Pakistani High Court Judge Anwar ul Haq confirmed Tuesday he accepted a petition regarding Major Islam ul-Haq, a senior aide to the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb.

Islam and seven others linked to Pakistan's key uranium enrichment facility Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) were picked up from their homes late Saturday for "debriefing sessions" in the wake of reports from an international nuclear watchdog.

"We have sought the high court's intervention to declare the detention of Major Islam as illegal and unconstitutional," lawyer Ikram Chaudhry told AFP.

The petition was filed on behalf of Islam's wife Nilofer, he said.

"We have asked the court that the government be restrained from handing him over to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or any other foreign agency," Chaudhry said.

The judge has directed the government, including the military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), to submit a response to the court on Friday, Chaudhry said.

Pakistan has been barraged over the past year by accusations that its scientists passed nuclear knowledge to Iran, North Korea and Libya -- allegations the government has firmly rejected.

But Information Minister Sheikh Rashid confirmed Tuesday the government had received a letter from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), though the contents "cannot be disclosed," he told AFP.

He said the debriefing of eight officials associated with KRL -- four scientists, one technician and three retired army officers -- was ongoing.

Foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan said Monday that the investigations were initiated after Pakistan received "some information shared by the government of Iran ... and some information shared by the IAEA."

He said also said the investigations were continuing "but no conclusion has so far been drawn" whether a transfer of technology occurred.

"Let's not jump to conclusions, there's no presumption of guilt."

Islam is the principal staff officer of doctor Abdul Qadeer Khan, who in 1970s established KRL near Islamabad and headed it until retiring in 2002.

Two other KRL directors, Yasin Chohan and Farooq Mohammad, were also taken from their homes in December for questioning. Chohan has since returned home but Farooq is still being held.

Khan, who in December said that some individual scientists may have passed on nuclear secrets for "personal greed", stressed Monday that "no government institution or entity was ever involved in any such alleged transaction."

He ruled out the possibility of handing over the KRL officials over to any foreign agency and said that no foreign agency was involved in the investigations.

Pakistan went public as a nuclear power in May 1998 when it conducted underground nuclear tests in response to similar tests by rival India.

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