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Inventors of the `Islamic bomb' lose hero status

In a country that takes great pride in having produced the only "Islamic bomb," few people enjoy higher esteem than the scientists at the heart of Pakistan`'s three-decade-old drive to produce a nuclear deterrent to archrival India.

But now, prominent members of the nuclear establishment -- accustomed to being treated as national heroes -- are suffering a humiliating fall from grace.

An investigation into alleged leaks of sensitive secrets abroad has picked up steam since a scientist was first detained two months ago. Over the weekend, a half-dozen more scientists and administrators were rounded up for open-ended interrogation.

The US government has made nonproliferation a priority, fearing nuclear material could end up with terrorists or rogue states. Pressure has mounted on Pakistan to investigate allegations that its program has spilled sensitive technology or know-how to countries such as Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Relatives say as many as 24 men, many of them respected scientists, may be in custody, a far higher number than the government has acknowledged. Family members say they have had no reassurance from the government, no indication where the men are being held and no word on when they might come home.

Defying warnings from government agents, the wives, sons and daughters of several detained men appealed Tuesday for their release.

"First, they treated them as heroes of the nation," an angry Sobia Nazeer Ahmad, daughter of one detainee, told reporters in Islamabad. "Then they treated them like criminals."

Her father, Nazeer Ahmad, is director general of scientific technology and cooperation at Khan Research Laboratories, Pakistan's top nuclear weapons lab. It is named for Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program and a household name nationwide.

On Saturday night, a half-dozen men in civilian clothes turned up at the family's home. They told Ahmad to come for questioning and, the family says, manhandled a servant. They haven't had word of Ahmad since.

In the living room sits a poster-size photograph of a former president hanging Pakistan's most prestigious medal around Ahmad's neck. Above it hangs a plate painted with two nuclear-capable missiles to commemorate the 1998 nuclear missile tests that shocked the world, coming days after a similar demonstration by archrival India. Pakistan is the only predominantly Islamic country with nuclear weapons.

"He's a patriotic and aboveboard man," said another daughter, Saima Adil. "What happened to him was disgraceful. The whole street saw it."

Similar scenes played out at other homes around the capital over the weekend. In one case, a director of the laboratory was taken into custody by a pair of men as he was dining with the now-retired Khan himself.

Ruled by the military for most of its 56 years, the country of 146 million people exists in a permanent state of edginess toward neighboring India. The countries have fought three wars, and nearly had a fourth as recently as two years ago. Relations have warmed in recent months, with talk of comprehensive peace talks to begin soon.

The nuclear establishment is revered for protecting national security. And in a country where so much goes wrong -- from illiteracy and poverty to fitful attempts to restore democracy -- Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) is considered a peerless success.

"KRL is the only institution that our country can boast of in the world, where we are on a par with the developed world," said Shafiq-ur Rahman, whose father, Sajawal Khan Malik, the lab's retired head of maintenance and general services, was detained Saturday.

Until recently, the detentions would have been unthinkable, but since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the US, President General Pervez Musharraf has become a key US ally.

Pakistan has denied officially proliferating nuclear technology, but has acknowledged that rogue individuals may have been the source of leaks.

The government has acknowledged detaining "five to six" scientists and administrators for what it calls "debriefings." Almost none has been released, relatives say, and no formal appearances or charges have been made in court.

"We are moving toward the conclusion of these debriefing sessions," Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said Monday. "We haven't made our final determination yet. There is no presumption of guilt. It is probable that some of these people would be cleared."
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