'Pakistan, Libya had nuclear links'

Libya's decision to scrap its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles programme ended a decade-long unholy alliance with Pakistan and North Korea, an Israeli intelligence source said on Monday.

"There was never any conclusive evidence to prove that Libya -- as well as Iraq and Iran -- was receiving technology transfers from these countries," the source said. "But once Pakistan openly admitted to a nuclear programme, the US amassed adequate circumstantial evidence to believe that technology from Pakistan and North Korean was being leaked to help build a Libyan chemical and missile capability into Europe and Israel."

"It couldn't have been otherwise. Libya lacked a sophisticated scientific infrastructure. And as 'irresponsible' states, according to the American rule of thumb, Pakistan and North Korea were prepared to share their share their knowledge with rogue states like Libya," the source said.

American efforts to limit nuclear proliferation by expanding the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty regime to newly emergent members have failed and the world is now divided into responsible states who protect their nuclear knowledge and irresponsible states who are prepared to share it with rogue countries like Libya.

Pakistan today is an important kingpin in the American war against Al Qaeda and international terrorism and American action to eliminate its nuclear arsenal is almost unthinkable, the source said.