Pakistan nuclear scientist suffering from cancer: spokesman
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Islamabad, Aug 22, IRNA
Pakistan-Scientist-Cancer
Founder of Pakistan nuclear program Abdul Qadeer Khan is suffering from cancer, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.
Khan has been under detention at his Islamabad residence since February 2004.
The government had sacked him from his job as a top adviser in January 2004 after he was suspected to have transferred nuclear technology outside Pakistan.
Abdul Qadeer Khan is still considered as a national hero for giving Pakistan its nuclear deterrent against India and the Islamic world its first nuclear bomb.
In a routine medical examination of Abdul Qadeer Khan conducted in early August 2006, the tests revealed slightly raised level of serum Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), the official spokesman said in a statement.
The results have unfortunately indicated Adino Carcinoma (Cancer) of prostate.
Further investigations are being conducted by a board of doctors, he said.
In order to ensure an accurate diagnosis, a detailed examination was immediately conducted including Ultra Sound Guided biopsy at the Kahuta Research Laboratory (KRL) hospital, the spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday.
The results of the tests were analyzed by at least two leading histopathologists, it said.
Since the state of health of A Q Khan is of public interest, the Government of Pakistan would like to hold out an assurance that the best specialist medical care is being provided to A Q Khan in consultation with his family and personal doctors, the spokesman said.
The public will be kept informed from time to time whenever necessary, the spokesman concluded in his statement.
Khan played the key role in developing Pakistan's nuclear military capability, which culminated in successful tests in May 1998.
Coming shortly after similar tests by India, Khan's work helped seal Pakistan's place as the world's seventh nuclear power and sparked national jubilation.
In March 2001 he was promoted to the inner circle of the country's military leadership as special science and technology adviser to President Pervez Musharraf.
He was sacked from the position unceremoniously in January 2004 during the investigation.
Abdul Qadeer Khan was born into a modest family in Bhopal, India, in 1935.
He migrated to Pakistan in 1952, following the country's partition from India five years earlier.
He was graduated from the University of Karachi before moving to Europe for further studies in West Germany and Belgium.
In the 1970s, he took a job at a uranium enrichment plant run by the British-Dutch-German consortium Urenco.
But in 1976, Khan returned home to head up the nation's nuclear program with the support of then Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
He went on to work on the successful test-firings of the nuclear-capable Ghauri I and II missiles.
Khan's facility, Khan Research Laboratories at Kahuta, became Pakistan's main nuclear weapons laboratory where uranium was enriched.
It has continued to attract US suspicion and in 2003 Washington imposed sanctions on the firm for the alleged transfer of missile technology from North Korea.
In later years, Khan has launched a campaign against illiteracy and built educational institutes in Mianwali in Punjab and Karachi in Sindh.
2020/235/1486/1420
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