Karachi (Pakistan): A Q Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme who confessed to having led a clandestine proliferation network, was on Saturday successfully operated on for prostate cancer at a hospital in Karachi.
He was given a clean certificate of health after the surgery at the Aga Khan hospital, doctors said.
A senior doctor who took part in the complicated surgery confirmed that the operation had gone well and that Khan would stay in the hospital for post-operative care.
"It was a difficult surgery but our team of doctors and nurses handled it well. Hopefully it will help control the further spread of the disease," he said.
Doctors and hospital officials have not been allowed to speak to the media officially by the government, which has kept every movement of the scientist top secret.
Although he was flown to Karachi from Islamabad on September 7, his every movement was kept closely guarded by the security agencies.
Khan, despite confessing to have illegally sold nuclear secrets to countries like Iran, North Korea and Libya, is largely revered as the father Pakistan's nuclear bomb.
The work of Khan, who was involved in Pakistan's nuclear programme for 25 years, helped the country conduct nuclear tests in 1998 just days after India's Pokhran tests.
Though he was removed as a government advisor in 2003 after his confession, President Pervez Musharraf pardoned Khan.
But since early 2004, he has been placed under house arrest in Islamabad.
Comments
0 comment