General Zia kept nuclear programme secret from GIK, Arif: Waheed

Former Pakistani Ambassador and former Chairman of National Assembly on Foreign Affairs Mian Abdul Waheed has disclosed that former President Zia ul Haq kept the actual position of nuclear programme of Dr A Q Khan secret from his closest kitchen cabinet members Ghulam Ishaque Khan and General K M Arif.
In his book "Emergence of Pakistan as a nuclear power" Mian Abdul Waheed said that Dr Khan did not bring important drawings of centrifuges and machines with him and whatever he did was from his memory. He said Dr A Q Khan offered his services to Pakistan in 1974 after the Indian nuclear test and former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto readily agreed to accept the offer.
The writer claimed that it was he (as Director Western Europe) to whom Dr A Q Khan wrote a letter from Holland and he put up the summary to the Foreign Secretary who forwarded it to the Prime Minister for acquiring the services of Dr Khan.
He said Dr Khan acquired all the equipment needed for the fabrication of the atom bomb within a couple of years as he had intimate knowledge of various countries and manufacturing firms. During this period he had put up working prototypes of the centrifuges which were going at full speed at Kahuta.
According to the author, around the end of 1981, General Zia came to the conclusion that then Chairman PAEC Munir Ahmad Khan would never be able to deliver the device whereas enriched uranium cores would soon be ready at KRL. He then discussed with Mian Abdul Waheed, cousin of the then President, and General Zamin Naqvi and decided to handover the task to Dr A Q Khan immediately. General Zia told them that nobody except four of them knew about it and that Ghulam Ishaq Khan and General K M Arif would not hear of it.
In December, 1984 General Zia told him about the letter of Dr A Q Khan that all the cold tests were successful and that if given the order, he would be able to detonate a device within ten days. He said General Arif was always trying to downgrade Dr Khan's work and revealed that General Arif had taken out the drawings and given to Munir for duplicating the achievements.
Another disclosure in the book is the incarceration of Altaf Gohar, Ayub Khan's Information Secretary. The writer quoted General Gul Hassan that Bhutto wanted to get his hand corrected Tashkent Draft Agreement which Altaf Gohar refused to give him. Since Altaf Gohar had no experience of languishing in prison, he soon broke down and gave the final draft to Bhutto. As a reward Altaf Gohar was given Roti Plants and his brother was sent as Ambassador to Malaysia.