WASHINGTON, Sept 26: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Wednesday reaffirmed her intention to allow a UN nuclear body to interview Dr A. Q. Khan if she comes to power, adding that it was in Pakistan’s interest to assure the world that it had nothing to hide.

Her original statement – given at a gathering in Washington on Tuesday — caused uproar in Pakistan where both government and opposition leaders opposed allowing any outside interrogators access to Dr Khan.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Ms Bhutto said the issue of allowing or denying the International Atomic Energy Agency access to Dr Khan was based on a hypothetical question asked earlier and she had said that while she would allow IAEA inspectors to question the scientist, the Western governments would not be able to do so.

“So far the IAEA has not made any request to me or to the government of Pakistan but if requested, we would certainly give them the access,” she said, adding that “we would not cover up and will not collude in a cover-up of proliferation activities.”

She said that she did not want the international community to feel that Pakistan was “a rogue state” involved in nuclear proliferation. “People of Pakistan did not acquire nuclear technology to proliferate, they did so to defend themselves,” she added.

Ms Bhutto recalled that the government of Pakistan had already allowed the UN agency to send questions for Dr Khan and had returned the questionnaires with answers from him and there’s no difference in putting the questions to Dr Khan or giving access to him.

She said: “We believe that the protection of our nuclear assets lies in giving the international community assurance that Pakistan does not protect those who proliferate.”

Ms Bhutto strongly criticised the government’s strategy in the tribal belt, noting that it had made the military a target in those areas where 250 soldiers were abducted, hundreds killed and an officer was beheaded.

Her criticism caused a reporter to ask would she recall the troops from Fata if elected. “No, not pull back. Not at all,” she replied. “Using the military is an option but not the last solution”, she added.

Ms Bhutto said she would launch a comprehensive plan to integrate the tribal territory with the rest of the country and hopes to return normalcy to those areas in 12 to 18 months.