Court frees Pakistan's 'father of nuke bomb'

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-07 07:58

A Pakistani court declared disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan free on Friday, apparently ending five years of house arrest for the man at the centre of the world's most serious proliferation scandal.

Khan, lionized by many Pakistanis as the father of the country's atomic bomb, confessed to selling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya in 2004, but was immediately pardoned by the government, although his movements were restricted to effective house arrest.

"It's a matter of joy. The judgment, by the grace of Allah, is good," Khan told reporters outside his Islamabad house soon after news of the High Court ruling broke.

The 72-year-old scientist's lawyer Ali Zafar said there is no case against Khan, who has been treated for prostate cancer.

Khan said he was proud of what he had done for Pakistan, in making it safe from India, and said he had no need to answer to any foreign government.

Mosque attack sparks riots

Hundreds of Shiite Muslims angered over a bloody suicide attack outside a mosque burned a police station in central Pakistan on Friday, police said.

The police chief of Dera Ghazi Khan, Maqsood Ahmed, said the protesters also damaged some shops and disrupted traffic in various parts of the city by burning tires.

Ahmed said the protesters were demanding the arrest of those who orchestrated the attack late on Thursday, that killed 27 people. He said officers were seeking help from Shiite leaders to restore order.

No one claimed responsibility for Thursday's bombing.