Curbs on AQ back after US warning

WASHINGTON: The Pakistani government has again isolated its nuclear brigand-cum-national hero A Q Khan after the US came down heavily on efforts
to free him, saying he continues to be a serious proliferation risk.

A Lahore court on Wednesday reversed an earlier court decision to free him from the "security protocol" - a euphemism for house arrest - following a government appeal which essentially said it was for his own good. The move also follows fears that western agencies might kidnap Khan to get to the bottom of the decades-long nuclear proliferation ring he oversaw, ostensibly, as he has suggested, at the bidding and with the knowledge of successive Pakistani governments.

Khan had earlier been declared a "free citizen" by another judge after he appealed to the courts following an incident where he was not allowed to attend his grand-daughter's graduation ceremony. Security agencies continued to hem in Khan at his house even after the court order, at which point the disgruntled nuclear scientist had threatened to squeal about Pakistan's nuclear secrets, forcing the government to back off.

But the hold of the US on a country that has basically parcelled out its sovereignty to various stake holders, including China and Saudi Arabia, was evident within days. Barely 24 hours after Washington warned that Khan continued to pose a proliferation risk and freeing him was not a good idea, the Pakistani government filed an appeal in a different court, which reversed the earlier order and allowed Islamabad to resume restrictions on him.

"Our concerns over the potential for proliferation activities by Mr Khan are well known to the Pakistani government. We believe that he remains a proliferation risk", state department spokesman Ian Kelly had said.

Pakistan is in line to receive a $7.5 billion five-year aid package - after the Congress clears it later this month - in addition to nearly $6 billion that the so-called Friends of Democratic Pakistan is lining up.