2009-02-07 09:02:01 -
ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistan's government is defending its decision to ease restrictions on Abdul Qadeer Khan, the scientist at the center of the world's largest nuclear smuggling ring.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in remarks broadcast by Pakistan's Express News channel on Saturday that the government had extracted the necessary information from Khan
and broken his black-market network. He said Khan had no influence or access to sensitive areas.Khan has been under de facto house arrest since 2004, when he confessed to leaking nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya.A Pakistani court said Friday that Khan was a free man subject to a secret agreement with the government. U.S. officials expressed concern about the move.
Last Friday, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, a Pakistani nuclear scientist, was freed from detention. Khan was detained under house arrest since 2004, he made a televised confession of selling nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea. He is widely regarded as the founder of Pakistan's nuclear program, and most famous as a national hero. 

Dr. Qadeer filed a petition at the Islamabad High Court against the government, to address his detention and house arrest. He was freed and now lives as a "free citizen," but the terms upon which he and the government agreed remain secret.

He sent his regards to President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, and the Interior Adviser, and thanked them for their stance opposing his detention. 

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was "very much concerned" about Khan's release. One of the spokesmen, Gordon Duguid, said Khan "remains a serious proliferation risk" and releasing him would be "extremely regrettable". Gillani has rejected such remarks, saying that Dr. Qadeer's network has been dismantled and said that he has been released under Court orders.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi tried to calm international worries. He reiterated that Khan's network had been broken up and said that the government reserves the right to appeal the court's ruling.

Khan, who is now 72 years old and has received treatment for prostate cancer, told reporters that he was finished with nuclear work and plans to devote himself to education.