A.Q.Khan's security demands curbs on his movements
By IANS,
Islamabad : The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has asked Abdul Qadeer Khan, the disgraced scientist considered the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme, for his response to a plea for placing restrictions on his free movement.
Petitioner Colonel Muhammad Faheem, the chief security coordinator to A.Q. Khan, has submitted a plea for reviewing the implementation of the high court's order of Feb 6, 2009.
A bench of the Islamabad High Court Feb 6, 2009, had declared A.Q.Khan a free citizen of the country and ordered all restrictions on his free movement be removed.
The court had also ordered VIP security for Qadeer and said he could meet his relatives and friends without restrictions.
On Tuesday (June 7), a single-judge bench of Chief Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman heard the case in which the petitioner Faheem has raised serious objections to frequent travel and meetings of Khan, Geo News reported.
Stating that the travel and meetings could put Khan in an awkward position, the petitioner contended that it could jeopardise the nuclear scientist's life.
Faheem stated that the security situation in the country was extremely serious. "The Raymond Davis episode has shown that there are covert foreign operators inside Pakistan and given Khan's profile, one cannot rule out that he would be a focus of their attention."
"A.Q. Khan has also carried out some unauthorised communication which is being assessed and the same is in violation of specific court orders whereby the court had directed him not to communicate on sensitive matters," the petition stated.
Faheem, in his petition, pointed out: "In a period from Jan 1, 2001, 312 visitors were facilitated to meet him despite the fact that security officers had reservations about some of the visitors due to security reasons".
Stating that he could not give any decision before getting Khan's statement, the chief justice issued notice to A.Q. Khan and adjourned the hearing till first week of July.
Khan was put under house arrest in 2004 after confessing to have sent nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea and sought the nation`s forgiveness. But later he retracted his remarks and alleged that he had been forced by former president Gen (retd.) Pervez Musharraf to make the statement.