Pakistan frees disgraced nuclear scientist from house arrest (Roundup)

Feb 6, 2009, 11:00 GMT

   Islamabad - A Pakistani court on Friday declared disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan a free man, his lawyer said.

   'He is a free man now. The Islamabad High Court has ended his house arrest and lifted travel restrictions he was subjected to for the last five years,' Khan's attorney Iqbal Jaffery said.

   Khan was placed under house arrest by the government of former president Pervez Musharraf in 2004 after he made a televised confession for leaking nuclear secrets to foreign countries like Iran, Libya and North Korea. Later he retracted the statement.

   Talking to media directly first time in five years at his bungalow in an upmarket neighbourhood of Islamabad, Khan said he would travel to other cities to see his relatives and friends.

   Previously he had contact with the media one via telephone, letters and email. For the last couple of months he has been writing regular columns in an Urdu-language daily newspaper.

   Khan said he would not engage in nuclear activities and instead set-up some educational institution to promote engineering and industrial education.

   The nuclear scientist is regarded as a national hero for spearheading Pakistan's nuclear programme. The new civilian government, which replaced Musharraf's regime last year, was under immense public pressure to release Khan.

   Khan refused to comment on the proliferation allegations he has been subjected to. 'Just leave that, what happened has happened,' he replied to a question in a jolly mood.

   'I will always be proud of what I did for Pakistan,' he said.

   Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) who wanted to interview Khan on his nuclear black market network have been denied access to Khan by the Pakistani government in the past.

   The court verdict came weeks after the United States imposed sanctions on Khan, 12 other individuals and three private companies suspected of nuclear proliferation.

   'We believe these sanctions will help prevent future proliferation-related activities by these private entities, provide a warning to other would-be proliferators,' the US State Department said in a statement on January 12.

   Asked if his release would upset the US, Khan said: 'I have no idea, I don't think so. Its between our government and me, not between me and the American government.'