Surgery for Pakistan atom expert

By Aijaz Mahar
BBC News, Islamabad

The public will be kept informed of Dr Khan's condition

Disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist AQ Khan is to be operated on for prostate cancer, the government says.

A statement said Dr Khan had decided to go ahead with surgery and would be moved from his home in Islamabad for the procedure in Karachi.

Doctors say the disease is "localised" with little prospect of spreading.

The scientist publicly confessed to leaking nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea and has been kept under virtual house arrest since 2004.

President Musharraf later pardoned him and has denied international investigators probing global nuclear proliferation access for questioning.

Nuclear proliferation

Dr Khan, 69, was diagnosed following a routine medical check-up in early August.

After discussions with doctors, Dr Khan has decided to undergo radical prostectomy surgery at the Agha Khan Hospital in Karachi Government statement

He is regarded as a national hero by many in Pakistan for founding the nation's nuclear and missile industry.

The government has always denied any involvement in the leaking of nuclear technology.

President Musharraf had said the discovery of the Khan network was the most embarrassing episode in his political career.

The government issued a bulletin two weeks ago regarding Dr Khan's state of health, saying that such a move was in the public interest.

Dr Khan is credited for developing Pakistan's nuclear deterrent

It says it will "keep the public informed whenever necessary".

DR Khan, who is being advised by leading specialists and his personal physician, has been subjected to detailed medical tests - including scans of his abdomen and pelvis.

The board of doctors was unanimously of the view that surgery was the best option.

The United States and many other countries believe Dr Khan was a rogue nuclear scientist, who used his position to set up an international proliferation network.

Pakistani officials say the proliferation network has now been completely dismantled.

But a senior US official recently said many questions about the exact nature of the network remained unanswered because there was no direct access to Dr Khan.