Pakistan's disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan has turned against embattled President Pervez Musharraf [Images], who pardoned him for proliferation activities four years ago, blaming him for the various problems confronting the country that had 'gone to the dogs'.

Khan, confined to his home in Islamabad for the past four years by Musharraf after he admitted to proliferating nuclear secrets, claimed he had never done anything illegal.

He said he would reveal further details of the proliferation scandal at an appropriate time.

He said Pakistan has not been able to make much headway in economic development even after becoming self-sufficient in defence matters, by testing nuclear devices in May 1998.

"This has not happened. In the last 10 years, the country has gone to the dogs," he told Dawn News channel in a telephonic interview.

Asked if he blamed the President for the country's problems, Khan replied, "The team leader is responsible for the failure of the team. But all those who were with him did not assert themselves and they did not do a proper job."

However, Khan said the newly elected civilian government should be given more time to tackle the country's problems. Referring to the charges of nuclear proliferation, Khan said he felt betrayed by the people who made him "confess to being guilty of something that he had nothing to do with".

He added: "I was not part of any illegal or unauthorized matter."

After Khan took responsibility for heading a proliferation network that passed nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea during a confession on state-run television in February 2004, Musharraf pardoned him and ordered his detention.

In several recent interviews, Khan has said that he would make further revelations about the proliferation scandal, but he is yet to divulge any details.

Khan also dismissed the suggestion that the Pakistan government should give international investigators access to him to question him about the proliferation scandal.

"We are an independent country. We have not violated any international laws. We haven't been part of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," he said.

As Pakistan observed the tenth anniversary of its nuclear tests, protesters stepped up the calls for Khan's release from house arrest.

The scientist is considered a national hero in Pakistan despite confessing to heading a proliferation network. Former premier Nawaz Sharif's PML-N party, a member of the ruling coalition that has been gunning for Musharraf's exit, has been insisting that Khan should be freed.

Khan said his detention had resulted in various health problems. In recent years, he has been treated for prostate cancer and deep vein thrombosis. Khan also said that the restrictions on his movements had not been relaxed.

He said he was free to use the telephone but army troops still guarded his house in the heart of the federal capital. Khan added that very few people were allowed to meet him.