Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan died on Sunday morning at a hospital in Islamabad at the age of 85.He died after being transferred to the KRL Hospital in Islamabad with lung problems, state-run broadcaster PTV reported.Khan had been admitted to the same hospital in August with Covid-19, it said. After being permitted to return home several weeks ago, he was transferred back after his condition deteriorated. Pakistan's President Arif Alvi said in a tweet he was "deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan", who he had known personally since 1982."He helped us develop nation-saving nuclear deterrence and a grateful nation will never forget his services." Khan, who was born in Bhopal, moved to Pakistan in 1952. After his graduation, Khan moved to what was then West Germany and later the Netherlands and Belgium to pursue advanced studies in materials technology and metallurgy. He received a PhD in metallurgical engineering from Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium in 1972.
Following India's first nuclear explosion in 1974, Khan wrote to then Pakistan prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to offer his expertise. Khan was under surveillance of Dutch intelligence agencies who believed he was involved in suspicious activities. He was convicted in absentia by a Dutch court in 1983 for nuclear espionage and sentenced to four years in prison. In the early 2000s, Khan was accused of seeking to provide nuclear technology to a variety of countries such as Iraq, Iran, North Korea and Libya. In February 2004, Khan 'confessed' on Pakistani television he had engaged in illegal nuclear dealings. He was immediately pardoned by the regime of Pervez Musharraf. However, analysts believe Khan had been made a scapegoat for illegal dealings by the Pakistani government. In 2009, then US secretary of state Hillary Clinton described Khan as "probably the world's greatest proliferator" who had done "incalculable" damage. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted, “Deeply saddened by the passing of Dr A Q Khan. He was loved by our nation because of his critical contribution in making us a nuclear weapon state. This has provided us security against an aggressive much larger nuclear neighbour. For the people of Pakistan he was a national icon.”