Umer Farooq, Special to Arab News

ISLAMABAD, 9 February 2004 — US Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed “appreciation” of Pakistan’s investigation into nuclear proliferation to Iran, Libya and North Korea in a call to President Pervez Musharraf, an official said yesterday. Powell will visit Pakistan “shortly,” a top government official said on condition of anonymity.

The United States has refused to publicly criticize Pakistan for leaks of nuclear secrets to countries included in US President George W. Bush’s “Axis of Evil.” Instead, Washington has praised the investigation and called Musharraf’s decision last week to pardon Abdul Qadeer Khan an internal matter.

In a phone conversation Saturday, Powell “called to convey the United States’ appreciation over the results of the investigations and the manner in which they were conducted,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said.

In response, Masood Khan said Musharraf “reiterated Pakistan’s resolve that no such activity will be allowed to take place in the future as Pakistan’s nuclear program was under the watch and firm control of the National Command Authority,” the body that oversees the country’s nuclear assets.

Musharraf has strongly denied any official involvement in nuclear weapons proliferation, and said he won’t order an independent investigation or allow international inspectors to oversee nuclear program. However, many are skeptical that technology could have been transferred — sometimes in military cargo aircraft — without official approval.