Pak opp seeks to put govt on mat for pardoning Khan

ISLAMABAD: Opposition parties in Pakistan have sought to put the government on the mat in the wake of mess in the country''s nuclear establishment arising out of Abdul Qadir Khan''s proliferation activities and the Presidential pardon to the scientist.
Suggesting that there was something fishy behind the pardon, a number of questions were raised about the way the government granted it when investigations were not complete and also why the government called it a conditional pardon.
PPP''s parliamentary leader Raza Rabbani asked why Khan was granted pardon in "such a haste" when government had at that stage stated that investigations had not been completed.
Rabbani''s remarks come close on the heels of comments by party chief Benazir Bhutto in US media that Khan was being made a "scapegoat" and pointed to the involvement of the army top brass in the clandestine transfer of nuclear technology to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
Seeking to put the Government on the mat, the Opposition members moved 10 adjournment motions on the issue.
Going through the developments following the sensational expose, Rabbani wanted to know why, the President had announced a pardon on February five, Government went about the damage control exercise saying it was conditional. Was it because of a telephone call Musharraf received from US Secretary of State Colin Powell on February six? he asked.