PERHAPS THE MOST LOATHSOME MAN ON EARTH REQUESTS FORGIVENESS

Pakistan's fallen nuclear hero Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan yesterday asked President Gen. Pervez Musharraf for forgiveness yesterday for spreading weapons secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea, the government said.

The 66-year old architect of the country's nuclear programme submitted his mercy plea to Musharraf during a meeting with him held in Rawalpindi at Khan's request.

Khan requested he be forgiven in a "mercy petition" to Musharraf, considering the services he had rendered to Pakistan's nuclear programme, the government said. The president told him the "entire nation had been severely traumatised" by the revelations of proliferation.

Let me see if I can walk the dog on this.

The world believes that North Korea has nukes. North Korea says it has nukes...and nobody is in a position to dispute that.

Now, Mr. Khan says he provided nuclear secrets to Lybia, Iran and North Korea (note that two of those belong to the Axis of Evil).

North Korea continues to attempt to blackmail the USA as it makes security and financial demands in return for cooperation with its nuclear programs.

North Korea is a particularly dicey matter because it is common knowledge that Seoul South Korea will be the first casualty caused by North Korea should it ever be attacked. Millions of civilian citizens in Seoul will, in all probability, die if the midget magalomaniacal dictator of North Korea ever feels sufficiently threatened.

Of course, this scenario gets worse when we switch from conventional to nuclear weapons.

And Mr. Kahn handed the North Koreans the ability to raise the ransom they can demand while holding South Korea hostage and blackmailing the USA and the rest of the world.

And now he asks for forgiveness?

I don't think so.

But the thing to be suspicious of if it is granted...is that as part of the deal made between Mr. Kahn and the Pakistani government is his repeated assertion that no one in the Pakistani government was involved.

Hmmm.