Islamabad: A court in Pakistan has ordered the government and the country's top military-run spy network to explain why a senior nuclear scientist has been detained and what charges he faces, a lawyer said yesterday.
Attiqur Rahman, who worked for Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, or PAEC, was picked up on his wedding day from his home in Abbottabad about two years ago, said Mohammed Ikram Chaudhry, a lawyer for Rahman.
Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme's top scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, confessed in February 2004 that he gave sensitive technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea, sparking a probe into his alleged nuclear black marketing.
Earlier this month, a senior aide to Khan was released more than two years after he was detained over the nuclear scandal.
The Foreign Ministry said Mohammed Farooq's release marked the end of the investigation.
Prime agency
Rahman's detention had never been made public by the government, and his family has not heard from him since he was taken away by the Inter-Services Intelligence ISI Pakistan's prime intelligence agency, Chaudhry said.
On Monday, the High Court ordered the Ministry of Interior and ISI to produce Rahman in court and explain by June 2 on what charges he is being held, according to the lawyer.
The court passed the order on a petition by Rahman's father who is seeking his release "from the illegal and unjustified" detention, Chaudhry said.
