The New York Times has the story...A.Q. Khan, Pakistani scientist and proliferator of nuclear weapons material and technology to North Korea, Libya and Iran, has been release from house arrest by the Pakistani government. Our reaction was predictably concerned: In Washington, officials condemned the move. While it is almost inconceivable that Mr. Khan would again be actively involved in Pakistan’s nuclear program, which has created an arsenal of roughly 100 weapons, there was broad concern that he could reactivate an international black market network that was only partly dismantled. “He’s still a proliferation threat,” said Robert A. Wood, the spokesman for the State Department. “We’re very troubled by this.” Khan himself was defiant and unapologetic: Washington’s concerns were defiantly dismissed by Mr. Khan, who, beaming and smiling, was thronged by supporters and television cameras outside his residence in an affluent neighborhood upon news of his release. “Let them talk,” he said.
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