Khan accepted full responsibility for leaks of Pakistani nuclear data Wednesday and sought clemency from President Pervez Musharraf, a Pakistan government statement said.

The Times reported that Libyan officials told weapons inspectors they bought the nuclear warhead designs from dealers who were part of the secret network.

"Those blueprints, along with the capability to make enriched uranium, could have given the Libyans all the elements they needed to make a nuclear bomb," the daily said.

"Experts familiar with the contents of the box (in which the designs were flown to the United States) say the designs closely resemble the warheads that China tested in the late 1960's and passed on to Pakistan decades ago."

Government officials, cited by the Times, said there was no evidence that Libya produced warheads from the plans.

The documents were removed from Libya as international inspectors continue to inspect Libya's weapons facilities following developments that began on December 19 when Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi agreed, after nine months of secret talks with Britain and the United States, to end his quest for nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Since then, US and British weapons experts, along with their counterparts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), have inspected Libyan weapons facilities and removed thousands of pounds of documents and equipment, including centrifuge parts used to enrich uranium, and missile guidance sets.

"American officials emphasize that they have no evidence that the Pakistani government itself was aware of the sales, and they wave aside recent accusations by Mr. Khan's allies that President Pervez Musharraf was himself aware of the transactions," the Times said.

"But some experts inside and outside the (US) government say it is difficult to believe that Pakistan's nuclear secrets could have been exported without the knowledge of some in the military and the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agency, especially since some shipments were made on Pakistani military aircraft."

US intelligence officials told the Times they are uncertain who else possesses copies of the designs, but they assume there are others.

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