Islamabad: A subcommittee of the US Congress will hold a public hearing to ascertain whether the disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist A Q Khan’s nuclear black market network finally closed or not.
This decision comes less than a month after Pakistan said it has "closed" the chapter of investigation into Khan’s case.
House of Representatives Committee on International Relations would hold an open hearing of its subcommittee on international terrorism and non-proliferation in Pakistan on the subject "The A.Q. Khan network: Case closed?"
The 15-member subcommittee headed by Edward R. Royce would examine two witnesses, the President and founder of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, David Albright, and an independent consultant on nuclear issues, Leonard Weiss.
Interestingly, the US Committee's decision to hold the hearing follows assertion by Pakistan Foreign Office
Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam on May 2 that "as far as we are concerned this chapter is closed."
Khan was pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf in February 2004 after he confessed involvement in illicit trafficking of nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
United States also said it probed the involvement of Khan's involvement in Syrian nuclear programme.
He remained under house arrest in Islamabad under military surveillance. Last week, Defence spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan said security around Khan had been beefed up due to concerns about his safety.
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