A.Q. Khan Profile
Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, or A.Q. Khan as he is more commonly known, was largely considered a hero in Pakistan for his more than a quarter-century of work overseeing the creation of nation's atomic weapons program. So it shocked the South Asian nation when Khan confessed in 2004 to handing over nuclear secrets to other countries.
Khan was born in Bhopal, India, in 1935. He migrated to Pakistan in 1952, five years after it was partitioned from India when the two countries gained independence from Britain.
Khan trained as an engineer at the University of Karachi, then moved to West Germany and Belgium for further studies.
In the early 1970s, he began working for an engineering firm that subcontracted to the URENCO, a consortium specializing in the manufacture of nuclear equipment. He eventually started working in URENCO's primary enrichment facility in the Netherlands.
In 1975, a year after Pakistan's archrival India conducted its first nuclear test, Khan was reportedly asked by Pakistani officials to take charge of Pakistan's uranium enrichment program.
He left the Netherlands a year later with secret URENCO blueprints for a uranium centrifuge -- and was convicted in abstentia for stealing the designs, but his conviction was later overturned on a legal technicality.
Khan established the Engineering Research Laboratories at Kahuta, later known as the Dr. A.Q. Khan Research Laboratories, in July 1976 with the enrichment of uranium as its focus.
Pakistan reportedly was able to produce highly enriched uranium by 1986. A year later, Khan was quoted in a British newspaper as confirming American intelligence reports that Pakistan had nuclear capabilities.
In the 1980s and 1990s, suspicions arose among Western governments that covert nuclear and ballistic missile collaboration was occurring between China, Pakistan and North Korea.
And in May 1998, India and Pakistan conducted a series of nuclear tests, cementing their status as nuclear states. The progress in developing nuclear weapons was greeted with jubilation in both countries, and Khan became a national hero.
The United States immediately imposed sanctions on both countries and became increasingly convinced that Pakistan was sharing nuclear technology with North Korea in exchange for ballistic missile technology.
In response to growing American criticism, the Pakistani government announced Khan would be removed as chairman of the Khan Research Laboratories and named science and technology advisor to President Pervez Musharraf. The new role enabled closer government oversight of Khan's activities.
After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, Khan came under further scrutiny as the United States worked to remove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan and found the al-Qaida terrorist network had been seeking information on building radiological or nuclear bombs.
In October 2001, the Pakistani government arrested three Pakistani nuclear scientists -- all with close ties to Khan -- for suspected dealings with the Taliban. Two of the suspects admitted to having talks with al-Qaida head Osama bin Laden.
As the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency zeroed in on Iran's nuclear program, information surfaced that Iran had built centrifuges for a uranium enrichment facility from stolen URENCO designs that the country obtained in 1987, a year after Khan visited Iran. Although the source of the plans was not named, inspectors traced the Iranian centrifuges to models developed by Khan in the early 1980s.
Meanwhile, Libya in December 2003, made the surprise announcement that it had been working on weapons of mass destruction programs and would voluntarily abandon them. Libyan officials said they purchased nuclear components from the black market, including from Pakistani scientists, who stood to make millions of dollars from the deals.
The Pakistani government opened an investigation, and found that Khan and another high-ranking official at Khan Research Laboratories had provided unauthorized technical assistance to Iran. Khan was fired as presidential science advisor on Jan. 31, 2004.
Khan soon appeared on television and confessed to giving nuclear information to Libya, Iran and North Korea without authorization. "I take full responsibility for my actions and seek your pardon," he told a shocked nation.
Musharraf pardoned Khan the next day.
Khan "was pardoned in view of his services to the nation and his status and the fact that he confessed to his misdoings," Pakistani ambassador to the United States, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, explained on a Feb. 5 NewsHour interview. In light of public opinion and on the advice of the cabinet, Musharraf decided to pardon him, Qazi said.
"I am proud of my work for my country," Khan told yes.pakistan.com. "It has given Pakistanis a sense of pride, security and has been a great scientific achievement."
-- Compiled by Larisa Epatko for the Online NewsHour
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