ISLAMABAD: Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, often referred to as AQ Khan, said on Sunday his health was improving after he was hospitalized with COVID-19.
Khan is often dubbed the "father of Pakistan's nuclear program." He founded the Engineering Research Laboratory (ERL) to help the South Asian country develop uranium-enrichment capability. It was renamed Khan Research Laboratory (KRL) in 1981.
Khan was taken to KRL hospital's COVID-19 ward in Islamabad on Aug. 26 after he had tested positive for COVID-19.
His health deteriorated last week, prompting rumors about his passing.
"Am better today than yesterday," Khan said in a message to Arab News. "May god be with you and protect you."
Born in 1936 in the Indian city of Bhopal, Khan graduated in metallurgy from the University of Karachi in 1960. He went on to pursue higher studies in West Berlin and Netherlands, and was awarded a doctorate in metallurgical engineering by the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium in 1972.
Pakistan placed him under house arrest in 2004 after he confessed to selling nuclear secrets to foreign countries. Several of his collaborators in Europe have been arrested in Germany, Switzerland and South Africa. Khan was released in 2009.