ISLAMABAD, May 21: A subcommittee of the US Congress will hold a hearing on Dr A.Q. Khan this week to examine the question of his so-called nuclear black market network.

Diplomatic sources said the House of Representatives Committee on International Relations would hold an open hearing of its subcommittee on international terrorism and non-proliferation on Thursday.

The 15-member subcommittee is headed by Edward R. Royce. The two witnesses at the hearing will be David Albright, president and founder of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, and Dr Leonard Weiss, an independent consultant on nuclear issues.

The subject of the hearing is: “The A.Q. Khan network: case closed?”

On May 2, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam at the weekly news briefing declared: “As far as we are concerned this chapter is closed.”

Dr Khan was pardoned by President Gen Pervez Musharraf in February 2004 after he confessed involvement in illicit trafficking of nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

However, he remains under house arrest in Islamabad under military surveillance.

Last week, military Spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan said security around Dr Khan had been beefed up due to concerns about his safety.