Pakistan said on Thursday that it welcomed a statement by George W. Bush in which the US leader hailed President General Pervez Musharraf's determination not to let his country be used to leak nuclear technology.
A Foreign Office spokesman said that Pakistan would share with the international community any findings from its investigation opened late last year into a ring of nuclear proliferators led by a one-time national hero.
"We are glad that President Bush, in his speech, has noted President Musharraf's resolve that Pakistan would not allow or tolerate any proliferation activity from its soil," Spokesman Masood Khan said in the statement.
Bush, in his major policy speech on Wednesday, sought global support for tighter curbs on nuclear technology, taking aim at North Korea, Iran, and black market sales by Pakistan's former top atomic expert.
"With deadly technology and expertise going on the market, there's the terrible possibility that terrorist groups could obtain the ultimate weapons they desire most," Bush said in the election year speech.
Bush said though the network run by the Father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, is "out of business," its once thriving operations show how easily outlaw regimes and extremists might get their hands on nuclear weapons.
The spokesman said Pakistan had "broken a ring of a few traffickers" involved in illegal transfers of sensitive information and technology to other countries.
He said the international black market for proliferation was a common threat for the world and it must be disabled and neutralised through collective efforts in what he described as a common fight.
"Pakistan would continue to help the international community and concerned states to unearth and dismantle illicit proliferation networks.
"We are willing to share information and results of our investigations to assist in exposing and eliminating these networks."
He said the individuals who were found to be involved in proliferating had been put out of business. "They will not be allowed to resume their activities, under any circumstances."
"Strict security restrictions have been imposed on Dr A.Q. Khan and his associates. They have been effectively deactivated. At the end of the investigations, the individuals responsible for wrongdoing will face the force of our laws."
The spokesman reiterated that Pakistan was a responsible nuclear-armed state.
"We are mindful of our international obligations and we'll continue to abide by them. The Government of Pakistan has never proliferated and will never proliferate," he added.
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