London: The clandestine nuclear weapons programmes of Iran, Libya and North Korea were all fuelled by the Khan Research Laboratories in Kahuta in North Pakistan, a leading London weekly reported today (Jan 18, 2004).

"Dramatic evidence from Iran and now Libya reveals a clandestine and sophisticated network, stretching from North Korea, Malaysia and China to Russia, Germany and Dubai. Yet one country more than any other stands accused of easing this proliferation. In the network of illegal radioactive trade, all roads point to Pakistan. More precisely, they lead to the Khan Research Laboratories in Kahuta in North Pakistan," 'The Observer' stated in a special report.

Abdul Qadeer Khan, revered as father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, is implicated in the proliferation of weapons in Iran, according to the report.

During India's first nuclear test, he was working in Holland for an Anglo-Dutch-German nuclear engineering consortium called Urenco. Through his work there, Khan became aware of secret blueprints for two types of uranium enrichment centrifuges: one based on rotors made of aluminium and another based on a highly-strengthened alloy of steel.

According to the report, Khan went on to steal the blueprints and a list of Urenco suppliers. With the blessing of the then Pakistani Government, he established the Khan Research Laboratories near Islamabad and, with the help of the Chinese, went on to secretly develop the country's bomb.

Khan, who once said that all Western countries are enemies of Islam, had fundamentalist sympathies and is known as the "godfather of the Islamic bomb".