Abdul Qadeer Khan (or AQ Khan), founding father of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and suspected of exporting nuclear technology to North Korea and other nations, is making headlines again. And this nuclear dust up shows just how divergent perspectives on nuclear proliferation can be.
Benazir Bhutto, who will return to Pakistan on October 18th, has started a firestorm by stating the following: if Prime Minister, Bhutto would allow IAEA officials to question AQ Khan.
The Australian notes the harsh response from other Pakistani political figures:
In a rare show of unanimity, leaders from across Pakistan’s political spectrum rounded on Ms Bhutto yesterday.
They insisted that Dr Khan was a hero across the Muslim word. The rogue scientist is responsible for Pakistan’s becoming the only Muslim state with a strategic nuclear capacity.
“It is our internal affair and he is still a national hero,” senior cabinet minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said yesterday.
“We cannot compromise on it and the statement of Benazir Bhutto is highly condemnable. It’s the wrong statement at the wrong time, and its sole purpose is to please the United States.”
Cricketer-turned-political leader Imran Khan condemned Ms Bhutto’s promise, while Liaquat Baloch, a senior member of the Muttahida-Majlis-e-Amal religious front party, accused her of “doing everything to appease the US. She wants to gain power and the people of Pakistan know that to achieve her objective she is ready to compromise the country’s nuclear program.”
Bhutto, in exile for years and perceived as a favorite of Washington, isn’t helping herself with Pakistani domestic base. We’ll see how this affects her return to Pakistani politics—and thus the direction of this volatile nuclear power.
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