muslim scientists: Abdul Qadeer Khan



Born	1 April 1936 (1936-04-01) (age 73) Bhopal, British India
Residence	Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistani
Fields	Metallurgical Engineering
Institutions	Khan Research Laboratories
Alma mater	Catholic University of Leuven Delft University of Technology
Doctoral advisor	Dr. Martin Brabers ^[1]
Known for	Pakistani Nuclear Program
Notable awards	Hilal-i-Imtiaz (14-8-1989) Nishan-i-Imtiaz (14-8-1996 and 23-3-1999)
Religious stance	Islam

Abdul Qadeer Khan (Urdu: عبدالقدیر خان; born April 1, 1936 in Bhopal, British India) is a Pakistani nuclear scientist and metallurgical engineer, widely regarded as the founder of Pakistan's nuclear program. His middle name is occasionally rendered as Quadeer, Qadir or Qadeer, and his given names are usually abbreviated to A.Q..

In January 2004, Khan confessed to having been involved in a clandestine international network of nuclear weapons technology proliferation from Pakistan to Libya, Iran and North Korea. On February 5, 2004, the President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, announced that he had pardoned Khan, who is widely seen as a national hero.^[2]

In an August 23, 2005 interview with Kyodo News General Pervez Musharraf confirmed that Khan had supplied gas centrifuges and gas centrifuge parts to North Korea and, possibly, an amount of uranium hexafluoride.^[3]

In interviews from May through July of 2008, Khan recanted his previous confession of his involvement with Iran and North Korea. He said President Pervez Musharraf forced him to be a "scapegoat" for the "national interest."^[4]^[5] Khan accuses the Pakistan Army and President Musharraf of proliferating nuclear arms.^[6] He said centrifuges were sent from Pakistan in a North Korean plane loaded under the supervision of Pakistani security officials. He also said that he had traveled to North Korea in 1999 with a Pakistani Army general to buy shoulder-launched missiles from the government there.^[7]

Islamabad High Court on February 6, 2009 declared Dr. A. Q. Khan as a free citizen of Pakistan and said that he is free to locomote in Pakistan; the verdict was given by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Aslam.^[8]