Islamabad, Feb 04: Now that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has exposed one of the greatest nuclear proliferation scandals in history, the question gripping Pakistan is who will take the blame. The General, who took power in a 1999 military coup, has already said the government and Army were not involved in the sale of nuclear technology to Libya and two ''axis of evil'' countries, Iran and North Korea.
Instead, he has blamed scientists acting for personal gain. Last week, the mastermind of Pakistan's nuclear programme, Abdul Qadeer Khan, was sacked as adviser to the Prime Minister on science after reportedly confessing to his role.
But can Musharraf let national heroes such as Khan carry the can, when many Pakistanis and diplomats think they could not have acted without the knowledge and involvement of the military?
''The backlash now is against the Army,'' said Najam Sethi, editor of a leading Pak daily.
''It is against Musharraf for being an American stooge and against the Army, for protecting their own and sacrificing scientists who played such a valuable role,'' he said.
Musharraf's won plaudits from outside Pakistan for what was seen as a brave decision to investigate the alleged transfer of uranium enrichment technology to so-called ''rogue states'' in the 1980s and 1990s.
But he may have had little choice when faced with overwhelming evidence from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and from Iran and Libya themselves. Bureau Report