U.S. quiet on Pakistan's nuke scientist

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- White House officials have little to say -- pro or con -- about Pakistan's decision to pardon a man who admitted giving nuclear secrets to rogue nations.

Earlier this week Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, pardoned A.Q. Kahn, who admitted on television he gave nuclear bomb secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya.

The BBC said the reason for the U.S. silence is because the Bush administration wants Pakistan's cooperation for two strategic interests: tracking down and halting the shadowy international procurement ring that has been peddling nuclear bomb technology, and rooting out al-Qaida and Taliban networks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"Our goal is not to denounce people; our goal is not to jail people; our goal is to get results," said an unidentified senior administration official. "If we can help that happen by leaving it to (Musharraf) and not trying to dictate from Washington what he has to do then that's what we're going to do.