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| Pakistan's ex-Prime Minister in action | | Musharraf forced to have ailing Khan shown on TV | | SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, AUG. 24: With the growing Pakistani public concern and consternation over the "deteriorating" health conditon of AQ Khan,Pakistan's 'national hero' and 'father of atom bomb',Gen. Parvez Musharraf was left with no choice but to have the ailing personality shown on Pakistan TV. AQ Khan appeared on the state-run station PTV on Thursday, chatting with former Prime Minister, Shujaat Hussain.
All this after more than two-and-a-half years of virtual seclusion for his (Khan's) role in a nuclear proliferation scandal. Hussain visited AQ Khan, who was visibly frail, late Wednesday, after officials had reported a day earlier that he had been diagnosed with adino carcinoma (cancer) of the prostate.A Pakistani government spokesman had said that during a routine medical examination of Khan conducted in early August, tests revealed a slightly raised level of serum prostate specific antigen (PSA).
After meeting Khan for about 60 minutes at his upscale residence in Islamabad, Shujaat Hussain was quote as saying: “He (Khan) talked to us about the past and was in good spirits. He even came out to see us off". Hussain has had good family relations with Khan before the latter’s virtual incarceration
Information Minister, Muhammad Ali Durrani, who had accompanied Hussain and carried a bouquet on behalf of Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, told reporters afterwards that the government would provide Khan the "best possible" treatment. When his atention was drawn to several Pakistan Oppositon leaders demanding access to AQ Khan to see for themselves his tate of health, Durani said: "The government is aware of its responsibility and will fulfil it".
According to Pakistani media, most Opposition legislators as well as one of the prime bodies of Pakistan’s lawyers had wanted to move the Supreme Court on the issue but the government said that it is taking care of Khan, whom the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had also wanted for interrogation. Khan, revered at home as a 'national hero' and the 'father' of Pakistan’s nuclear programme, has been under house arrest at his sprawling Islamabad residence since he confessed in February 2004 to his involvement in passing nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
However, President, Gen. Musharraf, pardoned him for “invaluable” efforts to put Pakistan on the international nuclear map but refused to hand him over to any foreign country for questioning. Gen. Musharraf often made it clear that Pakistan would not hand over Khan to any foreign country for further questioning, saying Islamabad had already shared results of investigations in the nuclear scandal with the international community.
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