Abdul Qadeer Khan said on Monday that he remains under virtual house arrest after more than three years but he hopes the authorities will ease the restrictions.
ISLAMABAD: Disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan said on Monday that he remains under virtual house arrest after more than three years but he hopes the authorities will ease the restrictions.
In rare public comments since admitting in early 2004 that he passed atomic secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya, Khan said he was still suffering health problems having been diagnosed with cancer last year.
"No, we have not been informed, there is no such information with us," he told reporters by telephone from his closely-guarded house in an upscale Islamabad neighbourhood when asked about reports that the rules had been relaxed.
"Obviously I would have wished that it was true but it doesn't seem to be the case. If they tell you they have lifted the restrictions, come and meet me and see for yourself," Khan added.
Khan, 71, a national hero and the founder of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme, fell from grace after he publicly confessed in February 2004 to proliferating nuclear secrets.
He was immediately pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf, but while not officially under detention, Khan has since been forbidden from leaving his house or receiving visitors who are not approved by the government.
In August 2006, officials announced that he was suffering from prostate cancer.
When asked how he was feeling, Khan replied: "God is kind. I am not young, I am an old man and disease is part of old age. I miss my friends."
Khan said he now spent most of his time "sitting home and watching TV and sleeping".
He would not answer further questions.
Khan's wife also denied reports -- first carried in an Urdu-language daily newspaper -- that the restrictions on her husband had been lifted by the authorities.
"This is disinformation, although we wish it was true," Henny Khan said.
"Three months ago he was allowed to see five old friends as a one-time favour, this week they gave the permission again for these five friends to visit him."
The scientist was suffering from blood pressure problems but was otherwise OK, she added.
Pakistan, which carried out nuclear tests after regional rival India in 1998, has denied any government involvement in Khan's atomic blackmarket.
Musharraf refuses to let foreign investigators meet Khan, saying that Pakistan was able to interrogate him without the assistance of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency or other world organisations.
Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told reporters on Monday that there was "no change in status" regarding the restrictions on Khan.
"He continues to live a quiet life with his family," Aslam said.
A senior security official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed that the restrictions on Khan remained the same despite him being allowed to see a few friends.
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