AQ Khan Released from House Arrest!!!

[slugger]

three days when Pakistanis have found a reason for rejoicing

14 August 1947 - Pakistan comes ito existence

28 May 1998 - Chagai Hills turns white

06 February 2009 - The man who was responsible for turning Chagai Hills white is turned back into a National hero

 

[DarkStar]

Threads Merged.

 

[PureLogic]

France concerned over AQ Khan's release

PARIS
: France voiced unease on Friday with a Pakistani court decision to lift the house arrest order against nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan
and said it hoped his days of sharing atomic secrets were over.

"We are obviously a little concerned by this decision," said foreign ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier.

"We hope that the proliferation activities of Mr Khan and his network in the past are absolutely over," he said.

"We know what role Mr Khan and his network played in the spread worldwide of nuclear technology for military use. We hope that this release will not lead to the pursuit of these activities which are illegal, dangerous and very worrying for international security."

Considered the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, Khan, 72, had been under house arrest in Islamabad since February 2004, when he confessed on television to sending nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea, although he later retracted his remarks.

The Islamabad High Court on Friday declared him a free man.

France concerned over AQ Khan's release-India-The Times of India

 

[A.Rahman]

. But there is vehemence that what he proliferated is unpardonable.

India also got its nukes from prolileration infact they used the same network

 

[A.Rahman]

Yes he has been released ...
He is giving interviews to Geo tv now...

If you cant contribute then stay away from the thread

 

[kenchabhai]

^^mmkay.... so?

Khan's release regrettable: US

Washington, Feb 6 (PTI) The US today 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.
The US State Department said if the news reports regarding the release of Khan from house arrest is true then it is regrettable.

Khan remains a serious threat with regard to nuclear proliferation, the department said.

The US had last month slapped sanctions on Khan, 12 associates and three firms and barred them from doing business with the American government or private companies while pledging to work for squeezing out the entire network.

Khan was put under house arrest in February 2004 after he spoke on state-run PTV about running a proliferation ring that supplied nuclear equipment and know-how to countries like Libya and North Korea.

He was pardoned in 2004 by then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and he retracted the confession last year, saying it was made under pressure. PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/CC4CDA558D2A03E765257555005F6C28?OpenDocument

 

[Cheetah786]

It's a appropriate reaction from India. Something really fishy is going on in the matter.

By the way, Mr. Khan can be called step-mother of Pakistan's Atomic Bomb Program at the most. Stealing other's children does not make you father.

India's nuclear weapons program was started at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center in Trombay. In the mid-1950s India acquired dual-use technologies under the "Atoms for Peace" non-proliferation program, which aimed to encourage the civil use of nuclear technologies in exchange for assurances that they would not be used for military purposes. There was little evidence in the 1950s that India had any interest in a nuclear weapons program, according to Joseph Cirincione of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1). Under the "Atoms for Peace" program, India acquired a Cirus 40 MWt heavy-water-moderated research reactor from Canada and purchased from the U.S. the heavy water required for its operation. In 1964, India commissioned a reprocessing facility at Trombay, which was used to separate out the plutonium produced by the Cirus research reactor. This plutonium was used in India's first nuclear test on May 18, 1974, described by the Indian government as a "peaceful nuclear explosion."

According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, India began work on a thermonuclear weapon in the 1980s. In 1989, William H. Webster, director of the CIA, testified before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee that "indicators that tell us India is interested in thermonuclear weapons capability." India was purifying lithium, producing tritium and separating lithium isotopes. India had also obtained pure beryllium metal from West Germany (2).


Whats that indians stole the tech and lied about it no it cant be Manahatan project was actually called Mumbai project americans just made it up.

 

[Flintlock]

Why the sudden release? Did he threaten to out some of his proliferating cronies in the Pakistan establishment? (Mere speculation on my part of course)

 

[Cheetah786]

A hero gone evil .. tbh. There is no doubt what he did for Pakistan is remarkable. But there is vehemence that what he proliferated is unpardonable.

So if the tech wasnt prolieirated how did u get it u reinvented the wheel.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO you just lied also known as stealing but Good americans are willing to sell civilian tech to india on a promise they it will not be used for military where have i herd that before West double standered dont mean you are any thing special

 

[PureLogic]

Mixed emotions over Khan release

The release of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan will be met with jubilation in much of Pakistan, and an equal measure of alarm in Washington.

While politicians in Washington have liked to portray the scientist as some kind of dark mastermind of nuclear proliferation - former CIA Director George Tenet reportedly referred to him as "at least as dangerous as Osama Bin Laden" - Dr AQ Khan has always been a hero for many Pakistani people.

The reason for his popularity is simple - he is widely seen as having made Pakistan a nuclear state and delivered it a form of status and security that the country otherwise would profoundly lack.

The reason for his notoriety is the belief that he also secretly helped other countries to develop their nuclear programmes.

Dr Khan came to Europe in the 1970s as a young scientist and found work at a subcontractor to Europe's nuclear enrichment programme which ran centrifuges to make nuclear fuel - the same devices can also be used to enrich uranium for a nuclear weapon.


He seems to have been motivated by a desire to break the nuclear monopoly of the West
But at the same time his native Pakistan was going through a crisis, first defeated by India in a 1971 war and then watching India test a "peaceful" nuclear explosive in 1974.

Dr Khan realised he had access to highly sensitive nuclear technology and wrote to Pakistan's then leader, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, offering his assistance.

He returned home to build a remarkable network of suppliers - largely European businessmen - who would send the highly sensitive parts to Pakistan where Dr Khan could build his own enrichment plant at Kahuta.

Sensitive secrets

Developing centrifuges is an incredibly complex technical task - as Iran has found in recent years - but by the early 1980s, Kahuta was producing enriched uranium for Pakistan's weapons.

Pakistan tests a Ghauri nuclear-capable long-range missile (May 1998)
Pakistan began testing weapons in response to India's nuclear programme
Those weapons were not tested until 1998 - in response to India's test - and the detonation of a nuclear device helped cement Dr Khan's reputation as the "father of the bomb".

Around that same time, the CIA and Britain's Secret Intelligence Service MI6 began to see signs indicating that Dr Khan was doing much more than build Pakistan's own bomb but was also engaged in passing on the highly sensitive nuclear secrets to other countries, including Iran, North Korea and Libya.

It was the deal with Libya which in the end would bring his work to a halt.

In 2003, an intermediary of Libya's Colonel Gaddafi approached MI6 offering to begin negotiations to bring in Libya from the cold.

Eventually, Libya came clean about its secret nuclear weapons programme and in doing so revealed the full extent of the Khan network's activities.


Many questions remain unanswered about his activities, including what exactly he gave to whom

Among the items handed over by Libyan officials was a bag from a Pakistan tailors containing design information for a nuclear weapon.

In turn, this information was then used to confront President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and force him to act against the scientist.

In February 2004, Dr Khan went on Pakistan national television and confessed to "unauthorised proliferation activities".

He was promptly placed under house arrest. His lawyers began to challenge the detention and in a spate of interviews in 2008, he also said that the confession had been false.

Unanswered questions

Some claimed Khan was driven by greed or money, but in fact he seems to have been motivated by a desire to break the nuclear monopoly of the West.

Outgoing Pakistan President General Musharraf leaves the Presidential House in Islamabad (18/08/2008)
Mr Musharraf's departure from office paved the way for Dr Khan's release

It has also been disputed how far he was operating independently and how far with the connivance of the Pakistani state.

There is no doubt that many senior military figures were at the very least aware of Dr Khan's activities and their reluctance to have this information become public was widely seen as one reason why he was placed under house arrest with even the CIA not being provided direct access to ask him questions.

The departure of the military government and of Mr Musharraf has paved the way for his eventual release.

Many questions remain unanswered about his activities though, including what exactly he gave to whom.

Even last year there were reports that his network may have been had copies of a far more advanced nuclear weapons design than previously understood.

And in January, just weeks before his release, the US State Department sanctioned 13 individuals and companies for involvement with Dr Khan, saying they hoped the move would "help prevent future proliferation activities".

So, whilst AQ Khan will be celebrating his release, Washington will be watching very closely.

 

[Cheetah786]

Why the sudden release? Did he threaten to out some of his proliferating cronies in the Pakistan establishment? (Mere speculation on my part of course)

Last i checked AQ has nothing to do with india so why butt in our buisness.

 

[Destructlord]

Why did they placed a great hero and scientist under the house arrest?! He hasnt done any harm! Just helped with the balance of the power in the Asia.

 

[Cheetah786]

While politicians in Washington have liked to portray the scientist as some kind of dark mastermind of nuclear proliferation - former CIA Director George Tenet reportedly referred to him as "at least as dangerous as Osama Bin Laden" - Dr AQ Khan has always been a hero for many Pakistani people.

Is this the same CIA that trained OSAMA BIN LADEN is this the same american politicians that gave the go ahead to give india help with her nukes even though india is not a signatory of NPT and have lied and stole the tech to produce her nukes
Same politicians that allowed palestinians to be butcherd with there supplied weapons and kept on suppliying during the war Just wanna make sure we are talking about the same peole here.

 

[Cheetah786]

Why did they placed a great hero and scientist under the house arrest?! He hasnt done any harm! Just helped with the balance of the power in the Asia.

Because in pakistan there is a lot of people on CIAs payroll when the Master says bark they just do that.

 

[PureLogic]

India's nuclear weapons program was started at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center in Trombay. In the mid-1950s India acquired dual-use technologies under the "Atoms for Peace" non-proliferation program, which aimed to encourage the civil use of nuclear technologies in exchange for assurances that they would not be used for military purposes. There was little evidence in the 1950s that India had any interest in a nuclear weapons program, according to Joseph Cirincione of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1). Under the "Atoms for Peace" program, India acquired a Cirus 40 MWt heavy-water-moderated research reactor from Canada and purchased from the U.S. the heavy water required for its operation. In 1964, India commissioned a reprocessing facility at Trombay, which was used to separate out the plutonium produced by the Cirus research reactor. This plutonium was used in India's first nuclear test on May 18, 1974, described by the Indian government as a "peaceful nuclear explosion."

According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, India began work on a thermonuclear weapon in the 1980s. In 1989, William H. Webster, director of the CIA, testified before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee that "indicators that tell us India is interested in thermonuclear weapons capability." India was purifying lithium, producing tritium and separating lithium isotopes. India had also obtained pure beryllium metal from West Germany (2).


Whats that indians stole the tech and lied about it no it cant be Manahatan project was actually called Mumbai project americans just made it up.

You are talking about "raw material", not the "technology".