Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s cabionet has recommended a presidential pardon for the famed nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan who admitted Wednesday that he shared nuclear secrets with Libya, Iran and North Korea. Khan, who invented Pakistan’s nuclear bomb and is considered to be a national hero, stunned the country when he confessed on television of leaking nuclear secrets. Khan claimed he had acted without authorization from the government and begged forgiveness. But other sources in Pakistan say the military and Musharraf knew and backed Khan’s dealings with other countries. Mohammed ElBaradei, the head of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, said Khan’s confession was “just the tip of the iceberg for us” and he said that Khan was not working alone. One former army chief and ally of Musharraf told the Guardian of London he believed Khan would be kept out of court “because he knows too much” He said “If Khan had appeared in a court of law many things would have come out. That is very dangerous for President Musharraf.”