Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Born Residence Nationality Fields Institutions 27 April 1936 (age 73) Bhopal, British India Islamabad, Pakistan Pakistani Metallurgical Engineering URENCO Group Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (GIKI) Alma mater Karachi University Catholic University of Leuven Delft University of Technology Doctoral advisor Notable students Known for Influenced Notable awards Martin Brabers [1] Friedrich Tinner Pakistani Nuclear Program Bashir Syed Hilal-i-Imtiaz (14-8-1989) Nishan-i-Imtiaz (14-8-1996 and 23-3-1999)
Abdul Qadeer Khan is perhaps better known in much of the world for involvement in acquiring critical nuclear technology designs and using them to build Pakistan's gas-centrifuge program.
History:
Khan is an ethnic mahajir Pathan or Pashtun born in Bhopal, India in 1936. His father Abdul Ghafoor Khan was an academician who retired from Education Department in 1935 and settled permanently in Bhopal. In 1947, the family, emigrated from India to Pakistan. Khan studied in St. Anthony's High School and then enrolled at the D. J. Science College of Karachi, where he studied physics and mathematics under the supervision of noted solar physicist dr. Bashir Syed. He obtained a B.Sc. degree in 1960 from the University of Karachi, majoring in physical metallurgy. After his graduation, he worked as an inspector of weight and measures in Karachi. In 1961, he resigned from his position and flew to West Germany to study metallurgical engineering at a technical university there. He then obtained an engineer's degree (Technology) in 1967 from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and the Doctor of Engineering degree in metallurgical engineering under the supervision of Martin Brabers from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, just outside of Brussels, in 1972. Khan is very fluent in German and he wrote his thesis in German rather than using English.
Later that evening, Bhutto met with his close friend and PAEC Chairman Mr. Munir Ahmad Khan in his house, where he told him that "He [Abdul Qadeer Khan] seems to make sense."
way. However, Munir Ahmad Khan and his team of nuclear engineers and nuclear physicists at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission 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. Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did not disagree, but he saw the advantage of mounting a parallel effort toward enriched uranium and decided on the spot to place A.Q. Khan in charge. In the early 1980s, Khan's Kahuta Research Laboratories also sought to develop nuclear weapons in competition with the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and claimed to have carried out at least one cold test in 1983, but it seems that this effort did not prove to be successful since the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission led by Munir Ahmad Khan had carried out the first cold test of a working nuclear device on March 11, 1983, and in the following years continued to carry out 24 cold tests of different weapons designs. That is why the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission also conducted the 1998 nuclear tests for Pakistan at Chagai and Kharan.
According to the media reports, it said that A.Q. Khan had an extremely close and cordial relationship with President General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq and the Military of Pakistan. Khan had also maintained an extremely close relationships with the Pakistan Air Force. Khan Research Laboratories, as it was now known as, occupied a unique role in Pakistan Defense Industry, reporting directly to the office of the Prime Minister of Pakistan and having extremely close relations with the Military of Pakistan. The former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto (late) once mentioned that during her term of office, even she was not allowed to visit Khan Research Laboratories. After President Zia-ul-Haq death, Khan sought to develop a close and friendly relationship with Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (Pakistan) General (r) Mirza Aslam Beg. According to Khan, General Mirza Aslam Beg was aware of the selling of nuclear technology to Iran and North Korea and one of his top-trusted general was supervising it. Khan has praised President Zia ul-Haq in his columns and numerous conferences. In an interview with Jang Group of Newspapers, Khan paid a tribute to General Zia-ul-Haq, in which he said "President General Zia-ul-Haq (late) is responsible in helping Pakistan acquire sensitive nuclear technology. He also said that he made significant contributions towards the country's nuclear program.
according to the U.S. officials." In October 1990, the activities of KRL led to the United States terminating economic and military aid to Pakistan, following this, the Government of Pakistan agreed to a freeze in its nuclear weapons development program. But Khan, in a July 1996 interview with the Pakistani weekly Friday Times, said that "at no stage was the program of producing nuclear weapons-grade enriched uranium] ever stopped".
SUPARCO, which also built the Badr satellites. Khan also cited the fact that India had made rapid strides in the fields of SLV and satellite manufacture as another motivation for developing an indigenous launch capabilities. He tried to convinced then-President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf to launch the satellite from Pakistan. On December 10, 2001, despite his efforts, Pakistan launched its second Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Zenit-2.
In August 2003, reports emerged of dealings with Iran; it was claimed that Khan had offered to sell nuclear weapons technology to that country as early as 1989. The Iranian government came under intense pressure from the United States and the European Union to make a full disclosure of its nuclear programme and, finally, agreed in October 2003 to accept tougher investigations from the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA reported that Iran had established a large uranium enrichment facility using gas centrifuges based on the "stolen" URENCO designs, which had been obtained "from a foreign intermediary in 1987." The intermediary was not named but many diplomats and analysts pointed to Pakistan and, specifically, to Khan, who was said to have visited Iran in 1986. The Iranians turned over the names of their suppliers and the international inspectors quickly identified the Iranian gas centrifuges as Pak-1's, the model of intense [HEU] that was indegeniously developed by Khan in the early 1980s. In December 2003, two senior staff members at Khan Labs or KL were arrested on suspicion of having sold nuclear weapons technology to the Iranians. Also in December 2003, Libya made a surprise announcement that it had weapons of mass destruction programmes which it would now abandon. Libyan government officials were quoted as saying that Libya had bought nuclear components from various black market dealers, including Pakistani nuclear scientists. U.S. officials who visited the Libyan uranium enrichment plants shortly afterwards reported that the gas centrifuges used there were very similar to the Iranian ones. The IAEA officials also visited to the Libyan nuclear plant where they found the models of Paksat-1. The Interpol police also arrested three Swiss nuclear scientists, who were known to be Khan's close associate and friends.
2004 Debriefing
Although he was not arrested, Khan was summoned for "debriefing". On January 25, 2004, Pakistani investigators reported that Khan and Mohammed Farooq, a high-ranking manager at KRL, had provided unauthorised technical assistance to Iran's nuclear weapons program in the late 1980s and early 1990s, allegedly in exchange for tens of millions of dollars. General Mirza Aslam Beg, a former Chief of Army Staff at the time, was also said to have been implicated; the Wall Street Journal quoted U.S. government officials as saying that Khan had told the investigators that the nuclear weapons technology transfers to Iran had been authorised by General Mirza Aslam Beg. On January 31, Khan was dismissed from his post as the Science
Adviser to the President of Pakistan, ostensibly to "allow a fair investigation" of the nuclear weapons technology proliferation allegations.
Forced Confession
In early February 2004, the Government of Pakistan reported that Khan had signed a confession indicating that he had provided Iran, Libya, and North Korea with designs and technology to aid in nuclear weapons programs, and said that the government had not been complicit in the proliferation activities. The Pakistani official who made the announcement said that Khan had admitted to transferring technology and information to Iran between 1989 and 1991, to North Korea and Libya between 1991 and 1997 (U.S. officials at the time maintained that transfers had continued with Libya until 2003), and additional technology to North Korea up until 2000. On February 4, 2004, Khan appeared on national television and confessed to running a proliferation ring; he was pardoned the next day by Musharraf, the Pakistani president, but held under house arrest.
for an independent investigation of the Pakistani military might have led to restrictions on or the loss of use of Pakistan military bases needed by US and NATO troops in Afghanistan. "It's just another case where you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar," a U.S. government official explained. The U.S. also refrained from applying further direct pressure on Pakistan to disclose more about Khan's activities due to a strategic calculation that such pressure might topple President Musharraf. In a speech to the National Defense University on February 11, 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush proposed to reform the International Atomic Energy Agency: "No state, under investigation for proliferation violations, should be allowed to serve on the IAEA Board of Governorsor on the new special committee. And any state currently on the Board that comes under investigation should be suspended from the Board. The integrity and mission of the IAEA depends on this simple principle: Those actively breaking the rules should not be entrusted with enforcing the rules." The Bush proposal was seen as targeted against Pakistan which, currently, serves a regular term on the IAEA's Board of Governors. It has not received attention from other governments. In western media, Khan became a major symbol of the threat of proliferation. In February 2005, he was featured on the cover of U.S.-based Time magazine as the "Merchant of Menace", labeled "the world's most dangerous nuclear trafficker," and in November 2005, the Atlantic Monthly ran a cover on Khan ("The Wrath of Khan") that featured a picture of a mushroom cloud behind Khan's head.
Subsequent developments
Questioning
In September 2005, Musharraf revealed that after two years of questioning Khan which the Pakistani government insisted to do itself without outside intervention that they had confirmed that Khan had supplied centrifuge parts to North Korea. Still undetermined was whether or not Khan passed a bomb design to North Korea or Iran that had been discovered in Libya .
In May 2006, the U.S House of Representatives Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation held a hearing titled, "The A.Q. Khan Network: Case Closed?" Recommendations offered by legislators and experts at this hearing included demanding that Pakistan turn over Khan to the U.S. for questioning as well as that Pakistan make further efforts to curb future nuclear proliferation. In June 2006, the Senate of Pakistan, subcommittee hearing, issued a unanimous resolution criticizing the U.S committee, stating that it will not turn over Khan to U.S. authorities and defending its sovereignty and nuclear program.
Cancer
On August 22, 2006, the Pakistani government announced that Khan had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was undergoing treatment. On September 9, 2006, Khan was operated at Aga Khan hospital, in Karachi. According to doctors, the operation was successful, but on October 30 it was reported that his condition had deteriorated and he was suffering from deep vein thrombosis.
and relatives either at his home or elsewhere in Pakistan. The officials said that a security detail continued to control his movements.
Hospitalization
On March 5, 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 after "he gained significant improvement".
Writing Columns
On November 12, 2008, he started writing weekly columns in The News International [33] and Daily Jang. His columns heavily emphasize on the education and engineering disciplines. He advocated for the importance of engineering disciplines and importance of education. Khan who was accused of selling sensitive nuclear technology to other countries of the world, has gained a significant respect through his columns among in Pakistanis. Khan expressed his views on the of environmental issues. Khan is an avid supporter of Science and Technology education in Pakistan. Even though his columns heavily focused on the issues of education, Khan severely criticized Pervez Musharraf and his policies, in which he said because of his cruel domestic policies within Pakistan. The Taliban insurgency grew momentarily as well as instability in the country.
Khan played an important role in the establishment of engineering universities in Pakistan. As both PAEC Chairman Munir Ahmad Khan and Ishfaq Ahmad established a nuclear physics and a nuclear engineering university, Pakistan Institute of Applied Sciences and Engineering. Khan established a metallurgy and material science institute in Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, which is known as Dr. A. Q. Khan Department of Metallurgical Engineering and material sciences. He also served as its both executive member and director there. Khan played an important and key role in establishing the Dr. A. Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering at Karachi University. Khan introduces metallurgical engineering courses in many newly-founded universities and sciences colleges in Pakistan.
Legacy
Khan is no longer associated with Pakistan's atomic program. However, he is still widely seen as "Father of Pakistan's atomic program" even though he was only head of the centrifuge-based enrichment project at Kahuta and not the entire nuclear program, which was developed and run by PAEC Chairman, Munir Ahmad Khan. Khan's involvement in nuclear proliferation has shocked the entire nation and he was criticized by his peers and fellow scientists such as Pervaiz Hoodbhoy. However, Khan's debriefing heavily effected ex-President General Pervez Musharraf's popularity. It also increased Anti-American feelings among some Pakistanis. Many people in Pakistan blamed the United States for Khan's house-arrest. Many journalists and the mainstream media supported Khan and expressed their sympathies to him. Opposition parties in Pakistan as well as the government coalition parties rose their voices for Khan. This created a tough position for President Musharraf as well as United States. Highprofile government members such as ex-religious affairs minister Mr. Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq held a public press conference on May 2007 and expressed his support for Khan, allegations of nuclear trafficking notwithstanding. A local Pakistani journalist, Ahmed Quraishi, wrote in his column: "We did not invent nuclear proliferation. Certainly Abdul Qadeer Khan gets no marks for originality in this area. What Khan did is wrong, but he was only walking in the footsteps of the pioneers of nuclear proliferation before him such as Klaus Fuchs. Also the British, German, Swiss and French experts and companies that criss-crossed the globe in the 1970s and 80s trying to sell components for enrichment technology, complete with secret catalogues marketing their products and services".
"Nishan-e-Imtiaz" from President of Pakistan Muhammad Rafiq Tarar. Khan is the only Pakistani citizen who has been twice awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz. Many Pakistani nuclear analysts and nuclear experts have concluded that Khan is a clear example of a Russian scientist of the "Sputnik Space Program", and who took the entire credit of the nuclear program and neglected his fellow scientists and fellow engineers who have worked hard equally just like him.
Honorary Degrees
Khan has been awarded various honorary doctorates from many universities in Pakistan. In 1989, Khan was awarded the honorary degree of Doctorate of Science by the University of Karachi, In 1993, an honorary degree of Doctorate of Science by the Baqai Medical University, Karachi, In 1998, a D.Sc from the Hamdard University in Karachi. In 1999 he was awarded a D.Sc from Gomal University, In 2000, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctorate of Science by the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore.Lahore. Despite his international image, Khan remains widely popular among in Pakistanis and he is considered domestically to be one of the most-influential and respected scientists in Pakistan. In an interview with Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir, a known political analyst, Dr. Salim Farookhi described Khan as, " the most influential and talented scientist that Pakistan has produced."
"Topics in Physical Metallurgy" - The Burgers Festschrift - Edited by A.Q. Khan and M.J. Brabers, Elsevier F] Publishing Co., Amsterdam, August 1972. (Contains ca. 35 articles & 460 pages). Stress-induced phase transformations and enhanced plasticity in Cu-Al and Cu-Al-Zn martensites, J. Materials Science, December, 1972, with G.V.d. Perre and L. Delaey. `Topics in Physical Metallurgy' (Eds. A.Q. Khan and M.J. Brabers). , Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1972. Dynamic recovery and recrystallization in iron-containing aluminium bronzes, Transformations Japan Institute of Metals, Volume 15, No. 2 (March 1974). Creating a complete metallurgical engineer, Metals and Materials, April 1974. An-X-ray diffraction study of stacking sequences, stacking faults and distortions in copper-based martensites - Application to Ci-Al and Cu-Al-Zn martensites, J. Applied Cryst., published with G.V.d. Perre, L. Delaey. H.Tas, W. Vandermeulen & A. Deruyttere, (1974). . The Hall-Petch relationship in copper-based martensites, Materials Science & Engineering, vol.15, (1974), with M.J. Brabers and L. Delaey, pp. 263274. . The spread of Nuclear Weapons among nations: Militarization or Development, pp. 417430. (Ref. Nuclear War Nuclear Proliferation and their consequences
"Proceedings of the Vth International Colloquium organised by the Group De Bellerive Geneva 27-29, June 1985, Edited by: Sadruddin Aga Khan, Published by Clarendon Press-Oxford 1986).
Microstructural changes during Retrogression and reaging in AA-7075 - A TEM study, Proceedings, Aluminium Technology `86, Section B, Institute of Metals (1986). Chromium Determination in Steel using atomic Absorption spectrophotometer? problems and their remedies, Pak Steel Journal, Vol 26, Jan-Mar. 1986. Flow Induced Vibrations in Gas Tube Assembly of Centrifuges, Journal of Nuclear Science and technology, 23(9), (Sept. 1986), pp. 819827. Dilation investigation of a g transformation in 18% Ni maraging steels, Proceedings of The International Conf. on Martensitie Transformations (1986), The Japan Institute of Metals, pp. 560565. Electrical and magnetic properties of double-aged 18% nickel maraging steels, Proceedings of The International Conf. on Martensitie Transformations (1986), The Japan Institute of Metals, pp. 572577. Physical and mechanical properties of ultra-high strength 18% nickel maraging steel, vol.28, (Jul-Sept./Oct-Dec. 1986). Pakistan Steel Journal, pp. 8790. Some remarks on the hardness and yield strength of aluminum alloy 7075 as a function of retrogression time, vol. 18-A,, Feb. 1987, Metallurgical Transactions, pp. 350354. Hot stage electron microscopy of rapidly solidified Cu-Al-Ni -phase alloys, Proc. 2nd Beijing Conf. and Exhib. on Instrum. Analysis, 1987.
Dr. A. Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (KIBGE), University of Karachi Dr. A. Q Khan Audiotorium [federal Urdu university Karachi](www.fuuast.edu.pk) Dr. A. Q. Khan Institute of Computer Sciences, Multan Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Kahuta Dr. A. Q. Khan Institute of Technology (KIT), Mianwali Dr. A. Q. Khan Ophthalmic Research Center, Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, Rawalpindi Dr. A. Q. Khan Girls College for Computer Science, Rawalpindi Dr. A. Q. Khan College for Science & Technology, Rawalpindi Dr. A. Q. Khan Academy of Science, Gulberg, Faisalabad Dr. A. Q. Khan Hall & Gymnasium, Pearl Valley Public School, Rawalakot, Azad Jammu & Kashmir Dr. A. Q. Khan Block, Al-Markaz Al-Islami, Islamabad Dr. A. Q. Khan Center for Software Engineering, Islamabad
Dr. A .Q. Khan Institute of Computer Sciences & Information Technology, Kahuta Dr. A .Q. Khan Institute for Developing Engineering Technologies, Lahore Dr. A. Q. Khan Institute of Technology & Management, Islamabad Dr. A. Q. Khan Block, D.J. Sindh Government Science College, Karachi Dr A.Q Khan Laboratory, Physics Department, Cadet College Kohat Zuleikha - Quadeer Science Block, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi