Pak court declares disgraced scientist AQ Khan free

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

Khan, lionised by many Pakistanis as the father of the country's atomic bomb, was pardoned but placed under house arrest in 2004 by the then president, Pervez Musharraf, soon after he made a televised confession to selling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya.

"The high court has declared him a free citizen," one of Khan's lawyers, Iqbal Jaffry, told a television station, after a decision by the court on a challenge to restrictions on Khan.

"He will have all rights available to people under the constitution and the Quran," he said.

Khan's house arrest had been relaxed over the past year and he had been allowed to meet friends. He gave a series of interviews to media after a new government came to power last March.

The 72-year-old scientist, who has been treated for prostate cancer, irked the army by making comments about the smuggling of nuclear equipment that appeared to implicate the military and former army chief and president Pervez Musharraf.

A court upheld his detention last July and barred him from talking to the media about nuclear proliferation while he was under house arrest.

"I was traveling all over the world when I was making the bomb. Nobody could hurt me then. Whatever happened has happened, it's over. The government will provide me security. I don't want to associate myself with the country's nuclear programme anymore. President Zardari and Nawaz Sharif were also in jail for eight years, but there has been no proof found against them. We should look forward now," he stated.

Last year, a UN nuclear watchdog said Khan's network smuggled nuclear weaponisation blueprints to Iran, Libya and North Korea and was active in 12 countries.

Last month, the Department said it had imposed sanctions on 13 individuals and three private companies because of their involvement in Khan's network.

Pakistan regards the Khan nuclear proliferation case as closed, but US and international nuclear experts investigating proliferation still want to question Khan.