LONDON: The proliferation of nuclear weapons carried out by Pakistan has not come to an end, according to new intelligence assessments.

In an article published in the Sunday Times, Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark have revealed the extent of danger that a nuclear weapon state like Pakistan possesses, after the instability hit the radicalised nation.

Terming Islamabad's nuclear programme as a 'threat' for the West, the report stated: "The nuclear programme and trading were — and are - completely under the Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf's military government's control, and proliferation did not stop (after nuclear scientist Dr A Q Khan admitted to selling nuclear technology to 'rogue nations' like Libya and North Korea)."

"Four years on, Khan is still under house arrest, and Musharraf is still in power. In a further exercise in "real-politik", another political deal is being stitched together to keep him (Musharraf) in the presidency as America's best hope of maintaining stability in this geo-politically vital but desperately unstable country," the report added.

The report, quoting a highly classified 55-page assessment carried out by Germany's federal intelligence service, in association with UK, French and Belgian spies, stated that a range of materials and components were still being procured by Pakistan that "clearly exceeds" what Islamabad needed for its domestic nuclear programme.

According to the report, KRL labs — A Q Khan's old facility — to coordinate the Pakistani sales programme, and now ran a network of front companies in Europe, the Gulf and Southeast Asia. Most alarming was the finding that hundreds of thousands of components amassed by Khan had vanished since he had been put out of operation.