Word: arresters
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Zardari may have been averse to the international criticism likely to come from restoring Khan's freedom of movement, but it was a government clarification that was key to the court's decision. A government lawyer told the court some weeks ago that Khan was not under formal house arrest but merely kept under tight security for his own protection. Seizing on that admission, the court said that since there are no charges - and since Khan was pardoned by Musharraf soon after his confession - he should be allowed to move. (See pictures of Khan's nuclear bazaar...
Khan was placed under house arrest in 2004 after he appeared on Pakistani state television to issue a teary-eyed confession. In that midnight appearance, speaking in English, he said he claimed sole responsibility for his actions. The next day, then President Musharraf pardoned the father of the country's nuclear program, citing his status as a national hero for establishing Pakistan as the first Muslim nuclear state and sparing him the indignity of a trial and imprisonment. Islamabad has since repeatedly rebuffed all calls from the IAEA and Washington to question Khan, saying that it has passed...
Whether that keeps him from actually speaking his mind is another thing. Khan has never let gag orders keep him silent for long. Indeed, over the past year, as Musharraf quit office and the new government eased in, the conditions of Khan's house arrest have steadily relaxed. Last year, he was allowed to meet friends, have relatives visit and even travel to Karachi amid tight security. Toward the end of Musharraf's rule, he sparked controversy after giving a slew of interviews in which he retracted his confession and claimed that he had been forced to read a statement...
...Abdul Qadeer Khan a threat to nuclear nonproliferation? The father of Pakistan's nuclear program may have been freed from house arrest by an Islamabad court, but in the U.S. the jury's still out on how much harm Khan himself could do. The general consensus, however, is that his release sends a bad signal...
Khan's release comes as no great surprise, because it was clear the Pakistani government was not going to keep him under house arrest forever. But proliferation experts worry that his release by the Islamabad high court will be interpreted as a vindication of his claim that he had never been involved in any criminal activity. The experts say this could encourage others - including some in the Pakistani nuclear program - to follow his example...