US slaps sanctions on 13 people tied to A.Q. Khan

Washington: The US State Department said on Monday that it had slapped sanctions on 13 individuals and three private companies because of their involvement in the Pakistan-led A.Q. Khan nuclear-proliferation network.

Apart from the names, no further details were given over those affected by the sanctions or their nationalities.

"We believe these sanctions will help prevent future proliferation-related activities by these private entities, provide a warning to other would-be proliferators," the department said in a statement.

The sanctions followed a multiyear US government review of information regarding the A.Q. Khan network, it said.

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

"He and his associates provided Iran and Libya with centrifuge components, designs and in some cases, complete centrifuges," the State Department statement said.

Khan, a nuclear scientist revered at home as the father of Pakistan's atom bomb, has been under house arrest since 2004 after Pakistan was confronted with evidence by the US Central Intelligence Agency.