Disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist A Q Khan, blamed for heading a proliferation network, was made a scapegoat to save "more powerful" leaders, former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has claimed.
"We believe that A Q Khan was asked to fall on a sword in order to save other more powerful people and in exchange he was pardoned and was also allowed to keep the 400 million dollars too," Bhutto told in an interview at London.
On Friday, the Pakistani military had claimed Khan had run a "private" proliferation network and had not named any "state functionary" during his interrogation. It also said he had named only two ex-aides of Bhutto in this connection.
Bhutto, currently living in exile in London, refused to accept that Khan was involved in proliferation on his own. "I don't believe that Khan did this on his own.
"My party has called for a parliamentary investigation (into) the sales of nuclear export because we think it is very dangerous. We can't allow people to get away with such kind of sales and we need to question Khan to find out how these sales were made," the Pakistan People's Party leader said.