Islamabad, Feb 01: Pakistan's investigation into the sale of nuclear weapons technology to Iran and Libya has narrowed down to seven suspects, including top scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan who has been sacked as government adviser, officials said today. Revered as the father of the country's and the Islamic world's atomic bomb, khan's removal as adviser to the Prime Minister is a sensitive issue. Pakistan developed nuclear weapons from the 1970s in response to rival India's programme.
President Pervez Musharraf, who has promised to punish anyone who leaked nuclear weapons secrets abroad, has yet to decide whether Khan and others will be put on trial.
''That decision will be taken only when the investigation is complete,'' Major-General Shaukat Sultan, Pakistan's military spokesman, told newspersons.
''If during the investigation anyone is found out, then that person will be looked into. No one is above the law.''
He said that the investigation would be wound up after the holiday of Eid al-Adha, which ends in Pakistan on Wednesday. Musharraf will then address the nation.
Musharraf, a key us ally in the ''war on terror'', is under pressure from the west to pursue allegations of Pakistan's role in the murky black market of nuclear secrets, which point to links between its scientists and Libya, Iran, Iraq and North Korea.
Details of Khan's large personal fortune and extravagant lifestyle have been reported in the local press, but many refuse to blame the 69-year-old, saying he was acting at the behest of the military which was desperate to develop an atomic bomb.
Whether the net will widen to include senior military and intelligence officials, who western diplomats say must have known about Khan's dealings abroad, remains to be seen.

Sultan said that there were two retired brigadiers among the seven suspects.

Bureau Report