ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: The daughter of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan has described as ‘ludicrous’ claims made by President Pervez Musharraf in his book about an attempt made by the detained nuclear scientist to reveal some nuclear secrets to foreign media.

In a statement issued to the BBC in London, Dina Khan said that what Dr Khan had tried to smuggle out was a detailed letter which, according to her, contained the scientist’s version of the events leading to his arrest, and not any nuclear secret.

This is the first serious attempt by Dr Khan’s family to clarify his position since President Musharraf in his recently published memoirs described him as a greedy publicity seeker who was at the centre of a major proliferation ring that supplied nuclear information and material to countries like Iran, Libya and North Korea.

In a chapter solely dedicated to the proliferation issue and Dr Khan’s role, President Musharraf claimed that the scientist had also tried to malign the country through a letter smuggled out of his home in Islamabad, where he was being kept in detention since 2004.

The BBC report said Dina Khan denied that she had been asked by her father to reveal nuclear secrets. Instead, she claims, the letter was for her mother, Dr Khan’s wife, and gave details of what had happened to him. These details were intended to be released in the event of something happening to Dr Khan. “The letter gave his version of what actually transpired and requested my mother to release those details in the event of my father being killed or made to disappear.”

She said that the letter mentioned “people and places” but contained no nuclear blueprints or information. She also said she had been questioned by the British security service MI5 about the document but they were satisfied she had not committed any crime and was not in possession of any important information.

“The mistake my father made was in being far too vocal in his opinion about those in power, and as a result he is now paying the price”.