12 June 2011
11 June 2011
07 June 2011
04 June 2011
Story of AQ Khan 06 of 07
Honors and recognitions
Because of Abdul Qadeer Khan's open public promotion by the Pakistan media, Khan remained one of the most known, yet respected, scientist in the country. His active role, during the last two decades, in the nuclear development; Abdul Qadeer Khan came to known, both nationally and internationally as the country's top nuclear physicist, in spite of his academic (metallurgical) engineering discipline. Abdul Qadeer Khan has received more than 60 Gold medal across the countries universities and colleges. On 14th August of 1989, Abdul Qadeer Khan, along with his counterpart Munir Ahmad Khan, was honored by the Government of Pakistan after he was awarded the second high civil award, "Hilal-e-Imtiaz" by the former Prime minister Benazir Bhutto in a public ceremony. In 14th August of 1996, Abdul Qadeer Khan was awarded the highest civilian award "Nishan-e-Imtiaz" by former Prime minister Nawaz Sharif. On 12th March 1999, Abdul Qadeer Khan was again awarded and honored the highest civilian award "Nishan-e-Imtiaz" from President Justice (retired) Rafique Tarar. With receiving the Nishane-e-Imtiaz for the second time, Abdul Qadeer Khan remains the only Pakistani citizen who has been twice honored and awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, to date.Story of AQ Khan 07 of 07
Honorary degrees
Khan has been conferred with various of honorary Doctorate of Sciences (D.Sc.) from all over the universities in Pakistan. A list of universities are listed below that have conferred Abdul Qadeer Khan with honorary doctorate degree:- University of Karachi
- Baqai Medical University
- Hamdard University
- Gomal University
- Lahore University of Engineering and Technology
- Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology
Story of AQ Khan 04 of 07
1998 tests
The competition between KRL and PAEC became highly intensified when India tested its nuclear bombs, codename Pokhran-II, in 1998 in Pokhran region. These nuclear tests conducted by India caused great alarm and internal tension in Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif, prime minister at that time, came under intense media and public pressure to conduct its own nuclear tests. After the Indian nuclear weapons tests, Abdul Qadeer Khan repeatedly met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, trying for permission to test Pakistan's nuclear weapons in Chagai. He proposed that the tests could by carried out in the underground tunnels in Kahuta. Despite his efforts, Sharif instead chose PAEC, under Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad, due to their experience of ingeniously carrying out the tests in the past.In meantime, Sharif sought to mitigate the intense rivalry between PAEC and KRL by asking Khan to provide its enriched uranium to PAEC. Nawaz Sharif also urged both KRL and PAEC to work together in the nation's best interest. It was the KRL's HEU that ultimately led to the successful detonation of Pakistan's first nuclear device on 28 May 1998. Two days later, on 30 May, a small team of scientists belonging to PAEC, under the leadership of Dr. Samar Mubarakmand, tested a Plutonium-based nuclear device. According to Pakistan defense analyst and retired engineer officer Lieutenant-General Talat Masood, the weapon-grade device was much more powerful than the uranium device. The theoretical test yield of the device was reported to 12-20 Kt. But recently in an interview with Dr. Shahid Masood of A.R.Y. Television Network, Abdul Qadeer Khan said that the even the second nuclear test was also based on Uranium-fissile fuel, though he did not provide any evidence to his claim. The tests were greeted with jubilation; in Pakistan, Abdul Qadeer Khan was feted as a national hero. The United States immediately imposed sanctions on both India and Pakistan and publicly blamed China for assisting Pakistan.
Story of AQ Khan 05 of 07
Health matters
Cancer
On 22 August 2006, the Pakistani government announced that Khan was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. On 9 September 2006, Khan had surgery at Aga Khan hospital, in Karachi. According to doctors, the operation was successful, but on 30 October it was reported that his condition had deteriorated and he was suffering from deep vein thrombosis.Hospitalization
On 5 March 2008, Khan was admitted to an Islamabad hospital with low blood pressure and fever, reportedly due to an infection. He was released four days later.Story of AQ Khan 03 of 07
After a meeting with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Abdul Qadeer Khan, with backing of Bhutto, formed Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL) and took over the uranium project from PAEC. Abdul Qadeer Khan disliked the idea of PAEC getting involved in his work; instead he advocated for Corps of Engineers to lead the construction of the suitable operational enrichment plant. The E-in-C chose Brigadier Zahid Ali Akbar, a system engineer notable for leading the construction of GHQ, Pakistan Army's Combatant Headquarter. Brigadier Zahid Ali Akbar chose the city of Kahuta near Rawalpindi, Punjab Province, for the operational enrichment facility. In 1983, Pakistan's Chief Martial Law Administrator and Chief of Army Staff General Ziaul Haq subsequently renamed it from Engineering Research Laboratories to Khan Research Laboratories (KRL). By early 1981, the enrichment project was fully functional.
Despite of Khan's leading the uranium enrichment programme, Abdul Qadeer Khan was not invited to the secret cold-test of a device, codename Kirana-I that was conducted in 1983 by the PAEC under Munir Ahmad Khan. In 1984, Abdul Qadeer Khan's KRL claimed to carry out its own nuclear test. However, this seemed unsuccessful as PAEC had already carried out the test in 1983. In 1984, KRL had produces the first and fresh batch of weapon-grade uranium loosely based on the Zippe Type technology.
Despite of Khan's leading the uranium enrichment programme, Abdul Qadeer Khan was not invited to the secret cold-test of a device, codename Kirana-I that was conducted in 1983 by the PAEC under Munir Ahmad Khan. In 1984, Abdul Qadeer Khan's KRL claimed to carry out its own nuclear test. However, this seemed unsuccessful as PAEC had already carried out the test in 1983. In 1984, KRL had produces the first and fresh batch of weapon-grade uranium loosely based on the Zippe Type technology.
Story of AQ Khan 02 of 07
Three years after Pakistan's defeat on 1971 Indo-Pak Winter war, India, under Indian Premier Indira Gandhi carried out a nuclear test explosion. On May 18 of 1974, India conducted a surprise nuclear test, codenamed Smiling Buddha, near the Pakistan's eastern border. The test greatly alarmed the Government of Pakistan, and Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto quickly scrambled to establish a sustainable nuclear weapons capability.
Meanwhile, in scientific research started on January 20, 1972, the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), under Munir Ahmad Khan and Abdus Salam, was exploring both Plutonium and Uranium route to developing an atomic device. The uranium route was considered a secondary route, as PAEC was concentrating and putting an effort to developing the first plutonium weapon-grade device. During 1972, Abdul Qadeer Khan, as senior scientist, was working in a centrifuge production facility in the Netherlands, and began to approach Pakistan government officials offering to help with Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence programme. At first, he approached a pair of Pakistani military scientists who were in the Netherlands on business. At the Pakistan Embassy, the military scientists discouraged him by saying: "As a metallurgical engineer, it would be a hard job for him to find a job in PAEC (Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission)".
Undaunted, Abdul Qadeer Khan wrote to Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, saying, "he sets out his experience and encourages Prime Minister Bhutto to make a nuclear bomb using uranium, rather than plutonium, the method Pakistan is currently trying to adopt under the leadership of Munir Ahmad Khan".
In December 1974, Abdul Qadeer Khan went to Pakistan to meet Zulfikar Bhutto and PAEC Chairman Munir Ahmad Khan at the Prime minister Secretariat. During the meeting, he was unable to convince Bhutto to adopt uranium as the best approach rather than plutonium to make an atomic device. As Munir Ahmad Khan was a plutonium technologist, Zulfikar Bhutto did not agree to halt the plutonium efforts but moved to begin a parallel uranium program. Later that evening, Zulfikar Bhutto met with his close friend Munir Ahmad Khan in his house, where he told him that, "He [Abdul Qadeer Khan] seems to make sense." Abdul Qadeer Khan again approached Bhutto and tried to convince him to halt the plutonium pursuit. In a meeting with Bhutto, Munir Ahmad Khan and senior academic scientists and engineers at PAEC believed that they could run the reactor without Canadian assistance, and they insisted that with the French extraction plant in the offing, Pakistan should stick with its original plan. Bhutto did not disagree, but saw the advantage of mounting a parallel effort toward enriched uranium.
The uranium enrichment programme was secretly started in 1972 by Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood. Following the surprise Indian nuclear test, the secret project was launched in May 1974 by PAEC as Codename— Project-706. Sultan Mahmood, a nuclear engineer, was made the project-director. Before Abdul Qadeer Khan's joining, the uranium route was considered secondary route, and most efforts were put to develop a device with weapon-grade plutonium. In spring of 1976, Abdul Qadeer Khan joined the programme, and worked initially under Sultan Mahmood However, the pair disagreed, and Abdul Qadeer Khan became highly unsatisfied with the work led by Mahmood. He wrote a letter to Munir Ahmad Khan, later directed to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, where he expressed his discontent with Mahmood and saying that he wanted to work independently.
Meanwhile, in scientific research started on January 20, 1972, the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), under Munir Ahmad Khan and Abdus Salam, was exploring both Plutonium and Uranium route to developing an atomic device. The uranium route was considered a secondary route, as PAEC was concentrating and putting an effort to developing the first plutonium weapon-grade device. During 1972, Abdul Qadeer Khan, as senior scientist, was working in a centrifuge production facility in the Netherlands, and began to approach Pakistan government officials offering to help with Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence programme. At first, he approached a pair of Pakistani military scientists who were in the Netherlands on business. At the Pakistan Embassy, the military scientists discouraged him by saying: "As a metallurgical engineer, it would be a hard job for him to find a job in PAEC (Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission)".
Undaunted, Abdul Qadeer Khan wrote to Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, saying, "he sets out his experience and encourages Prime Minister Bhutto to make a nuclear bomb using uranium, rather than plutonium, the method Pakistan is currently trying to adopt under the leadership of Munir Ahmad Khan".
In December 1974, Abdul Qadeer Khan went to Pakistan to meet Zulfikar Bhutto and PAEC Chairman Munir Ahmad Khan at the Prime minister Secretariat. During the meeting, he was unable to convince Bhutto to adopt uranium as the best approach rather than plutonium to make an atomic device. As Munir Ahmad Khan was a plutonium technologist, Zulfikar Bhutto did not agree to halt the plutonium efforts but moved to begin a parallel uranium program. Later that evening, Zulfikar Bhutto met with his close friend Munir Ahmad Khan in his house, where he told him that, "He [Abdul Qadeer Khan] seems to make sense." Abdul Qadeer Khan again approached Bhutto and tried to convince him to halt the plutonium pursuit. In a meeting with Bhutto, Munir Ahmad Khan and senior academic scientists and engineers at PAEC believed that they could run the reactor without Canadian assistance, and they insisted that with the French extraction plant in the offing, Pakistan should stick with its original plan. Bhutto did not disagree, but saw the advantage of mounting a parallel effort toward enriched uranium.
The uranium enrichment programme was secretly started in 1972 by Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood. Following the surprise Indian nuclear test, the secret project was launched in May 1974 by PAEC as Codename— Project-706. Sultan Mahmood, a nuclear engineer, was made the project-director. Before Abdul Qadeer Khan's joining, the uranium route was considered secondary route, and most efforts were put to develop a device with weapon-grade plutonium. In spring of 1976, Abdul Qadeer Khan joined the programme, and worked initially under Sultan Mahmood However, the pair disagreed, and Abdul Qadeer Khan became highly unsatisfied with the work led by Mahmood. He wrote a letter to Munir Ahmad Khan, later directed to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, where he expressed his discontent with Mahmood and saying that he wanted to work independently.
Story of AQ Khan 01 of 07
Abdul Qadeer Khan, (born: 1st April, 1936), (D.Eng, FPAS, Sc.D, HI, NI (twice)) (Urdu: ڈاکٹر عبد القدیر خان ); more widely known as Dr. A. Q. Khan, is a Pakistani nuclear scientist and a metallurgical engineer who served as the Director-General of the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) from 1976 till 2001. Abdul Qadeer Khan is widely regarded as the founder of HEU based Gas-centrifuge uranium enrichment programme for Pakistan's nuclear deterrence programme. His middle name is alternatively rendered as Quadeer, Qadeer or Gaudeer, and his given names are usually abbreviated to A.Q..
After years of home arrest, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on 6 February 2009 declared Abdul Qadeer Khan to be a free citizen of Pakistan, allowing him free movement inside the country. The verdict was rendered by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Aslam. In September 2009, expressing concerns over the Lahore High Court’s decision to end all security restrictions on Khan, the United States warned that Khan still remains a "serious proliferation risk".
After years of home arrest, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on 6 February 2009 declared Abdul Qadeer Khan to be a free citizen of Pakistan, allowing him free movement inside the country. The verdict was rendered by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Aslam. In September 2009, expressing concerns over the Lahore High Court’s decision to end all security restrictions on Khan, the United States warned that Khan still remains a "serious proliferation risk".
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