Pakistan Releases Three Men Detained for Questioning in Nuclear Smuggling Investigation

Pakistan on Saturday released three employees of the country’s main nuclear weapons facility after having held them in custody for more than six months on suspicion that they might have been involved in the transfer of Pakistani nuclear technology abroad, according to the Los Angeles Times (see GSN, July 16).

The three freed men are Nazir Ahmed, director-general of science and technology at the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL); retired Army Brig. Sajawal Khan Malik, the facility’s security director; and retired Maj. Islam ul-Haq, personal assistant to top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. Khan has admitted to transferring nuclear weapons technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

The three men were released because they were no longer needed for questioning, said military spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan. None of the three presently face charges, but Sultan said that the investigation into Khan’s activities continues and the three men could be questioned again.

While the three men have been released from government custody, they remain under house arrest, according to Mohammed ul-Haq, brother of Islam ul-Haq. They are not allowed to discuss any secrets they may have learned while working at KRL or during the Khan investigation, they are not allowed to meet with anyone without government approval and they are not allowed to leave Islamabad, Mohammed ul-Haq said.

To date, only one person detained in the Khan investigation remains in custody — KRL Director-General of Foreign Procurement Mohammed Farooq, the Times reported (Paul Watson, Los Angeles Times, July 25).

Meanwhile, the U.S. Sept. 11 commission recommended in a report released last week that the United States commit itself to providing Pakistan with sustained assistance as part of international counterterrorism efforts. Such aid should only be provided, though, if Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf commits himself to confronting Islamic radicals, preventing nuclear proliferation and to implementing political reforms, the commission said (Christopher Marquis, New York Times, July 24).

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