General Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, was in New York in September 2003. The head of the US Secret Service, George Tenet, walked into his room. George Tent retrieved a stack of papers from his luggage and set them on the table in front of General Musharraf after a lengthy ceremonial exchange. It wasn’t the news; it was a bombshell. For some seconds, General Musharraf just looked at the documents. They were unsure of how to respond. Why did the head of the CIA abruptly enter Musharraf’s room? Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan apologised to the country as reported in these documents.
In Afghanistan on a private expedition were Chaudhry Abdul Majeed and Dr. Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood. Both of these scientists were founder members of Uma Renovation, also known as UTN, a non-governmental organisation. These two researchers desired to meet Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Then, with the assistance of Mullah Muhammad Omar, they both met with the leader of Al-Qaeda and Ayman al-Zawahiri, who served as his deputy, multiple times. The conversation with the head of al-Qaeda included a discussion about atomic technology, according to the UN Security Council website.
Remember that at the time, there was a global discussion on how to stop the spread of atomic technology. For this work, America wanted to sign the NPT and CTBT. Additionally, the US was bullying everywhere it might be in order to get this signature. The meeting of Pakistani nuclear scientists with the leader of a terrorist group, i.e. Al-Qaeda, in this circumstance was extremely unsettling. This situation could have gotten out of hand if there had been a leak to the worldwide media or if the United States had learned about it.
then observe that the same thing took place. In his book In the Center of Storm, former CIA director George Tant claims that a Western intelligence organisation informed him that two UTN members, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood and Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, killed Osama bin Laden and Ayman in Afghanistan in August 2011. encountered Al-Zawahiri. Additionally, there have been campfire conversations about building nuclear weapons. Why was the CIA the only one informed of this meeting, whereas an honorary representative of the same organisation also informed the ISI in Pakistan? Who worked as the informants? The author of a book on Pakistan and American nuclear policy, Eugene Levy,
General Hameed Gul, who served as the honorary head of the UTN, was the informant, according to the author of the book Deception. However, meeting with experts to obtain nuclear technology and receiving such sensitive information from an organisation that had invaded their land was unacceptable to the United States. As a result, senior CIA agents from America landed in Pakistan right away. He informed General Musharraf about this meeting and also provided him with the information he had obtained regarding it. The proof, according to the Foreign Policy website, included papers discovered in Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmud’s Afghan home and office.
The files supposedly included a wealth of information on biological weapons. The Pakistani government was now dealing with a very troubling situation, and American pressure was now at an all-time high. These two scientists were imprisoned on October 23, 2011, or around one month and a half after 9/11, along with their five organisational coworkers. They were held after being separated and kept in an unidentified location. American and Pakistani spy services looked into them together. Pakistani journalist Kamran Khan reported on this inquiry and published his tale in the Washington Post. The two scientists originally disputed it, claims Kamran Khan,
However, after seeing the proof, they acknowledged that they had detailed conversations with Osama bin Laden on atomic, biological, and camel weapons. The retired scientist was reportedly convinced that Uma Renovation (UTN) was a front for a meeting with Osama bin Laden, according to the same story. In other words, Umma rebuilding in Afghanistan had no independent work to do. Now, this was the investigators’ report from Pakistan. But the US government also looked into these scientists.
So what did they have to say? Therefore, lie detectors were also employed during this interrogation, according to ‘CIA’ Director George Tent, whose team questioned UTN members, and Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood corroborated this information in his book. that during their meeting in August 2011, he also drew a crude illustration of a nuclear weapon for Osama bin Laden. After learning all this, America was ready to treat them brutally. However, Pakistan released him in January 2012 and placed him under house arrest after a few months of questioning. because there was no evidence against them that might lead to their conviction. However, their communication and statements were forbidden.
Now this was something that was not acceptable to the Americans. He was very nervous, he was very uncomfortable with this situation. In fact, they used one of the methods to increase pressure quickly. And that this story was leaked in American newspapers. When this news came out of the interrogation houses and came to the international crossroads, Pakistan was under pressure not only from the United States but also from the whole world. The situation was constantly developing. These scientists had worked in very sensitive places, were very qualified people.
The Americans found this to be intolerable at the time. He felt quite uneasy and anxious about the scenario. They did in fact use one of the techniques for fast raising pressure. Moreover, American publications received a leak of this information. Pakistan was under pressure not only from the United States but also from the rest of the world when this information emerged from the interrogation facilities and reached the international intersection. The situation was always changing. These scientists were highly competent and had worked in extremely delicate environments.
Arabia, as well as Pakistan and Afghanistan, would rise to defend the Islamic world, according to sacred prophecies. He said that this sacred prophesy was the underlying cause of Pakistan obtaining nuclear weapons. These and numerous other such things were openly stated. He was regarded as a radical and unconventional scientist in Pakistan, according to Hassan Abbas. He prematurely retired or resigned from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission because of this. But he continued to be watched for a while after his retirement.
After his retirement and when he started working there, he founded UTM, or Ummah Reconstruction Network. According to international and Pakistani intelligence organisations, he was accused of attempting to disseminate nuclear weapons. They have all been rejecting them, though, on their own. Additionally, they assert that despite being at work, they must have come into contact with Osama Bin Laden. He asserted that the reason he began this operation in Afghanistan was to advance the scientific and technological knowledge of the Muslim Ummah.
Of course, they required a large sum of money for this project. In actuality, he was discussing the same fund with Osama bin Laden and other top Al-Qaeda figures. Their version is this. All of these incidents demonstrate that, if there was any attempt at nuclear proliferation, it was thwarted early and that Pakistan was the centre of any network that could have existed. Dismantled right away, but the Americans weren’t ready to leave it there. Beyond this episode, they were drawing connections between the links to nuclear proliferation. They continued doing this for a long time.
He frequently made references to the Pakistani leader, who was revered as a deity by the majority of Pakistanis and was the country’s foremost hero. Undeniably, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan was this individual. But it wasn’t only unexpected that the Americans were connecting Dr. Khan to reports of the spread of nuclear technology; what was unexpected and worrisome was that the Pakistani military establishment had come to the same conclusion. Shuja Nawaz, the brother of Army Chief General Janjua, claims in his book Cross Swords that DGISI Lt. Gen. Javed Nasir once complained to him about Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan while Nawaz Sharif was the Prime Minister.
He revealed to the Prime Minister that Dr. Khan is involved in some questionable operations that are profitable. Nawaz Sharif was also given information about 23 of Dr. Khan’s properties by him. He claimed that Nawaz Sharif, however, disregarded the situation. Shuja Nawaz claims that Lieutenant General Javed Nasir informed Nawaz Sharif in no uncertain terms that Dr. AQ Khan was “selling documents” over the globe. Additionally, Javed Nasir requested that Dr. Qadeer maintain all top-secret materials at GHQ by writing to the then Army Chief.
But neither Abdul Qadeer Khan nor Dr. Khan kept the records with GHQ, and neither did Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif take any significant action to stop them. Javed Nasir was not, however, the only police officer to provide this information. Lt Gen Asad Durrani, who has held the positions of DGMI and DGIS, claims he was once told something by a garage worker who used to organise official events. He expressed concern as he claimed that although Dr. Khan sees every guest and converses franky, his purpose is quite clandestine. which is extremely odd. General Asad Durrani also voiced his concerns to Dr. Qadir, but he claimed that it was very challenging to edit AQ Khan as much as was required.
It is clear from these two occurrences that the intelligence services have known something about Dr. Khan since the 1990s. But until the 1990s, this pattern persisted. General Musharraf received a questionable tip the same day as Generals Asad Durrani and Javed Nasir. What actually happened was that some North Korean missile engineers arrived in Pakistan at the beginning of 1989. Government to government agreements for conventional ballistic missile technology covered all of them.
The transaction was not inherently secret. These engineers were intended to assist Pakistan’s missile defence system in some way. However, according to General Musharraf, he was informed that certain nuclear experts had also arrived under the pretence of these missile experts. Additionally, a covert briefing was provided to these masked nuclear scientists at Khan Research Laboratories in Kahota. Centrifuges were discussed in the briefing, which was plainly relevant to the participants’ ability to construct the atomic weapon. He was also informed that Dr. Khan had taken some North Korean scientists to the nuclear plant. Everything was incredibly risky.
Because Pakistan was under pressure to sign the nuclear non-proliferation accord at the same time that it was taking place from the United States and European nations. In those days, there was also the Indo-Pak Kargil War. However, sanctions had already been imposed on North Korea by the United States and other international organisations, which were determined to stop North Korea at all costs from developing nuclear weapons. Their assistance in this situation may have caused major issues for any nation, but especially for a developing one like Pakistan.
Therefore, General Musharraf reports that he called Abdul Qadeer Khan to discuss this matter. General Pervez Musharraf, Chief of General Staff and Director of Intelligence, welcomed him when he arrived. He was questioned about whether he had given the North Korean missile experts any information on centrifuges or similar topics during this encounter. So Dr. Khan vehemently declined. However, General Musharraf claims that he was not content. They believed there was a problem. But up to that point, he was merely the army leader, not the president. However, things quickly changed, and as you are aware, martial law was enacted throughout the nation.
General Musharraf transitioned from Army Chief to President General Pervez Musharraf. At that point, he terminated his overall employment with Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan’s Kahota Laboratories in accordance with his previous programme. He established a secretariat to make decisions. Simply put, an organisation was established whose Director General had previously served as a top officer of the Pakistani Army, therefore no longer was Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan the only decision-maker. They used to jointly decide on questions of finance and security. Even if all of this had been accomplished, General Musharraf was still unsatisfied.
He continued receiving information that led him to believe that the dal must contain something dark. Even to him, he started to think that Dr. Khan is not a problem-solver but rather has turned into a problem in and of himself. Additionally, the “KRL Kahota” is uncontrollable while they are around. So they made the decision to keep Dr. Khan away from the nuclear project. About five and a half months before 9/11, on March 30, 2011, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan’s retirement was announced. For a straight man, a common man, this was astonishing news.
It was an insult to a hero in his eyes. Thus, rage was the immediate outcome among the populace. However, this reaction was brief, and the situation soon became quiet. Although the situation cooled down, President General Pervez Musharraf continued to receive information. Even General Musharraf says that he learned that Dr. AQ Khan was still employed by his network’s Dubai division. General Musharraf may have already taken some action in this direction, but in September 2003, he had to travel to New York.
He had a United Nations meeting to attend here. This involvement happened, but there was also another occurrence. That is, following the meeting, American President George Bush called him aside and told him, “If you believe it’s suitable, give CIA Director George Tenet an appointment tomorrow.” General Musharraf received the demand as a surprise. But they had no excuse for declining. As a result, he gave. Do you know what happened when the CIA director arrived at his hotel the following day?
After greeting him, General Musharraf claims that George Tent opened his briefcase in front of him, took some papers out, and set them on the table in front of him. For him, these documents were nothing less than an atomic bomb. “Dr. AQ Khan has tricked your country. He has sold the most sensitive secrets of the nation at a hefty price,” he said, pulling out a drawing and presenting it to General Musharraf. Then he pulled a drawing out of the bag and claimed that although it belonged in Islamabad’s safe deposit box, it was actually with him in the New York Hotel. This is the P1 Centrifuge design from Pakistan that Dr. Khan sold to Iran.
After then, George Tent pulled out another illustration and announced that it was Pakistan’s Next Generation P2 Centrifuge. He then pulled out the third drawing, stating that it was a representation of the uranium processing facility he had sold to Libya. In his memoir, General Musharraf claims that he was instantly recognised when he saw the paintings. These were our own nuclear program’s earliest sketches. These illustrations were so thorough that the scientists even hand-drawn their names, dates, and signatures on them. General Musharraf was aware of these documents and was aware of their secrecy.
General Musharraf claims the day was the most ashamed he had ever been in his life. It was not unusual for the American CIA Director to possess Pakistan’s top-secret documents. Although these were the early designs for Pakistan’s nuclear programme, the documents were highly sensitive and shouldn’t have been kept in a secure location. How, then, did these documents get to the director of the American intelligence service? What evidence, and how did General Musharraf get it, did he have against Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan?
Who was difficult to reject? What does Dr. Qadir Khan have to say about all of these charges? And was Dr. Khan the only one involved in this nuclear proliferation, or were there other nations or individuals? All of this will be shown to you in the upcoming History of Pakistan episode, which you can see here. While you’re there, learn how Benazir Bhutto’s first administration came to an end and check out this fascinating scientific Alf Laila of the Universe.Contact Us