Washington: Defending his decision to pardon the country's top scientist involved in proliferation of nuclear technology, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said that he faced a dilemma while taking this stand, as the father of the country's nuclear bomb was a "national hero" who had done something which could bring "harm" to the nation.

Responding to questions by NBC correspondent that the pardon he granted to Abdul Qadeer Khan following his confession that he had leaked nuclear secrets to Libya, North Korea and Iran as head of Pakistan's nuclear programme from the 1970s, was a complete "whitewash", Musharraf disagreed with it completely.

"I disagree with it absolutely. One must understand reality. There's an international perception. There's a domestic perception," he said.

"There's a person involved who's a hero because of what he's done for us. He's hero he was a hero even for me. And here's a person who's brought the deterrence given us deterrence, potential in the unconventional field. So this certainly is a very, very sensitive issue.

"Now he did something that could hurt the nation. I was in a dilemma, certainly. The dilemma is he's a great man, he's a hero and he's a hero of every individual on the street. Yet he has done something, which could bring harm to the nation. Now how to deal with it? We had to handle it very carefully," he told NBC in an interview from Islamabad.

On Afghanistan, Musharraf said that he would support the deployment of US troops near the Pakistani border to turn up pressure on al Qaeda but stressed American forces hunting al Qaeda and Taliban fighters will not be allowed to cross into Pakistan.

"I have been all along saying that there's a vacuum in Afghanistan which we have to fill in the countryside, so I'm for increasing strength there," he said.

"US troops are not needed in Pakistan's side of the border because al Qaeda members hiding there are not in such strength that a whole operation, a massive operation has to be launched," he said.

"And we have developed a very effective, quick reaction force," Musharraf claimed, adding, "So that is what is required and we are capable of doing all of that."