April 03, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 25, 1429

ISLAMABAD, April 2: Top nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan expressed the hope on Wednesday that the government of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani would release him, but said he had not heard anything from them on the matter.

Dr Khan has been mostly confined to his home since 2004, when he confessed to passing nuclear bomb technology to Iran, North Korean and Libya.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Dr Khan said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and other leaders of the new government had voiced support for him in the past.

However, he added, the new leadership had not yet told him of any plans to let him move or speak freely.

“So far they have just talked of love, and have not demonstrated it,” he said with a laugh.

Asked why he had accepted the blame for nuclear proliferation, Dr Khan said that he had acted in the national interest.

“People come and go. I will also go,” he said. “The thinking was that no damage should be done to the country and the nation.”

Dr Khan noted that he was a senior citizen in fading health.

“There is always a limit to anything. Now I am 72. It does not mean that I will spend the rest of my life sitting inside like this,” he said.—AP