Washington: The US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has assured him that the pardon granted to the country's top scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan was "conditional" and that he shared the US goal of pulling up Khan's proliferation network by its roots.

Powell, who was speaking to reporters yesterday (Feb 09, 2004) at a joint appearance with Crown Prince Salman of Bahrain, also said that he had no current plans to visit Pakistan, though he may do so later.

About his conversation with Musharraf, Powell said, "We had a very good conversation. The Pakistani Government has done quite a bit now to roll up the network."

"I said to President Musharraf that we wanted to learn as much as we could about what Mr Khan and the network was up to, and it has to be pulled up by its roots and examined to make sure that we have left nothing behind. He assured me that that was his objective as well, and that he would share with us all of the information that they came up with," he said.

"We also talked about the issue of amnesty for Dr. Khan, and President Musharraf reminded me that it was a conditional amnesty. And that is the way they are dealing with the matter," Powell said.

"And it is a matter for the Pakistani Government to handle and to make their own decisions with respect to how to roll up the network and what the appropriate action might be with respect to Dr. Khan," he said.

Powell said he has no current plans to travel to Pakistan. "I am sure I will before the spring and summer are out," he added.

The Secretary of State said that in none of his conversations with Musharraf, has he indicated that a trip was imminent. Powell added, "I read with the same interest as you did over the weekend that someone said I was on my way to Pakistan."

Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher has said Pakistan has "indeed stopped" the nuclear proliferation activity "that was going on".

He said Musharraf has "made clear that the pardon (to A Q Khan) is conditional that there be no activity from this particular individual, and that they are continuing to investigate the others who might have been involved in the activity so that they do get to the bottom of it."

Boucher, who was responding to questions at his daily briefing yesterday said, "The Pakistani Government, both through the President and the Foreign Ministry statements, has made clear that they are going to find out everything they can and share that information with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"We welcome these statements, we welcome the progress they have made, and we look forward to their continuing and finishing the investigation and sharing the results with the appropriate international organizations."

Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage, during his last visit to Pakistan, talked to the Government of Pakistan at various levels about non-proliferation issues Boucher said, he could not confirm that Armitage discussed with the Pakistanis the CIA's (Central Intelligence Agency) findings on the proliferation activities of A.Q. Khan and others.