Washington: The United States has said that it was for Pakistan to decide whether to prosecute scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan for leaking nuclear secrets to North Korea, Libya and Iran.

"They are the ones conducting the investigation and making any decisions as to what should happen to individuals or programmes," US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said yesterday (Feb 2, 2004).

He said the US welcomed Pakistan's investigation of the leakage of nuclear secrets and was following the events.

"It is a sign of how seriously Pakistan takes the commitments that President Musharraf has made to make sure that his nation is not a source of prohibited technologies for other countries," Boucher said.

Pakistan in this process has been working "very closely with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and other Governments as they investigate."

Boucher said that the US has had exchanges with Pakistan in the past on nuclear developments around the world.

"We know", said Boucher, "this has been a subject of importance to us. But if you look at the information the Pakistanis are providing, they are talking more about information that came out through the mechanism of the IAEA."