WASHINGTON - Nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan, who is now recanting his televised admission that he helped Iran and Libya obtain nuclear-weapons technology, says the truth would come out about who was responsible for the proliferation. In an interview with The Washington Post, Dr. Khan said he would not speak in detail about his work or identify his associates, but said "others in the military and in Musharraf's government were culpable in the proliferation of nuclear technology". "The truth will come out about how they are treated, who is responsible. Those facts will come out," he said. Pakistan has been under pressure for years to give the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency access to Khan, The Post pointed out. So far, the government has refused, saying Pakistan has already conducted its own investigation into Khan's nuclear dealings. Yet more recently, as Musharraf's power here has waned, so too, it seems, has American interest in Khan, a U.S. official was cited as saying by the paper. "I'm sure we would oppose his release, but you know, as time goes on, I suppose his information gets less and less valuable," the official said. "No one has sort of thought about Mr. A.Q. Khan in a while." Dr. Khan said, "Why should I talk to them? Pakistan is a sovereign nation. We are not a colony. I did whatever my government wanted me to do. I gave them whatever they wanted. We have not violated any laws." He also said it was Pakistan's humiliating defeat that had sparked his desire to help Pakistan build the bomb. He said the creation of a nuclear weapons programme was a proud achievement that has kept the two longtime rivals from going to war. "My work to support Pakistan was that we showed that we could not be overrun by India, that we should not find ourselves in the position we found ourselves in in '71 with East Pakistan," he said. Early this week, allegations surfaced in a book by Indian journalist Shyam Bhatia that Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister slain in December, secretly carried CDs containing information about uranium enrichment to North Korea in 1993 in exchange for missile technology information. Asked whether the allegations were true, Khan said there was no way of establishing their "authenticity." But Khan went on to say that he had regularly briefed Ms. Bhutto about Pakistan's nuclear programme. "She knew the whole thing was going on," he said. "She was the prime minister." Khan told The Post Pakistani scientists had been hunting for a long-range missile to deliver the bomb and first turned to China for help. But China refused to share information about its longer-range missiles, he said. The goal, Khan said, was to build a nuclear weapon that could reach Pakistan's "only adversary" -- India. "China had the missiles, but they were very restricted. They were becoming a world power and they wanted to show they could act responsibly," Khan was quoted as saying. "The only option was North Korea." Khan said he is hopeful that Pakistan's newly elected government will further lift restrictions on his movements. "A lot of people are already pressing very hard for all the restrictions to go," he said. "This new government is busy with other things. They've been left almost with a dying patient. It will take some time to get their house in order, and I don't want to create problems." Khan, who has been in poor health in recent years, said he decided to speak out now because he was worried that his legacy was in jeopardy. "I didn't want to leave behind the stigma for my family that their father or husband is a traitor or a bad man," he was quoted as saying.