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US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday he expected to hold "full discussions" with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on nuclear leaks by scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan when they meet in Islamabad later this week. Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, last month publicly confessed that he had shared nuclear secrets with Iran, Libya and North Korea. Musharraf later pardoned Khan, who is revered as a "national hero" for bringing nuclear technology to Pakistan. Speaking to reporters on the plane en route to New Delhi, where he arrived late Monday at the start of a three-nation South Asian tour that also includes Pakistan and Afghanistan, Powell said he will have "full discussions of the A. Q. Khan matter" with Musharaff. "I will be interested to see whether there is any involvement of past officials or any official involvement in this over the past years," Powell said. The Secretary of State is due Wednesday in Islamabad for a two-day visit after he completes the Indian leg of his tour. He is to hold talks with Musharraf, Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali and Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri. His visit coincides with a fresh spring offensive by US and Afghan forces in south and southeast Afghanistan near the Pakistan border to nab Osama bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders. Pakistan is one of Washington's pivotal allies in the war on terrorism, having arrested over 500 Al-Qaeda militants and handed the majority over to US custody, including three of bin Laden's top lieutenants. "Pakistan has undertaken a number of operations recently along the border ... and we just want to see them do more of that," Powell said on the plane to India. "We want to see if they can do a better job of apprehending Taliban persons who we might be able to identify for them, and anything that can be done to stabilise the situation along the border," he added. Operation Mountain Storm was announced last Saturday by the US military in Afghanistan. The new offensive is accompanied by fierce speculation that the United Strates is pressing Pakistan to allow its troops to hunt bin Laden on its territory near the 2,500 kilometer (1,550 mile) frontier with Afghanistan. Pakistani officials have insisted they would never allow foreign troops on their soil, but admit to the presence of up to 12 US intelligence and communications experts. All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Quick Links
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