Syrian 'nuclear' programme: A Q Khan rejects western media allegations

Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme, on Friday strongly denied Western media allegations of his links with the Syrian nuclear weapon programme. Talking exclusively to Business Recorder, Khan categorically denied any role in Syrian nuclear programme saying the reports in this regard "are totally baseless having no authenticity at all".
"United States wants to treat Syria the same way it has dealt with Iraq and Libya because these two countries had been supporting Hamas and Hezbollah against Israel," Khan said rejecting any correspondence with Syrian officials. He added that the US wanted to prepare grounds for taking action against Syria. "The world, including the Pakistan army, believes that Pakistan cannot be blamed for any such accusation based on media reports," he said.
In a similar but brief response received from Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua also strongly rejected the media reports saying Dr A.Q Khan issue was a closed chapter. She also pointed out that IAEA did not mention any such allegation in its recent report.
Meanwhile, Spokesperson of UN office in Pakistan said that no official information in this regard was forwarded to Pakistan government. "We did not receive any information regarding the claims in media reports from New York," the spokesperson added.
In the current regional and international environment, realising the need for enhanced nuclear security, Pakistan has taken a number of steps during the last decade. Establishment of a specialised Training Academy to train and hone professional skills in the realm of nuclear security is one such step. The purpose and the objective of establishing a dedicated training academy is to develop an indigenous capability for human resource capacity building in the area of nuclear security. In a latest development the Strategic Plans Division (SPD) trained 200 officials with various responsibilities of nuclear security.
Director General Lieutenant (SPD) General Kidwai (Retd) said that by the year 2013, over 8000 professionals would be additionally trained which would further augment the capability of Security Division. Nuclear security is an area, which has always remained special focus in Pakistan's nuclear programme. The effort to inculcate nuclear security culture is deeply rooted in the nuclear establishment, officials of SPD said.