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Detained nuclear scientist hopes new Cabinet will free him
Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Qadeer Khan expressed the hope yesterday that the new government will release him from house arrest, but he said he had not yet heard anything on the matter.
- AP
- Published: 12:46 April 2, 2008
Islamabad: Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Qadeer Khan expressed the hope yesterday that the new government will release him from house arrest, but he said he had not yet heard anything on the matter.
Khan has been mostly confined to his home since 2004, when he confessed to passing nuclear bomb technology to Iran, North Korean and Libya.
Experts say questions remain about the extent of his dealings and whether other Pakistani leaders were involved.
In a telephone interview, Khan said former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other leaders of Pakistan's new government have voiced support for him in the past.
He said, however, that the new leadership had not yet told him of any plans to let him move or speak freely. "So far they have just talked of love, and have not demonstrated it," Khan said with a laugh.
He noted that he was a senior citizen in fading health. "There is always a limit to anything. Now I am 72. It does not mean that I will spend the rest of my life sitting inside like this," he said.
100-day plan
Public affairs officials for the new government, which took office this week, and the parties who triumphed in February parliamentary elections were not immediately available for comment.
New Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani did not mention Khan when he laid out his 100-day plan for the government on Saturday. Khan enjoys a national hero's status in Pakistan for his key role in helping it become a nuclear-armed nation like its neighbouring archrival, India.
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