Washington: Amidst reports that Pakistani scientist A Q Khan has pointed to President Pervez Musharraf's "involvement" in nuclear proliferation, top US (United States) officials have said America does not have any information that Pakistan Government was involved in leaking nuclear technology and it "values" Musharraf's assurances in this regard.

Pakistan, which is probing individuals for sale of nuclear technology, has been "very forthright in the last several years with us about proliferation" and America does not have any information about the Government's involvement, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Japan's 'Asahi Shimbun' in an interview.

"The question of A Q Khan is one that is under investigation by Pakistani authorities. I will let them make any comments they want to about it. I don't care to talk about that, nor any intelligence we may have on it," he said.

Armitage also said, "I think there is a growing realisation that Pervez Musharraf is the right man in the right time in the leadership of Pakistan."

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan also toed the same line at a media briefing here yesterday (Feb 03, 2004), saying that Musharraf has assured the US that Pakistan was not involved in proliferation activity.

"Pakistan was not involved in any kind of proliferation. I'm talking about the Government of Pakistan and we value those assurances."

The ongoing investigation into these proliferation issues by Islamabad, McClellan said, "is a sign of how strongly Pakistan takes that commitment."

Asked if that investigation leads to Musharraf, as Khan seemed to suggest it should, what would be the consequences for his relationship with US, McClellan reiterated, "I think the investigation by the Government of Pakistan demonstrates their commitment to working to address proliferation issues."

To a question if the US is taking Musharraf on faith or has evidence to back that up, McClellan said, "I think that I would leave it the way I did. We value his assurances."

"I would point out that Pakistan is working closely with us on a number of fronts in the global war on terrorism. And we are continuing to work closely with Pakistan to win the war on terrorism, and we appreciate the efforts they are taking to address these proliferation issues," he said.