Nuclear Sales Report Rejected

Pakistan has denied allegations that its disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan may have sold secrets to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Arab countries.

A Time magazine report that his secret nuclear arms network was broader than initially thought was "baseless and sensationalised", the information minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, said.

A year ago Dr Khan admitted on television selling nuclear knowledge to Iran, Libya and Iraq. Since then Pakistan has insisted that his international network has been dismantled but had refused to let the International Atomic Energy Agency or foreign intelligence agencies interview him.

He denied a specific allegation that 16 cylinders of uranium hexafluoride gas, a critical ingredient in producing weapons-grade uranium, were missing from the Khan Research Laboratories, which are at the heart of Pakistan's nuclear programme.

"The inventory is complete," he said, adding that there was "no way to deliver A Q Khan to anyone".

The extent of Dr Khan's arms network may be raised by the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, when he visits Islamabad next week.

Pakistan says it is conducting its own investigation of Dr Khan's network, but the US and Britain are worried that the nuclear secrets could end up with al-Qaida or other terrorists.

The US ambassador in Islamabad said Pakistan had undertaken to share the results of the investigation.

Pakistani nuclear analysts believe the extent of Dr Khan's network suggests that other officials were involved, hence the reluctance to let foreigners question him.