Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani scientist at the centre of a nuclear black market, gave Iran centrifuges, Pakistani Information Minister said yesterday. Centrifuges are used to purify uranium for use as fuel for nuclear weapons. Pakistan has admitted in the past that Khan, dubbed the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, smuggled nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya, but has not given specifics as to what he supplied.

"He has given centrifuges to Iran, but the government was in no way involved in this," Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said.

Khan, revered in Pakistan as the man who secured for Pakistan the nuclear arms capability to balance that of India, admitted to proliferating nuclear materials last year and made a televised apology to the nation.

Khan remains under close guard at his home in Islamabad and authorities have refused to allow experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency to question him.

PHOTO CAPTION

The father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb Abdul Qadeer Khan seen in January 2004 in Islamabad. (AFP)