For the first time a letter, purported to have been written by A.Q.Khan, the “father” of Pakistan’s nuclear programme disclosing Islamabad’s role in supplying nuclear technology to North Korea, Iran and Libya, has been published.
The Sunday Times claimed that in the letter dated December 10, 2003 and addressed to his Dutch wife Henny he expressed fear for his life saying: “They might try to get rid of me to cover up all the things they got done by me.” It reportedly further says: “Darling, if the government plays any mischief with me take a tough stand.”
The newspaper reproduced a facsimile of the four-page letter. “In numbered paragraphs, it outlines Pakistan’s nuclear cooperation with China, Iran and North Korea and also mentions Libya,” according to Simon Henderson, the author of The Sunday Times story.
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He claims that he acquired a copy of the “secret letter” in 2007. Another copy of the letter was reportedly seized by the Dutch police in a raid on one of Dr. Khan’s brothers in Amsterdam in 2004.
“Just four pages long, it is an extraordinary letter, the contents of which have been never revealed before. Dated December 10, 2003 ….it is handwritten, in apparent haste,” Mr. Henderson writes.
Dr Khan, once idolized by his countrymen, fell from grace after being accused of sharing nuclear secrets with Libya, North Korea and Iran and a made a televised confession. He was placed under house arrest by Pervez Musharraf.
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