ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has taken the unprecedented step of ordering an investigation of some of the country's top nuclear scientists on charges that they helped transfer nuclear-weapons technology to Iran. While the investigation has been hailed in the West as a decisive move to clamp down on nuclear proliferation, more questions than answers remain about Pakistan's nuclear-weapons program.
One consolation for Musharraf perhaps is the U.S. assumption that the technology transfers largely took place before he took charge of the country in 1999. The Pakistani public is very concerned about the allegations.
Revelations surrounding some members of Pakistan's nuclear community have come as a shock to many people across the country who had considered the nuclear-program sacrosanct and above reproach. Many Pakistanis are absolutely astonished at the possibility that yesterday's heroes are about to become today's villains.