ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 17 (UPI) -- Pakistan's Supreme Court will take up two identical petitions Thursday, challenging the detention of nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan.
Both petitions accuse the government of detaining Khan to please the United States.
One petitioner also has urged the court to protect Pakistan's nuclear program, accusing the government of wanting to close it down or cap it to please Washington.
President Pervez Musharraf has denied media reports the Bush administration was pressing Pakistan to shut down its nuclear program.
Khan was put under house arrest last month after he confessed to heading a network of nuclear proliferators, who supplied nuclear secrets and technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
After his televised confession, Musharraf pardoned Khan but put him under house arrest.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is now in Pakistan, has said Khan's pardon was conditional and it could be reversed if he does not cooperate with investigators. He also plans to discuss the issue with Musharraf when the two meet in Islamabad Thursday.
