Judge orders AQ Khan released.

[jimmy olsen]

Disgusting. Where are those Blackwater CIA hitmen when you need them.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE57R24D20090828

Pakistan nuclear secrets scientist to go free
Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:16am EDT

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistani judge ruled on Friday that nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan should be allowed freedom of movement more than five years after being put under house arrest for his role in a nuclear proliferation scandal.

Khan had lodged an appeal with the Lahore High Court as the authorities had confined him to his home despite a court order lifting his house arrest last February.

"Justice Ijaz Chaudhry, after hearing the argument, directed the government that it will not restrain Dr. A Q. Khan in any manner," Khan's lawyer, Ali Zafar, said in a statement.

Khan was pardoned but placed under house arrest in 2004 by then president Pervez Musharraf after the scientist confessed on television to selling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya.

Musharraf had been forced to act against Khan after being confronted by the United States with evidence of the scientist's role in a nuclear black market.

After a new government came to power last year, Khan gave a series of media interviews in which he recanted his 2004 confession, saying he only took the blame in return for assurances from Musharraf.

The court fixed another hearing for September 4 to address the question of whether government officials were in contempt of court for ignoring the February ruling.

Khan is still lionized as the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb and there is widespread belief that he was the fall guy for a larger conspiracy to smuggle nuclear technology.

Pakistani authorities denied any connection to Khan's smuggling ring but never let foreign investigators question him.

(Reporting by Augustine Anthony; Editing by Nick Macfie)

[Admiral Yi]

Disgusting how Timmy?  Khan was working for the Pakistani government.  It makes virtually no difference whether he's under house arrest or not.

[Zanza]

Pff, he was just a scapegoat anyway. Do you seriously believe the proliferation went on without the Pakistani government's at least tacit approval?

[jimmy olsen]

Disgusting how Timmy?  Khan was working for the Pakistani government.  It makes virtually no difference whether he's under house arrest or not.

I want him locked up and that makes the difference.

[Zanza]

Because of what crime would you lock him up?

[Admiral Yi]

I want him locked up and that makes the difference.

Thank you Captain Tautology.

[jimmy olsen]

I want him locked up and that makes the difference.

Thank you Captain Tautology.

[Agelastus]

Disgusting how Timmy?  Khan was working for the Pakistani government.  It makes virtually no difference whether he's under house arrest or not.

I want him locked up and that makes the difference.

If I said I wanted you locked up, would that make a difference?   

[jimmy olsen]

Disgusting how Timmy?  Khan was working for the Pakistani government.  It makes virtually no difference whether he's under house arrest or not.

I want him locked up and that makes the difference.

If I said I wanted you locked up, would that make a difference?   

It would be a stunning betrayal by my ally in anime!

[Eddie Teach]

It would be a stunning betrayal by my ally in anime!

Good point. You should both be locked up.

[Zanza]

This is a typical Tim thread. Outrage at some news story, but no actual arguments.

[jimmy olsen]

This is a typical Tim thread. Outrage at some news story, but no actual arguments.

Khan was locked up because the US government put pressure on the Pakistani government to do so. You don't think the US government had good reasons for doing so?

[ulmont]

This is a typical Tim thread. Outrage at some news story, but no actual arguments.

Khan was locked up because the US government put pressure on the Pakistani government to do so. You don't think the US government had good reasons for doing so?

Now there's your due process for you, to be locked up on the say-so of a foreign government.

[Ed Anger]

Tim makes me want to be a Democrat.

[Zanza]

Even if they had good reasons for that, I don't see how that matters. He was not sentenced by a Pakistani court, rather he was given a pardon by its president. The rule of law dictates that he is a free man. What the US government wants should be of no concern.

Furthermore, I very much doubt that he was really the key person in that proliferation case. I suspect that the Pakistani government knew and approved of this dealings. If that's the case, he was just a scapegoat anyway.