LONDON, 10 February 2004 — When Iran presented its report to the International Atomic Energy Agency late last year, it listed Pakistan among the countries that provided it with the bulk of its nuclear technology. Islamabad promptly denied this.
During his official visit to Tehran in the same month Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was thunderstruck at the accusation and returned home to assure Washington that his regime had no knowledge of the transfer of secrets and that the activists must be nuclear scientists, more precisely “the father of the Islamic bomb” Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Pakistan began investigations centering around Khan, which was a surprising volte-face considering that in January of that year Pervez Musharraf’s government rose to Khan’s defense when certain reports listed him as one of the biggest participants in the proliferation of prohibited weapons. At the Davos Conference Musharraf was critical of the focus on Pakistan while many European countries were selling the technology.
In order to reassure him, US Vice President Dick Cheney took the time during the conference to meet with Musharraf and expressed his satisfaction at the actions Islamabad had taken in controlling the spread of nuclear weapons.
After Musharraf’s return, the names of those implicated became to filter to the newspapers. Soon enough protests and marches were held and extremist Islamic groups threatened Musharraf’s government with action if Khan wasn’t released.
The surprise came on Sunday when Khan admitted that he had provided Iran, Libya and North Korea with sensitive nuclear information.
While Islamabad is trying to confine blame for these activities to Khan and his group of scientists and friends, the newspapers have been pointing the finger at the retired Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg who was Army Chief of Staff in the late eighties and early nineties and who had a role to play in transferring technology to Iran. They mention that it was he who suggested to the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif that Iran was ready to pay huge amounts of money in exchange for such technology.
The general denied everything, saying it was a “pack of lies” that “groups were conspiring against our nuclear program and that we must not kowtow to pressure or humiliate our scientists.”
After Khan’s written confession, the general appeared on British Channel Four Television to say that Khan was acting independently of the military and that he personally had no knowledge of what Khan was doing.
For more than a year reports have indicated that the Pakistani nuclear scientist may be the one who spread nuclear know-how to a number of countries. However in Pakistan Khan is a national hero — “father of the Islamic bomb” — and Pakistan’s deterrence against any Indian attack. Buildings are named after him, songs have been written about him and there are even statues of him. According to his biographer Zahid Malik, in 1975 Khan visited then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and agreed to return from Holland, where he had been working, and help Pakistan develop its nuclear technology. On hearing this, Bhutto claimed that he could now defeat India.
US security forces were worried that Khan, with Musharraf’s backing, moved outside Pakistan’s borders. It was known that Khan was prepared to transfer Pakistan’s nuclear technology to any party willing to pay highly enough for it.
Khan’s stature fell in 2001 when he was removed as head of the nuclear project and he became just an ordinary citizen, though one able to travel, whenever he wished, to a number of countries. Reliable sources say that at this time Khan was providing his services to Iran and North Korea, and that it was he who gave North Korea the know-how to enrich uranium.
Khan got much of his experience form his work in the Dutch/British/German group URINCO. Many agree that he transferred the uranium enrichment plans from that company. He was in fact tried “in absentia” in Holland for spying. In 1976 Khan began secret experiments and it is said that China provided him with the assembly plans for more than 60 nuclear weapons. In 1998 Pakistan exploded its first nuclear bomb.
The Pakistani press revealed that since his removal two years ago, Khan had traveled a total of 41 times to a number of countries, among them Dubai, Turkey, Morocco, South Africa and Malaysia to meet with traders on the black market.
Those in the know say that Khan’s relationship with North Korea dates back to 1992. In April 1998 Islamabad launched the first missile, which it called the “Gori 1” (a renamed Korean missile) paid for not with money but in return for nuclear technology, more precisely, techniques of enriching uranium.
Relations with Iran began in 1986 and resumed in 1994 after an interlude caused by arguments over Afghanistan.
With regards to Iraq, a security memo records an offer made in 1990 by representatives of Khan to build a station for enriching uranium, although there is no record of whether the offer was accepted. This same offer was presented to Libya.
Informed sources say that one of the Pakistani scientists working with Khan received a call from Osama Bin Laden’s group, but that he refused the offer and reported it to the authorities.
What is Khan’s incentive in all of this? Those who know him say that he is neither a fundamentalist nor ideological. He is though drawn to power. His biographer says that while he is not an extremist nor is he involved in the plots to assassinate Musharraf, he does love the lights and the fame — which he has had in plenty.
The Bush administration remained mute, perhaps reluctant to comment, as Pakistan was its ally in the war on Afghanistan. Secretary of State Colin Powell said in response to direct questioning, “The past was in the past and what concerns me is what is going on right now. We have good relations with Pakistan.”
Islamabad has begun to investigate. Some say that Khan will be tried in order for the military to wash its hands of him. Others say that he is above being treated like the others, especially since the results of his questioning and or trial will be more than the government can handle.
