Dr. A. Q. Khan Speaks Out

[waraich66]

Dr. A. Q. Khan Speaks Out
Posted on July 4, 2008

Abdl Qadeer KhanI am watching television right now and every news channel is reporting the latest interview by Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. This interview came as a surprise to many people here in Pakistan and is sending shock waves around the world (wait and see after 4th July holiday in US).

Dr. Khan, who remains popular across Pakistan has lived in the shadows since 2004, confined to his Islamabad home. People of Pakistan last saw him in a tearful televised confession in which he admitted selling nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya. President Musharraf has been telling Pakistanis since 2004 that Dr. Khan did it for money and personal greed. In his interview on May 30 2008, given to British newspaper Guardian, Dr. Khan claimed that he took the blame on himself in the national interest. Dr. Khan has been in the news for last few weeks because of his detention case in the Islamabad High Court but today he returned to the spotlight with a new twist: that North Korea received centrifuges from Pakistan in a 2000 shipment supervised by the security forces during the rule of President Pervez Musharraf.


According to Dr. Khan, the uranium enrichment equipment was sent from Pakistan in a North Korean plane that was loaded under the supervision of Pakistani security officials. He claims that the security forces had “complete knowledge” of the shipment and that it must have been sent with the consent of President Pervez Musharraf. Dr. Khan also disclosed that North Korea gave 200 missiles to Pakistan during Kargil War on his request without any payment. However, the government sources have completely rejected the statement, saying such reports are part of propaganda against Pakistan’s nuclear program.

Dr. Khan has often insisted in recent past too that if anything at all was smuggled to North Korea, Iran or Libya, it was in complete knowledge of Pakistan Army, particularly the ISI Chief Gen. Mahmood Ali Durrani (later the Pak Ambassador to US and currently national security adviser) and other officials in-charge of logistics etc. as it was not possible for him to do something like that alone. The centrifuges are large cylinders which cannot be just transported in a brief case. They need special care for transportation. American officials have even given the flight numbers which allegedly transported the nuclear material.

Talking to media Dr. Khan said that he didn’t say anything new and he just explained what Gen. Musharraf has already disclosed in his book, In The Line of Fire. According to Geo TV:

Abdul Qadeer KhanRenowned nuclear scientist, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan has said that President Pervez Musharraf had already published in his book about the dispatching of centrifuges to North Korea and that his (Dr. Qadeer’s) statement was carried by the foreign news agency in a distorted manner. Talking to Geo News, Dr. A. Q. Khan said when he was asked by a foreign news agency whether the centrifuges were sent to N. Korea he replied that this had already been published in the President’s book. Dr. Khan said any question regarding the dispatch of centrifuges be put to President Pervez Musharraf. “Nothing could be sent without the supervision of the security forces,” he said. He expressed hope that his detention will end soon.

I don’t know how much damage this latest interview will cause to already under-threat nuclear program of Pakistan. But I believe that the way Gen. Musharraf and his regime has treated Dr. Khan since 2004, something like that was bound to happen. No matter whether Dr. Khan is a national hero as majority of Pakistanis still believe he is or a thief as some claim, we must not forget that he is a human being after all.

Allegedly, he was not even allowed to walk out of his home and meet anyone at all since 2004. His elder daughter Dina Khan was not allowed to meet him for one year. Just last week, the Deputy Attorney General claimed in Islamabad High Court and in front of media that Dr. Khan is absolutely free to meet anyone and no restrictions are placed on him. The same evening, many local TV channels showed live how Dr. Sahab was stopped by security officials to go to a dental clinic when he was suffering form severe pain his teeth. The officials ignored him for more than 24 hours until he came out, sat in the middle of road and refused to go back inside. Only then the permission was granted to take him to a dental clinic and the whole drama was shown live on a local channel Express News.

Abdul Qadeer Khan

I believe that the authorities should immediately talk to Dr. Khan, lift restrictions on him so that everything could be settled. Sensitive matters like this should never come on media like that and we should close this matter ASAP. I think its a very dangerous trend that we make people believe in something for decades and then suddenly expect them to believe otherwise. Lets hope wisdom prevails before its too late.

Reference: Yahoo News Story on the topic here.

Sir Dr Qadir Khan ,
Being muslim and Pakistani , please accept my sorry !

 

[BlackenTheSky]

Everyone knows that he was the man who gave these nuclear programs to n.korea,libya and iran..thanks to the war on terror that made US reliant to us that it is not taking any action against PAK on this issue..i know this man is a diamond for pakistan,but after these things,he could become a big danger for pakistan too.he should keep his mouth close for the sake of pakistan..

 

[TaimiKhan]

Whats the use of posting one and a half year old article in a new thread which most probably has already been posted and we already have much debated threads discussing AQ and his talk after his release and Musharaf's ouster.

 

[BlackenTheSky]

its dated july 4 2008..oh i didnt see it before..oh why so much old news

 

[waraich66]

I think , AQ Khan was not done any thing for greed of money , if he is greedy person then he could made billions of dollars by selling nuke technology in international market.
Why he was blamed ? lot of questions are still answered?
Person who is responsible for leakages should be disclosed.

Dr A Q Khan is our nation hero and remain.

US investigation report is not true?

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL32745.pdf

 

[hembo]

Govt planning to muzzle Dr AQ Khan through court
Sunday, January 17, 2010
By Umar Cheema

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to show zero tolerance to renowned nuclear scientist, Dr AQ Khan, allegedly for disclosing state secrets in his interaction with foreign journalists, local media interviews, and public speeches in “breach” of the undertaking that had won him freedom from the previous restrictions.

The enormity of official concerns is evident from the fact that a high-level meeting on Friday, presided over by no less than Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, was held to exclusively discuss the issue of Dr Khan’s unrestricted exchanges.

The meeting was attended by top military brass and government’s legal eagles. The meeting was reportedly convened at the request of the security establishment and was attended by Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Minister Babar Awan, PM’s Adviser Latif Khosa, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Tariq Majid, DG ISI Lt Gen Shuja Pasha, DG Strategic Planning Division Lt Gen (retd) Khalid Kidwai, Attorney General Anwar Mansoor.

Background discussions with the participants revealed that the security establishment was deeply perturbed over Dr Khan’s activities whereas the government feels his “irresponsible” statements could again put Pakistan in an awkward situation.

It was decided that Dr Khan would be reined in through legal manoeuvres by requesting the court to hold him accountable for ‘violating the undertaking given by him to the court’. The attorney general, sources told, had been tasked to agitate the matter before the court.

When contacted by The News, the AG declined to comment on any question relating to the discussion on Dr Khan in the meeting.

The spokesman of the prime minister said Dr Khan’s issue was not under debate during his presence and the meeting instead was about the strategic balance in the region. Intriguingly, the press release issued on Friday did not give any details about the meeting’s agenda.

“Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani chaired the Strategic Planning Division’s (SPD) meeting at the PM’s House here this afternoon and discussed matters of strategic importance,” the press release said. It just named the participants but didn’t go into details of the meeting.

However, more than two participants confirmed to The News the meeting was exclusively about Dr Khan.

As far the terms of freedom granted to him by the court, it required strict adherence to the annexure ‘A’ attached with the verdict. A reading of the annexure shows that Dr Khan is forbidden from communicating with foreign journalists but he has allegedly been doing so. Besides, he cannot address public gatherings, which too he has done.

The important points of the annexure are as follows: “Dr Khan should refrain from exploiting specific media personnel to influence public opinion on various national/international issues without the government clearance.

“Dr Khan should refrain from indulging in any political activities and high-profile socialisation whatsoever.

“That Dr Khan shall join the pending inquiry/investigation on proliferation as and when required by the competent officials. He is also directed to return any material or document, etc, on Pakistan’s nuclear programme in his control, if any.

“The petitioner must keep his movements secret and avoid his visits to public places.”

As far the order prohibiting him from communicating with foreign journalists, he not only allegedly did so, but also sent the annexure under question to a British Journalist, Simon Henderson, now a fellow in the Washington Institute in the US. The fact is evident from one of Simon’s articles, disclosing a four-page letter loaded with nuclear proliferation details sent by Khan to him; his words about the annexure were reproduced in The News story.

“The terms of that freedom were detailed in a secret “annexure A” of the court judgment, the final version of which Khan only saw later,” Simon wrote in his September’s article. “One of the lines in the original draft that he was asked to sign was: ‘That in case Mr Simon Henderson or anyone else proceeds with the publication of any information or material anywhere in the world, I affirm that it would not be based on any input from me and I disown it.’ That line was eventually deleted and replaced with a more general prohibition,” he wrote, about unnamed “specific media personnel”.

Despite the court judgment specifying that the contents of the annexure “shall not be issued to the press or made public in any manner”, a copy reached me in the West,” Simon wrote.

Dr Khan’s four-page letter has been a constant source of fodder for the foreign media, as the Washington Post wrote a number of news stories on proliferation to China, North Korea and Iran. Simon had provided that letter to the Post. In the latest story of the Post relating to proliferation to North Korea, Khan had allegedly accused DG SPD Kidwai of involvement.

Besides, Dr Khan in a latest interview with a local channel defended the act of sharing nuclear technology with friendly countries that could have serious repercussions for the country, an insider of the Friday meeting said.

As far the restrictions in annexure on attending public rallies is concerned, Dr Khan defied it by addressing the Rawalpindi Bar Association. The Friday meeting discussed that by attending such meetings, when Khan was heavily surrounded by the people, the miscreants could benefit from the situation and he could be kidnapped falling in the wrong hands.

The Blackwater’s CEO had already admitted in an interview that the CIA had formed an assassination squad for Dr Khan and they were about to do so in Dubai, but were stopped.

Dr Khan’s lawyer Ali Zafar, when contacted to know why his client was violating the undertaking made with the court through the annexure, said different clauses were included in it without seeking Khan’s consent and the annexure did not carry any signature of Khan.

However, the government said Khan should have gone in appeal, if he had any objection to the annexure. He did not go to the court for six months after this annexure was handed over to him and only started protesting when he was barred from attending a ceremony in the American School where his granddaughter was studying.

“We had stopped him from going there to prevent his interaction with the foreigners present there,” a government official said. Rejecting Ali Zafar’s argument, the government official produced a court order, dated February 6, 2009, saying Ali Zafar knew about the conditions attached.

These include: “(1) Syed Ali Zafar, advocate, learned counsel for the petitioner, had argued that the petitioner is not involved in any criminal activities, including the so-called nuclear proliferation and he be declared a free citizen with due state protection in accordance with the terms of mutual agreement Annexure-’A’.

(2) Be that as it may, after arguing at some length, the respondent No 1 has offered the terms and conditions fully detailed in the Annexure-A, which has been voluntary accepted by the learned counsel for the petitioner.

(3) The petitioner is declared a free citizen and the writ petition is disposed of in accordance with the Annexure-A, contents of which shall not be issued to the press or made public in any manner, as requested by both the parties.”

 

[TaimiKhan]

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[hembo]

^^^
Article and source changed to Pakistani source.

 

[Awesome]

You really think this wasn't posted one and a half years ago? Please post only relevant stuff.