Asia-Pacific

Father of Pakistan bomb doing well despite cancer

(AP)
Updated: 2006-08-24 17:22

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Disgraced scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who made Pakistan a nuclear power and later confessed to leaking weapons technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya, is doing well as he battles severe prostate cancer, an official Wednesday.

Chuadhry Shujaat Hussain (L), president of the ruling party Pakistan Muslim League, meets with father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb and top scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, at his residence in Islamabad August 23, 2006. Khan, who confessed to selling nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea, is suffering from prostate cancer, the government said on Tuesday. Picture taken on August 23, 2006. [Reuters]

 

Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani made the remarks after visiting Khan at his residence in the capital, Islamabad, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan news agency reported.

Durrani asked lawmakers and others to pray for Khan's health and recovery.

His comments came a day after the government announced that Khan had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, stressing that he was getting the best available treatment in consultation with his family.

The 70-year-old scientist been living under virtual house arrest in an upscale part of Islamabad since he confessed in early 2004 to leaking sensitive nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya.

The government sacked him, but many Pakistanis regard him as a national hero.

Pakistan began a formal probe into Khan's dealings in 2003 after the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, wrote the agency a letter saying Khan was operating a black market in weapons technology and know-how.