Islamabad: Acting on the recommendation of the Cabinet, President Pervez Musharraf today (Feb 5, 2004) granted pardon to the father of the country's nuclear bomb Abdul Qadeer Khan, a day after he publicly admitted leaking sensitive nuclear know-how to Iran, Libya and North Korea, a local TV channel reported.

The Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali earlier in the day recommended Musharraf to accept the scientist's mercy petition and forgive him.

Khan yesterday met Musharraf and admitted his involvement in leaking nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya and sought pardon.

"I give him pardon," Musharraf told a news conference, a day after Khan's televised confession and request for forgiveness.

"There's a written appeal from his side and there's a pardon written from my side,'' Musharraf told reporters.

PTI