By DPA
Islamabad : The political backers of President Pervez Musharraf have pledged to free disgraced Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who is under house arrest for running an international nuclear smuggling network, media reports said Monday.
“No one has control over the difficulties being faced by Qadeer. Sometimes, someone has to make a sacrifice in the best national interest and Qadeer has made that sacrifice,” Mushahid Hussain, general secretary of ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), told the BBC’s Urdu Service.
He said if the PML-Q wins the crucial Feb 18 parliamentary elections, Khan would not only be freed but also his status would be restored. He did not amplify his statement.
The 71-year-old scientist headed Pakistan’s nuclear programme for three decades. In 2003, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) informed Musharraf that Khan over the years had supplied centrifuges and other restricted material to North Korea, Iran and Libya.
Following Khan’s televised apology to the nation in 2004, Musharraf pardoned him because of his service to the country but placed him under detention at his home in an elite residential district of the capital Islamabad. Any move to release him would likely irk the US, which is Musharraf’s main international ally.