DR ABDUL QADEER KHAN (Architect of Pakistan's nuclear program) Born: 1935, Bhopal He is the brains behind what has been a mysterious and controversial nuclear program whose latest products are five bombs tested in 1998. He is also the father of Pakistan's medium-range Ghauri missile, test-fired and which is said by officials to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads and hitting most Indian cities. A scion of a modest family from India's Bhopal state, who loves poetry, flowers, and animals, he is caught in the subcontinent's current nuclear standoff that has rung alarm bells across the globe. Khan is a metallurgist by training, but it had taken a great deal more than a doctorate in metallurgy to provide Pakistan with the atomic bomb. It had taken a sound knowledge of atomic physics, engineering, and management. It had taken a degree of patriotism. It had taken monumental self-absorption and egotism. His efforts and dedication to make Pakistan a nuclear power was a result when he saw the fall of East Pakistan back in 1971, when Pakistan was trapped in a political crisis and India was involved in arming the rebellions "The Muktee Bahinee" in East Pakistan to fight against the Pakistani troops. Khan, 62, migrated to Pakistan in 1952, following millions of other Muslims who came here from India at the subcontinent's partition at independence from Britain in 1947. Precocious, he was able to breeze through science courses first in Pakistan, then in Europe, ultimately earning a doctorate from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium in 1972. That year, he went to work for the Physical Dynamics Research Laboratory, or FDO, in Amsterdam. FDO was a subsidiary of a Dutch firm, Verenigde Machine-Fabrieken, which in turn worked closely with one of western Europe’s most important nuclear facilities: URENCO. Former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto urged Khan to return home in 1976 to be given the job to organize Pakistan's nuclear program that could give an answer to India's first nuclear explosion of 1974. "It was,...to be precise, on July 31, 1976, when the first seeds, real seeds of Pakistan's nuclear program were sown," Khan recalled in one of his newspaper articles. "Kahuta is an all-Pakistani effort and is a symbol of a poor and developing country's determination and defiance to submitting to blackmail and bullying." He was rewarded for that patriotism by being made the head of a research institute that was named after him: the Abdul Qadeer Khan Research Laboratories at Kahuta all the research work (at Kahuta) was the result of Dr. Khan's innovation and struggle
http://www.ptvworldnews.com.pk
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God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife....

July 10, 2002
Bureau Report

PESHAWAR, May 30: Pakistan's defence is impregnable as it achieved its nuclear deterrence in 1984, said renowned scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan at the Islamia College here on Thursday.

Dr Khan was speaking as the chief guest at a function "Adoption Day celebration" held at the Khyber Union Hall of the college.

On the same date in 1939, Quaid-i-Azam, who had visited the college, had declared to have adopted the institution as his own. The college awards a gold medal every year on this date to a scientist or scholar of world repute. For the current year, Dr Qadeer Khan was chosen to receive the medal.

Speaking on the occasion, he said May 30 was an important day in Pakistan's history as on the same date Pakistan tested its nuclear capability again after it decided to go nuclear on May 28, 1998, in the wake of Indian nuclear tests.

Nobody could deny the fact that Pakistan's defence was strong and the nation had achieved its indigenous nuclear deterrence, he said, recalling that the country was capable to detonate its nuclear devices on a week's notice in 1984.

"In 1971, when Pakistan was passing through the most crucial phases of its history, I was in Europe but could not do anything. I arrived in Pakistan in December 1974, the year when India carried out its first nuclear tests, and then never turned back," Dr Khan remarked.

"We started work on Ghori missiles, when Benazir Bhutto was the prime minister and General Abdul Wahid was the chief of army staff. Within years, we built a long range missile, having the capability of carrying a nuclear warhead for 1,500 kilometres with 100 per cent precision," said the scientist.

Dr Khan appreciated the role played by the people and leaders of the Frontier province in the creation of Pakistan. If it was not for the consent of the people of this province, the making of Pakistan would have been impossible, he observed.

Mussarat Hussain Shah, Principal of the Islamia College, Peshawar, said it was due to Dr Qadeer's efforts that the Indian troops did not cross the border. "He achieved security for the entire nation. People of Dr Qadeer's calibre are born once in centuries. He is a national hero and the whole nation takes pride in him," Mussarat Shah maintained.

Earlier, the college principal pinned the medal on the noted scientist and decorated him with the traditional turban (Lungi).

Dr Qadeer Khan donated a grant of Rs200,000 to the college and Rs 100,000 to the Islamia Collegiate School library.

PRIVATIZATION OPPOSED: The Islami Jamiat-i-Tulba (IJT) will mobilize the student community against the government decision to privatize the country's public-sector educational institutions and a rapid increase in admission fees.

Speaking at a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, IJI Nazim-i-Aala Mohammad Naveed Anwar accused the government of deliberately allowing degeneration in the standard of the educational institutions to pave the way for their privatization.

He warned that his organization would not give a free hand to the government to deprive millions of students of education.

thttp://www3.pak.org

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God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife....

By Iqal Hussain Khan Yousafzai – Reporting from Islamabad
Islamabad, 18 June, (Asiantribune.com): Pakistani minister for information and broadcasting Shaikh Rasheed Ahmad has said that an angiography on Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan was carried out in the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) on Thursday night, and he was in good health now.

Talking to the state television, the Minister said Dr. Qadeer had felt a pain in his chest some three days ago, and doctors had recommended him angiography. He said doctors had now declared him in good health, and Dr. Qadeer will be shifted to his home on Firday.

Earlier, the founder of the country’s nuclear programme, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, was provided intensive medical care on Thursday after he suffered some cardiac problems.

The Inter-Services Public Relations’ Director-General, Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan, said doctors advised angiography after Dr Khan had felt chest pain two days ago.

He said cardiologists of the AFIC visited Dr Khan and provided necessary treatment. “Dr Khan’s angiography would be performed in a day or so,” he said.

The ISPR chief denied reports that Dr. Khan had suffered a heart attack. “He is absolutely alright and there is nothing serious,” he added.

Four doctors of the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) Hospital visited Dr Khan at his residence and provided necessary treatment to the 69-year-old scientist, the source said.

The doctors conducted pathological tests and performed scans of Dr Khan. “After having reports of the tests, it could be ascertained whether Dr Khan had suffered a heart attack,” the source added.

The source said Dr Khan was at his residence and his condition was serious.

The source said Dr Khan often complained of pain in his left hand whenever he had pressure of official work.

The KRL doctors have also recommended a magnetic resonance image (MRI) scan of Dr Khan.

Abdul Qadeer Khan suffers heart attack:

Islamabad, Feb. 16 (PTI): Pakistan's top scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan has reportedly suffered a heart attack.
"Dr. Khan is under treatment at his residence and his condition is stated to be critical," a local daily quoted officials of the of the hospital of the country's premier nuclear installation, Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) formerly headed by Khan, as saying.
It said in view of his "poor cardiac" condition, a heart specialist along with a cardiac machine was "secretly" sent to the nuclear scientist's residence. Khan had been suffering from pain in his left hand since he was questioned by intelligence agencies for the past few months for his alleged involvement in transferring nuclear technology, 'The Dawn' daily said.
He met President Pervez Musharraf a fortnight ago and admitted his guilt. He confessed about his involvement in nuclear proliferation over state television after which he was pardoned by the military ruler.
The newspaper said Khan had never suffered from cardiac complaint before the incident, but he often felt pain in his left hand whenever he took extra burden and pressure of official work.
"Dr Khan was holding his left hand when he was shown the last time on television after his meeting with President Gen Pervez Musharaff," it said adding he had been placed in either "protective custody or house arrest since December and that he had been asked to avoid appearing at public places and functions." Khan has also been prohibited from attending telephone calls and speaking to the media, the paper said.
The newspaper also quoted some family members of the other KRL nuclear scientists and officials as saying that the condition of Khan and his Dutch wife Hamdarina, was "bad." "Both of them are suffering from high blood pressure and they have been given potency doses by the doctors of the KRL hospital," it said.
The newspaper also said Pakistan's defence spokesman Maj, Gen. Shoukar Sultan, and Senior Director of KRL Hospital, Ali Raza Kazmi, refused to comment on the condition of Khan.
The Pakistan Government has detained 11 KRL scientists and officials in connection with allegations of proliferation of nuclear technology to Libya, North Korea and Iran.

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-02-06 08:49
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf pardoned the scientist who leaked nuclear arms secrets to Iran, Libya and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), saying on Thursday he remained a national hero for developing the country's atomic bomb
The uniformed general angrily rebuffed calls for an independent inquiry into the military's role in the nuclear leaks, saying Pakistan would not hand over any documents or allow U.N. supervision of its atomic program.
The United States strongly defended Musharraf, reflecting a balancing act between its usual aggressive stance on punishing proliferation and its firm support for Musharraf -- a key ally in the U.S. anti-terror war.
"This proliferation network is no longer. The actions of Pakistan have broken up this network," spokesman Scott McClellan said aboard Air Force One in the United States.
He said Musharraf provided assurances that his government itself was not involved in any kind of proliferation activity and "we value those assurances and those actions."
In a dramatic televised confession on Wednesday, Abdul Qadeer Khan, revered as the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, said he acted independently in leaking secrets as head of Pakistan's nuclear program from the 1970s.
Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, said in Vienna that Khan had help from people in many countries and was "the tip of an iceberg for us."
Western diplomats and local commentators also doubted Khan could have acted independently of Pakistan's military, which controls the nuclear arsenal, and said he had been used as a scapegoat for the army, which Musharraf heads.
Musharraf told a news conference he had agreed to a cabinet recommendation to pardon Khan, a national hero for his role in developing a bomb to rival that of old enemy India.
"I as president of Pakistan have decided to pardon Dr A.Q. Khan who is our national hero but he has made mistakes, which is unfortunate," he said
.
Musharraf said IAEA officials were welcome to visit Pakistan to be briefed on the military's investigation into the scandal.
But he said Pakistan would not hand any documents to the U.N. agency, which wants to end illicit trade in atomic secrets. "This is a sovereign country," he said. "No document will be given. No independent investigation will take place here, and we will not submit to any United Nations coming inside here."
Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri later said while Pakistan would not allow the IAEA to investigate Pakistan's nuclear programs, it would help the body investigate Iran.
"We will not allow them under any situation whatsoever to come and peep into our program. These are our national secrets. But wherever they need support to achieve their declared objectives ... we will fully cooperate," he said.
Political analysts had not expected an independent probe or open trial for Khan, since those might embarrass the military.
Musharraf, aware of the criticism the investigation into Khan and his fellow scientists has triggered in Pakistan, said his decision to force such a "larger than life" figure into the open had been a tough balancing act.
"My job here is number one, to protect my nation, and number two, to protect the honor and dignity of our hero. But I'll never reverse this order," he said.
INVESTIGATION LEADS TO CONFESSION
A senior Pakistani military official said on Sunday that Khan made a detailed statement confessing to supplying designs, hardware and materials to enrich uranium for atomic bombs to Iran, Libya and DPRK via a network of overseas middlemen.
Pakistan launched its investigation over two months ago after the IAEA provided evidence of links between Iran's nuclear program and Pakistan. Similar links have been traced to Libya.
Musharraf said 11 people were still being detained -- seven scientists and engineers, three officers and a technician.
"All the proliferation unfortunately was under the supervision and orders of Dr A.Q. Khan. No government official or military man was involved," he said, adding that Khan's motivation appeared to be "lust for money."
Musharraf said former army chiefs, Generals Aslam Beg and Jehangir Karamat, were questioned in the probe but were cleared.
The News broadsheet quoted an official as saying a deal was struck under which Khan, 69, would be allowed to live peacefully in Pakistan for promising not to reveal details in future.
CIA Director George Tenet said U.S. intelligence agencies had been aware for some time of Khan's activities. "Our spies penetrated the network through a series of daring operations over several years," he said in a Washington speech.
But the case is sensitive for the United States as well as for Pakistan and Washington is eager to avoid jeopardizing Musharraf.
In Vienna, diplomats close to the IAEA said it too was treading carefully and had not asked to interview Khan because it knew Islamabad would refuse.
Musharraf is under pressure from critics angered by his support for the "war on terror" and his bid to make peace with India. He survived two attempts on his life late last year blamed on Muslim militants.
President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf addresses a news conference, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2004 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Musharraf pardoned the father of Pakistan's nuclear program Abdul Qadeer Khan for giving technology to Iran, Libya and DPRK, blaming him for leaks allegedly made without government permission. [AP]

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By David Rohde, Amy Waldman
Rawalpindi
February 11, 2004
Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, has acknowledged for the first time that he had suspected for at least three years that the country's top nuclear scientist was sharing nuclear technology with other countries, but argued the United States had not given him convincing proof.
In an hour-long interview on Monday in English, General Musharraf shared blame for the delay with Washington, saying it was not until October that US officials provided him with evidence of the activities of the scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan.
General Musharraf said he had seen signs Dr Khan was sharing nuclear technology, including "illegal contacts, maybe suspicions of contacts", and "suspicious movement" connected to his laboratory. But he said he was concerned that investigating Dr Khan, a national hero in Pakistan for his role in developing its nuclear weapons, could provoke a political backlash.
In Washington on Monday, a senior Bush Administration official acknowledged that General Musharraf was not given highly specific information about Dr Khan's activities until last northern autumn. But the official noted that the US conveyed more general warnings about Dr Khan's activities starting in 2001
Today, President Bush is expected to give what one senior official at the White House described on Monday evening as a "lengthy, detailed speech on what must change in the area of stopping proliferation".
He is expected to include proposals for dealing with rogue scientists and countries that are not signatories to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty - a delicate subject, because India and Israel, like Pakistan, have refused to sign.
General Musharraf said he forced Dr Khan to retire as head of a nuclear weapons laboratory in March, 2001, to prevent his transferring more nuclear secrets. This is the first time he has cited Dr Khan's nuclear activities for his departure
The nuclear black market supplied by Dr Khan continued to operate for 21/2 years, until last northern autumn, according to US officials.
That network is one of the largest and most successful efforts at evading nonproliferation controls, and is suspected of being the source of nuclear weapons developed in Iran, North Korea and Libya, investigators say.
Before Dr Khan's network was exposed late last autumn, officials, including General Musharraf, had long denied Pakistan was the source of nuclear technology for any other country. In repeated interviews, General Musharraf never disclosed that he suspected Dr Khan was spreading technology.
His comments on Monday will only add to the debate over what is already a murky episode. Some political and military analysts say Pakistan's earlier refusal to act against Dr Khan and its effort now to bring the scandal to a hasty conclusion reflect at least tacit approval from the powerful army for his activities. They suggest that Dr Khan received a full pardon in exchange for publicly stating that he alone was responsible for the proliferation.
The Pakistan President attributed his protectiveness to Dr Khan's national stature and to political realities.
"Since he had acquired a larger-than-life figure for himself, one had to pardon him to satisfy the public," General Musharraf said.
Many argue that what may appear to be evasions or deceptions simply reflect General Musharraf's quandary - how to appease both international pressure to crack down on a rogue proliferator and domestic pressure to protect Dr Khan.
But General Musharraf seemed to have few answers about how Dr Khan operated freely in a country where the nuclear arsenal is considered its greatest single asset.
General Musharraf said on Monday that the brigadier-general in charge of security for Dr Khan's top-secret laboratory never reported anything.
"He didn't, and frankly, he hasn't even now," General Musharraf said. "He in fact has said that yes, he regrets that he was inefficient, he couldn't unearth, he didn't know. He says he didn't know whatever was going on. And he swears by that even now. But, however, he is being investigated for at least inefficiency."
General Musharraf said that despite his suspicions he had no idea how extensive Dr Khan's network was, nor how long it had been operating.
- New York Times
Nuclear fallout
• 1972 Canadians help Pakistan build first nuclear power station.
• 1974 Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto vows Pakistan will "eat grass" if necessary to develop nuclear weapons after India explodes its first nuclear device.
• 1983 Dutch court sentences Abdul Qadeer Khan to four years' jail after he is convicted in absentia of nuclear espionage. Decision overturned on a technicality. Dr Khan denies he stole plans for uranium enrichment centrifuges from a consortium he worked for in Holland in the 1970s.
• 1986 Pakistan and Iran sign nuclear cooperation agreement after visit by Dr Khan.
• October 1990 US stops all military and fresh economic aid to Pakistan over suspicions that its nuclear program is weapons-oriented.
• May, 1998 India conducts five nuclear tests. Pakistan expresses alarm and then conducts its first nuclear tests, six in all. President Clinton imposes sanctions on both countrie

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__________________
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8/9/2005 300 PM GMT

The CIA asked the Netherlands to let go the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, who worked in the country between 1975 and 1986, former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers said on Tuesday.

In 1974, Dr. Khan, who admitted in 2004 that he passed nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya, started working as an engineer in the Netherlands at Urenco, a uranium enrichment facility.
When Lubbers was the Minister of Economic Affairs in 1975, he received information that Dr. Khan was stealing nuclear secrets about uranium enrichment.
The Pakistani scientist was never indicted because the CIA asked the Netherlands to block his access to Urenco and let him go, Lubbers told Dutch public radio.
“The American intelligence services preferred not to arrest the man but to let him go. They thought: “give us all the information but do not hold that man. Let him go, we will follow him and get more information’,” he said.
However, Dr. Khan never returned to the Netherlands from a holiday to Pakistan.
In 1979, the Dutch authorities decided to launch an investigation and in 1983, Dr. Khan was sentenced in absentia to four years in prison. The conviction was later overturned on appeal because of technical mistakes.
However, Dutch authorities could have continued the proceedings against Dr. Khan but they again backed off at the request of the CIA, according to Lubbers, who was Prime Minister at the time.
Lubbers said that he raised the issue several times in the mid-1980's because the CIA's own investigation into the case wasn’t successful. Again the U.S. authorities didn’t want any action to be taken against Khan, he said.
“We were in the middle of the Cold War, debating placement of medium range missiles here. At that time I thought the final word about (Khan’s prosecution) was not in The Hague but in Washington,” Lubbers said.

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__________________
God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife....

Feb 6, 2005
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States is investigating whether Pakistani scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan sold nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia and other countries.
Time magazine news weekly, citing a source in Pakistan's defense ministry, said that Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, had also played a bigger role in helping Iran and North Korea with their nuclear programs than had been previously disclosed.
"US intelligence officials believe Khan sold North Korea much of the material needed to build a bomb, including high-speed centrifuges used to enrich uranium and the equipment required to manufacture more of them," Time said.
Iran also may have bought centrifuges and weapons designs from Khan in the mid-1990s, Time said, adding that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had confirmed at least 13 meetings between 1994 and 1999 with representatives of Khan's network.
Among the countries known to have been helped by Khan was Libya. Time said the Pakistani scientist had given the Libyans equipment for centrifuges and "technical instructions for how to build a nuclear warhead."
Time said US and IAEA investigators ...

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__________________
God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife....

Islamabad, April 17,2006 IRNA
Pakistan-US-Nuclear
Pakistan said on Monday that it has not appointed any American guards on the country's nuclear installations.
"It has not been happened," Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam told the weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Monday.
She said that Pakistan and the US are cooperating in regional security dialogue and both countries have shared best practices regarding protection of sensitive installations. As member of IAEA, Pakistan has multinational programs for nuclear security with the international community.
To a question about the New York Times report that Pakistan has again questioned Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan in the wake of Iranian nuclear issue, she did not confirm the report and said there is nothing new in the report.
"We have seen reports and articles. There is nothing new in them.
We have fully cooperated with the IAEA and also shared information with some other countries."
She said, "If we see any new information coming to light, we will be ready to cooperate."
She said the government has taken necessary steps to ensure that there is no leakage of nuclear material from Pakistan.
Asked if Pakistan allowed the US Under Secretary Nicolas Burns to visit Dr A Q Khan during his trip to Pakistan, she said, "There was no visit. Our position about access to Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan is very clear and very categorical."
Asked if Pakistan has given financial support to Hamas government after restrictions were imposed on Hamas government, the spokesperson said that Islamabad has not received any request from Hamas for financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority.
Pakistan is cooperating with the Palestinian Authority in various fields, she however said.
About the issue of blasphemous cartoons, she said the government has asked Pakistani missions abroad particularly in New York and Geneva to further pursue the issue of publication of blasphemous cartoons.
The New York mission is working on a number of initiatives in this regard in consultation with other OIC member countries.
About a question on the visit of Saudi crown prince, she said Pakistan welcomes the statement of Saudi crown prince regarding the resolution of the Kashmir issue.
"It is an opportunity for both Pakistan and India to seize the moment and resolve the longstanding issue for durable peace in the region."
She said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are cooperating in various fields particularly in defense and both the countries have held in-depth discussions to further enhance this cooperation during the recent visit of the crown prince, Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.
To a question regarding Afghan transit trade, she said Pakistan has provided overland transit to that country from Karachi port which is also open for India.
Transit trade from India to Afghanistan via land route is clearly related to overall trade issues with India which is a part of dialogue process, she added.
About terrorism, she said, Pakistan is fighting against terrorism and abiding with the resolutions to curb the menace by cooperating with the international community. Pakistan has deployed more than eighty thousand troops along the Afghan border who are taking action against terrorists on its soil.

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__________________
God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife....

Apr 19,2006
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has disclosed that he fired his country’s father of nuclear programme, Dr AQ Khan, in 2001 after the latter refused to divulge the details of his scheduled secret visit to Iran.
Musharraf said he took the decision after it was conclusively proved that Dr Khan was planning to arrange a secret flight to depart for Zahidan in Iran. Zahidan is known as a center of smuggling.
Dr Khan had refused to give out any information claiming it was an important secret matter about which he could not divulge anything, Musharraf reportedly revealed in an interview with the New York Times.
The interview was conducted for a documentary for Discovery Times TV’s programme titled “Is Nuclear Jihad within possible reach of the terrorists?”, which was shown on the Discovery Channel on Monday.
“What the hell do you mean? You want to keep a secret from me,” Musharraf reportedly yelled at Dr Khan after he declined to disclose the purpose of his planned Iran visit.
The Pakistani President is learnt to have further said in the interview: “So these are the things which led me to very concrete suspicions. And we removed him.”
Musharraf, however, feigned ignorance whether Dr Khan had passed on nuclear information to Libya. “Frankly, I don’t know whether he has passed these bomb designs to others. Even under a loose form of house arrest for the past two years, he said, Dr Khan “sometimes has been hiding the facts,” he said.
The TV documentary has been made by David A. Singer and William J. Broad for the “Discovery Channel” pertaining to the alleged transfer of nuclear technology by Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan to black market. It contains interviews of several leading lights of nuclear technology and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf have been included. (ANI)

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__________________
God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife....

Former head of Pakistan's atomic weapons programme confesses on television that he traded nuclear secrets

James Astill in Islamabad
Thursday February 5, 2004
The Guardian
The father of Pakistan's atomic weapons programme last night admitted on national television that he had illegally traded nuclear secrets to other countries.
Contradicting reports from recent days, Abdul Qadeer Khan also claimed that he had done so without the knowledge of the government.
Speculation is now mounting that Dr Khan may not be prosecuted. A former army chief, Mirza Aslam Beg, an ally of Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, yesterday told the Guardian he believed Dr Khan would have to be kept out of court "because he knows too much". Mr Beg added: "If [Dr] Khan had appeared in a court of law many things would have come out. That is very dangerous for President Musharraf."
The startling admission by Dr Khan follows an investigation - pushed upon Mr Musharraf's regime by evidence gathered from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the CIA - which strongly implicated him.
Dr Khan, 69, returned to Pakistan in 1976 after studying in Europe to lead the country's nuclear programme, and finally became special science and technology adviser to the president before being sacked last month. He has been accused of helping Libya, North Korea and Iran to develop their atomic weapons programmes.
In yesterday's broadcast, he said: "I take full responsibility for my actions and seek your pardon. I offer my deepest regrets and unqualified apologies to a traumatised nation."
He said that the evidence presented to him by investigators had left him with little option. "The investigations have established that many of the reported activities did occur and these were inevitably initiated at my behest ... I have voluntarily admitted that much of it is true and accurate. I also wish to clarify that there was never ever any kind of authorisation for these activities by the government."
Diplomats and analysts consider it unlikely Dr Khan could have transferred nuclear technology without the knowledge of the country's military elite.
Dr Khan is revered in Pakistan and attempts to prosecute him would be likely to provoke uproar. A prosecution would also be a minefield for Mr Musharraf. The president has arranged a meeting of security chiefs responsible for the nuclear programme to discuss a possible pardon, official sources said.
Dr Khan gave blanket corroboration to the findings of a two-month investigation into allegations of nuclear proliferation. Investigators say he confessed last week to selling centrifuges for refining uranium and designs for nuclear installations to the three states via middlemen in Europe, south-east Asia and the Middle East.
Intelligence officials told Associated Press yesterday that Dr Khan had agreed to cooperate with the investigators in exchange for immunity.
In a statement yesterday Pakistan's government said Dr Khan, who has in effect been under house arrest since being sacked, accepted "full responsibility for all the proliferation activities conducted by him [while] at the helm of affairs at Khan Research Laboratories".
Dr Khan founded the laboratory in the 1970s and stayed in charge until retiring in 2001.
Mr Beg said anyone else involved in the nuclear proliferation scandal would be pursued and their actions made public. But many analysts expected a swift pardon for Dr Khan. "It's all gone to book," said a foreign political analyst. "It's stitched up."
The Foreign Office yesterday urged Pakistan to "adhere to its commitments" not to allow exports of nuclear technology or equipment. Both the British and US governments ideally would prefer punitive action against Dr Khan as a deterrent to others contemplating nuclear proliferation, but they do not want any action that undermines Mr Musharraf.
Britain recognises that the president, viewed as a friend of the west in the "war on terror", faces a huge internal problem given that senior members of the Pakistani army would have been implicated in the proliferation and that Dr Khan was anational hero.

plz pray,
Sardarzada

__________________
God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife....