Former head Pakistani nuclear scientist and proliferator Abdul Qadeer Khan is believed to have confirmed the accuracy of a Washington Post article that reported that China in 1982 provided his country with enough highly enriched uranium to build two nuclear weapons, the Post reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 13).
A Pakistani newspaper on Wednesday published comments from Khan in which he said that the Post article was correctly derived from a letter he had written to his wife. He said a copy of the letter was taken by Pakistani officials from his daughter's luggage.
Khan stated in his 2006 memoir that a letter taken by government agents was filled with "detailed instructions for [his daughter] to go public" with classified nuclear information by sharing it with specific British reporters. The original Post article said its reporters received records and other Khan materials from British journalist Simon Henderson, who had been in contact with the scientist.
On Monday, local Pakistani media reported that government prosecutors had sought to prevent Khan from giving any more information to foreign reporters. Judges had not ruled on the request.
The copy of the letter obtained by the Post contained details on the nuclear ties between Pakistan and China, specifically that Beijing gave Islamabad a bomb blueprint and enough bomb-grade uranium for two nuclear weapons. In return, Pakistan helped improve China's uranium production (Jeffrey Smith, Washington Post, Nov. 19).
Khan reportedly delivered a statement to a Pakistani high court today asserting that he had not been in contact with any foreign reporters, Asian News International reported (Asian News International/Thaindian News, Nov. 20).