WASHINGTON, March 19: The United States is believed to have assured Pakistan that it will not blame the Pakistani government for the activities of the Khan network. In return, Pakistan will extend full cooperation in probing the network’s links to other states and non-state actors. This also means that if at some stage US investigators feel they need to have direct access to Dr A. Q. Khan, Pakistan should provide such an access. The outlines of this policy, which was apparently also discussed during US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent visit to Islamabad, appear in recent briefings by State Department officials.“We have a good understanding about how that network came about, how it operated and we certainly don’t see any connection with the leadership of Pakistan,” said State Department’s deputy spokesman Adam Ereli while explaining the US position on the alleged link between the Khan network and the Pakistani government.

Refuting the allegation often levelled in the US media that Pakistan was not cooperating with the US investigation into the network’s activities, Mr Ereli said: “We certainly did not have an idea of the full scope or nature of this activity until the Pakistanis revealed what was going on.”

But when asked if the US had abandoned its quest to question Dr Khan, the deputy spokesman said: “We will continue to follow up and work with the Pakistanis on efforts to completely dismantle that network in terms of details on how we are to do that (probe), I am not a position to tell you.”

“Are you intending to indicate that we have ceased to pursue the question of A. Q. Khan as a point in what we bring up with the Pakistanis,” he was asked.

“Oh, we discuss it. No, I am not saying we cease to bring it up. It is a subject of discussion,” said Mr Ereli.

At the same briefing he also expressed US worries over the alleged links between Iran and the Khan network: “To the extent that there are indications that there were connections to A.Q. Khan, obviously, we all want to get to the bottom of that. It is implicit in what I was saying about working with the Pakistanis to understand the full extent and scope of what that network involved.”

When Dawn asked another State Department official whether Ms Rice also raised the issue of the Khan network’s links to Iran during her recent visit to Islamabad, he said: “I think this subject came up.”

The official said: “The information Pakistan has provided to us has been important to our own global efforts to dismantle this network.”

Asked why the Pakistanis should provide answers that could embarrass them, the official said, “We believe that Pakistan takes seriously its commitment to dismantle the A.Q. Khan network.”