A.Q. Khan remains a hero in Pakistan

[TexasLawyer]

Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006

A.Q. Khan remains a hero in Pakistan

By B. GAUTAM
Special to The Japan Times

MADRAS, India -- If there is one man who can be held singularly responsible for nuclear proliferation, it has to be Abdul Qadeer Khan, known as the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb. Khan was a metallurgist before he became a nuclear businessman. That's what he was: He ran a "Nuclear Wal-Mart," according to a new book about him.

The tome, "Shopping for Bombs: Nuclear Proliferation, Global Insecurity and the Rise and Fall of the A.Q. Khan Network," by Gordon Corera, reads like a thriller.

Khan has been under house arrest in one of Islamabad's posh localities. Recently, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. A wave of sympathy for the 70-year-old scientist is now sweeping Pakistan: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz sent him flowers, and cricketer-cum-politician Imran Khan said the ailing Khan would be treated in the best cancer hospital in Lahore. Khan owns the hospital.

Such gestures merely reaffirm what was always suspected, but never proved. A.Q. Khan never ceased to be a hero in the eyes of the common Pakistani. And those in the higher echelons of the country's political power never stopped respecting him.

<snip>

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20060907a1.html

[AlamoDemoc]

1. Mr. Khan is escape goat of Bush's useless anti-terrorism over pakistan

[LostInAnomie]

2. Another sign of how incompetent and weak Bush is.

One of his best allies is not only protecting one of the most prolific nuclear arms dealers ever, but probably also harboring OBL.