Pakistan frees disgraced nuclear scientist (2nd Roundup)

Feb 6, 2009, 14:24 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 in person for the 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 been in contact with the media via the 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 planned to establish an educational institution to promote engineering and industrial education.

His release might raise some concerns internationally, particularly in the United States and with Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose requests to question Khan over his alleged involvement in nuclear technology smuggling were denied by the Pakistani government.

Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit refused to be drawn on the issue, saying, 'The so-called A Q Khan affair is a closed chapter.'

'As a responsible nuclear weapon state, Pakistan has taken all necessary measures to promote the goals of non-proliferation,' he said, adding that the country had also extended its fullest cooperation to the international community.

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

Khan declined to comment on the proliferation allegations he has been subjected to. 'Just leave that, what happened has happened,' he said.

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

The court verdict came weeks after the US 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.'