28-08-09 Pakistan nuclear secrets scientist to go freeA Pakistani high court on Friday ordered the government to lift all restrictions on nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan who was put under house arrest for his alleged role in spreading nuclear technology to Iran,Libya and North Korea.Khan had moved a petition on Thursday before the Lahore High Court challenging a government protocol that confined him to his home despite a court order lifting his house arrest last February."Justice Ijaz Chaudhry,after hearing the argument,directed the government that it will not restrain Dr. A. Q. Khan in any manner," Khan's lawyer,Ali Zafar,said in a statement.Khan was pardoned but placed under house arrest in 2004 by then president Pervez Musharraf after the scientist confessed on television to selling nuclear secrets to Iran,North Korea and Libya.Musharraf had been forced to act against Khan after being confronted by the United States with evidence of the scientist's role in a nuclear black market.After a new government came to power last year,Khan gave a series of media interviews in which he recanted his 2004 confession,saying he only took the blame in return for assurances from Musharraf.The court fixed another hearing for Sept.4 to address the question of whether government officials were in contempt of court for ignoring the February ruling.Khan is still lionized as the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb and there is widespread belief that he was the fall guy for a larger conspiracy to smuggle nuclear technology.Pakistani authorities denied any connection to Khan's smuggling ring but never let foreign investigators question him |
