from Pakistan's security apparatus.
Political and military analyst Talat Masood said it made sense that the effort was coordinated by more than one person.
"If the requirement of an aircraft was there, the requirement of dealing with another country was there, it's not just one man who could have done it," Masood said. "Whether they were doing it individually or collectively or as a state policy or informally - that needs to be determined."
Khan's allegations were reported earlier Friday by the Japanese news agency Kyodo.
Musharraf's spokesman, Rashid Qureshi, rejected Khan's claims. "I can say with full confidence that it is all lies and false statements," he said.
In a speech Friday, Musharraf made no mention of Khan's allegations, but said he would not quit the presidency - as political opponents have been demanding.
The army's spokesman declined to respond Friday and could not immediately be reached Saturday.
