My Favourite Personality
AQ Khan, the man behind Pakistan 's nuclear programme. (Photo: Reuters)
There is nothing much unusual about armed guards outside the houses in my quiet, neat neighbourhood of Islamabad. These are the homes of retired generals, well-connected politicians and international aid workers, all of whom might be targets for Pakistani extremists. But one house stands out. Instead of frail, elderly guards armed with shotguns, one house is ringed by uniformed police officers with AK-47s. Roadblocks control traffic, floodlights illuminate an area of scrub that has been cleared of trees and machine gun positions have been dug in all around.
This is the home of AQ Khan, the metallurgist who did more than anyone to build Pakistan’s atomic bomb and who then went on what can only be described as a proliferation spree, selling nuclear secrets to any rogue state that came calling.
The technology behind today’s test in North Korea can be traced back to the man in the heavily guarded villa. As many as two planes a month arrived in Pakistan from Pyongyang during the late 1990s, bringing the missile technology in exchange for AQ Khan’s secrets, such as how to use centrifuges to enrich enough uranium for a weapon.
Today he is largely a free man. He received a pardon from President Pervez Musharraf in 2004 apparently in return for a televised confession in which he admitted selling the technology but insisted that he acted alone. All very convenient.
So the security outside his house is not so much to keep AQ Khan locked away like a criminal. In fact he can occasionally be spotted at coffee shops and regularly gives interviews to the local media. He has even set up a party to contest elections due this year and has said he is willing to serve as prime minister. His Tehreek-e-Tahafuzz Pakistan party tried to register the image of a missile as its symbol – suggesting a wicked sense of humour.
Nor is the security really to stop the terrorists. As the father of the Islamic bomb he is a
There is nothing much unusual about armed guards outside the houses in my quiet, neat neighbourhood of Islamabad. These are the homes of retired generals, well-connected politicians and international aid workers, all of whom might be targets for Pakistani extremists. But one house stands out. Instead of frail, elderly guards armed with shotguns, one house is ringed by uniformed police officers with AK-47s. Roadblocks control traffic, floodlights illuminate an area of scrub that has been cleared of trees and machine gun positions have been dug in all around.
This is the home of AQ Khan, the metallurgist who did more than anyone to build Pakistan’s atomic bomb and who then went on what can only be described as a proliferation spree, selling nuclear secrets to any rogue state that came calling.
The technology behind today’s test in North Korea can be traced back to the man in the heavily guarded villa. As many as two planes a month arrived in Pakistan from Pyongyang during the late 1990s, bringing the missile technology in exchange for AQ Khan’s secrets, such as how to use centrifuges to enrich enough uranium for a weapon.
Today he is largely a free man. He received a pardon from President Pervez Musharraf in 2004 apparently in return for a televised confession in which he admitted selling the technology but insisted that he acted alone. All very convenient.
So the security outside his house is not so much to keep AQ Khan locked away like a criminal. In fact he can occasionally be spotted at coffee shops and regularly gives interviews to the local media. He has even set up a party to contest elections due this year and has said he is willing to serve as prime minister. His Tehreek-e-Tahafuzz Pakistan party tried to register the image of a missile as its symbol – suggesting a wicked sense of humour.
Nor is the security really to stop the terrorists. As the father of the Islamic bomb he is a
References: 1526 - 1857: Mughal ascendancy (1526–1707), nominal rule by Mughals (1707–1857) 1541 - 1545: Sher Shah Suri built the Rohtas Fort 1782: The Baloch tribe of Talpur defeats the last Kalhora ruler Mian Abdul Nabi in the battle of Halani 1801 - 1849: Sikhs become dominant force in Punjab, Ranjit Singh rules (1799–1839), November 1, 1857 The British control most present-day Pakistan region and incorporate it as part of the British IndianEmpire. August 1, 1960: Islamabad is declared as the principal seat of the Government of Pakistan. January 2, 1964: Fatima Jinnah lost the presidential elections, Ayub completes the second term 1965: Second war between Pakistan and India over Kashmir 1997: General elections held; Nawaz Sharif becomes prime minister for the second time May 28, 1998: Pakistan conducts nuclear tests