On 5 February 2004, the day after Khan's televised confession, President Musharraf pardoned him. However, Khan remained under house arrest.[34]
The United States imposed no sanctions following the confession and pardon. U.S. officials said that in the War on Terrorism, it was not their goal to denounce or imprison people but "to get results." Sanctions on Pakistan or demands for an independent investigation of the Pakistan Armed Forces might have led to restrictions on or the loss of use of Pakistan Armed Forces bases needed by United States and NATO troops in Afghanistan. "It's just another case where you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar," a U.S. government official explained.[citation needed] The U.S. also refrained from applying further direct pressure on Pakistan to disclose more about Khan's activities due to a strategic calculation that such pressure might topple President Musharraf.
In the last several days its been revealed that Pakistani generals may have been involved in the selling of these secrets.
The story of the world's worst case of nuclear smuggling took a new twist on Thursday when documents surfaced appearing to implicate two former Pakistani generals in the sale of uranium enrichment technology to North Korea in return for millions of dollars in cash and jewels handed over in a canvas bag and cardboard boxes of fruit.
The source of the documents is AQ Khan, who confessed in 2004 to selling parts and instructions for the use of high-speed centrifuges in enriching uranium to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
A.Q. Khan provided a letter written in English which can be read here
This is the letter purportedly written by Jon Byong Ho, a longtime confidante of the father and son who have ruled North Korea since 1948. Jon is an inside player who rarely travels and his signed documents have been seen by few officials outside North Korea, making it impossible to authenticate the letter with complete certainty.
But U.S. officials confirm that he long directed North Korea’s defense procurement and nuclear weapons efforts, putting him in a position to know the events the letter depicts.
Who really controls Pakistan? Is it the military or is it the intelligence services?
Some Western> intelligence officials and other experts have said that they think the letter is authentic and that it offers confirmation of a transaction they have long suspected but could never prove. Pakistani officials, including those named as recipients of the cash, have called the letter a fake. Khan, whom some in his country have hailed as a national hero, is at odds with many Pakistani officials, who have said he acted alone in selling nuclear secrets
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