NEW YORK, Jan 6: Pakistan has been accused in a report on Tuesday of being the source of centrifuge design technology that helped Libya make big strides in its nuclear programme within the past two years.

The New York Times quoted US officials in Washington and other Western experts as saying they had no evidence that President Pervez Musharraf's government knew about the episode. But it reported that the "main aid to Libya appears to have come since (Sept 11) attacks, suggesting that Pakistani scientists may have continued their trade even after the explicit warning."

Many of the centrifuge parts that Libya imported were manufactured in Malaysia, the paper said, quoting unnamed experts familiar with the investigation.

The transfer of Pakistani designs made it possible for Libya to make "major strides" in enriching uranium for use in nuclear weapons, the paper said, quoting unnamed Bush administration officials and other Western experts in a report date-lined Tripoli.

US and Western experts are gleaning new information about Libya's nuclear programme and how it was supplied after Tripoli's surprise announcement on Dec 19 that it would dismantle its weapons of mass destruction programmes and allow international inspections of its nuclear facilities.-AFP