Disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist A Q Khan on Monday moved the Lahore High Court alleging that the government has re-imposed restrictions on his free movement.
Concerned over a Pakistani court directing authorities not to restrict movements of A Q Khan, the US has insisted that the disgraced nuclear scientist remains a "proliferation risk' and said it had made its views clear to Islamabad.
A Pakistani court on Friday suspended the "security protocol" accorded by the government to nuclear scientist A Q Khan, accused of running a clandestine proliferation network, and directed authorities not to restrict his movements. Acting on a petition filed by Khan, the Lahore High Court said the scientist is a free man and can go wherever he wants.
Pakistan on Tuesday said nuclear scientist A Q Khan, under house arrest after admitting to proliferating atomic secrets four years ago, has no official position and can no longer indulge in proliferation. Asserting Pakistan's commitment to non-proliferation, a statement issued by the office of the national security advisor to the prime minister said the country "will continue to support global efforts in this area with full commitment."
Both Musharraf and Jamali have refuted speculation that the country's nuclear programme would be capped as a result of the international concern over the charges of proliferation of nuclear technology.
Pakistan's disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan has turned against embattled President Pervez Musharraf, 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.
Khan visited the Academy of Sciences and met some of his old friends, including Mubashir-ur-Rehman. He spent over two hours with them on Wednesday evening. The federal government has relaxed restrictions imposed on the scientist and he has been allowed to meet his friends, sources said.
The US stepped up pressure on Pakistan to get access to disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan, accused of proliferating nuke technologies to Iran and North Korea, for questioning.
F Michael Maloof, a former senior security policy analyst in defence secretary's office, said, "yet, the US reportedly cannot debrief Khan to do a threat assessment on the nuclear threat."
"The US agenda regarding Pakistan is very clear. It wants to divide Pakistan and wants to limit the country merely to the Punjab. The US wants to get a no-war pact signed with India after naming the Punjab as Pakistan whereas we should improve relations with and adopt a friendly attitude towards India, instead of signing a no-war pact with her," Khan said.
In its judgment in response to a petition filed by 74-year-old Khan seeking the removal of restrictions on his movement, the Lahore High Court ruled that Khan was not allowed to talk about nuclear weapons technology.
The Pakistan government has imposed restrictions on the disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan though he has been released from the house arrest, a top United States intelligence official has said.
Despite Pakistan re-imposing restrictions on the movement of A Q Khan, the United States today said the maligned nuclear scientist remains a proliferation risk.
Pakistani nuclear scientist A Q Khan, who is widely regarded as the founder of Pakistan's nuclear programme, is a free man again and may share the secrets with establishments around the world, said Pakistani daily The Dawn.
Disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan has ruled out the possibility of a war between India and Pakistan due to tension created by the Mumbai terror attacks as both countries possess nuclear deterrent.
Disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan, who has been under house arrest since 2004, was set free by the Islamabad High Court on Friday.The court abolished Khan's house arrest and directed the government to provide security to him immediately.Acting on several petitions filed against Khan's house arrest, Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Aslam declared him a free citizen and said that he is free to move across the country.
Benazir, who pledged to turn over A Q Khan to IAEA if she comes to power, also called on the US to fund international monintoring team to make sure Musharraf doesn't rig the elections.
'US queries should be forwarded to the Pakistan government, which would investigate and respond.'
'At least some of Khan's associates appear to have escaped law-enforcement attention and could, after a period of lying low, resume their black market business.'
Amid concerns that terrorists could obtain material related to nuclear weapons from Pakistan, a latest Congressional report has said that Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden had "sent emissaries to establish contact" with the maligned A Q Khan network.
'If he looked at it purely as an Islamic bomb, he would not have sold the nuclear secrets to North Korea. Khan was fighting the West, through North Korea, Iran and Libya,'\nsays Gordon Corera.
Tests conducted on disgraced Pakistan nuclear scientist A Q Khan, who is suffering from prostrate cancer, have found that he is out of danger, officials in Islamabad said.
Acting on an appeal filed by the federal government, a two-member bench headed by Justice Saqib Nisar suspended the earlier order and restored Khan's security protocol on Wednesday
Aizaz Jafri operates a licensed posh entertainment spot called 'Hot Shots' in Islamabad and always boasted of close contacts with Khan.
Disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan has said he did Pakistan a favour by making the atomic bomb but was 'stabbed in the back by the very people who benefited most' from his work -- the army.
The Pakistani Taliban may include disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan and federal minster Makhdoom Amin Fahim in a list of persons who could act as guarantors for possible peace talks with the government, according to a media report on Tuesday.
Highlighting the mockery of proliferation controls made by the network of Pakistani nuclear scientist A Q Khan, India on Wednesday warned that weapons of mass destruction (WMD) could fall into the hands of terrorists and sought a "new approach" to address the critical challenge.
Disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist A Q Khan, under house arrest for the past four years, on Tuesday claimed he was being "persecuted for the sake of one man", an apparent reference to President Pervez Musharraf. Khan, who had confessed in 2004 to passing on nuclear technology and equipment to North Korea, Iran and Libya, said he wanted to be free to meet his relatives and to travel within the country.
An agent linked to disgraced Pakistani scientist A Q Khan had offered Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 1990 that they could build an atomic bomb for him in three years under a US $ 150 million "nuclear package deal," according to a new book.
Due to unseasonal rains, the second quarter of financial year 2023-24 (Q2FY24) was disappointing for the room-air conditioner (RAC) segment and Q3FY23 was also slow. While general consumption demand was low in Q3FY24, the low base and the pent-up demand from the first half of financial year 2023-24 (H1FY24) seem to have driven an off-season demand for RACs.
In a damning revelation of Pakistan's nuclear proliferation, its disgraced scientist A Q Khan, the father of the country's nuclear weapons programme, has admitted to the Pakistani nexus in the controversial atomic programme of Iran and North Korea. The disgraced 74-year-old Khan, who has been dubbed as the maestro of the world's largest nuclear black market, has made the revelation in a four-page letter addressed to his Dutch wife Henny.
"Today, he is a hero of Pakistan because he has given us the atom bomb. But otherwise now he does not even speak on telephone," Musharraf maintained.
In the meantime Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US was still trying to figure out what really happened in North Korea.
The sprint race later on Saturday, as well as Sunday's main race, has been shortened due to the conditions at the circuit on the outskirts of New Delhi, organisers said.
Pakistan's envoy to the United States Husain Haqqani argued: "First of all, let us understand one thing -- a Pakistani court had ordered the release of Dr Khan. That does not mean that Dr Khan goes from house arrest and takes over the Pakistani nuclear programme again."
He also claimed that Pakistan was willing to subject Khan to lie detector test but could not do so as the United States did not provide the lie detectors.
The US on Friday said Pakistan's disgraced scientist A Q Khan still posed a "serious threat" with regard to nuclear proliferation and expressed regret over his release from house arrest.
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