Mark Fitzpatrick, Senior Fellow of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, kicked off the American presentation of the latest report of the organization titled "Nuclear Black Markets: Pakistan, A Q Khan and the Rise of proliferation networks: A net assessment".
Fitzpatrick also said that although there have been connections between some Pakistani scientists and Al Qaeda, but he is convinced of the sincereity of General Pervez Musharraf.
The onus will be on Pakistan to implement a series of laws that have been enacted on the non-proliferation front.
When asked to comment on George Tenet's claim in his recent book that the A Q Khan network has been shut down, Fitzpatrick told PTI, "He (George Tenet) is repeating what President Bush said in 2004. It is clear that the network has been rolled up and key members have been put out of business, but they haven't all been imprisoned. A few have been imprisoned," Fitzpatrick said.
"There are unknown elements of the network that have not been rolled up. If you count all of the people who have been detained, there are undoubtedly some out there, lying low and ready to resume illcit supply if the price is high enough," Fitzpatrick, a former senior state department official, said.
Fitzpatrick pointed out that there is no direct connection as of now linking Al Qaeda and A Q Khan personally.
"I am convinced in his (General Musharraf's) sincerity and I think the efforts they have put in place were real and I hope they are implemented. There are a series of laws that Pakistan enacted, but implementation will be the key," the now London based non-proliferation specialist said.
In course of his interactive session at the National Press Club, Fitzpatrick said that Islamabad will never allow Khan to be quizzed by foreign intelligence services to get to the real bottom of the whole thing, but then there are other ways of finding out as for instance through the International Atomic Energy Agency and their work on Iran.
"There are additional ways to get at information on A Q Khan and our understanding is that these additional ways have been pursued," Fitzpatrick said, adding that the "command, control and responsibility are now very clear" in Pakistan, something that was not in the past.
The IISS report which was released and discussed extensively in London last week has argued that many of the techniques perfected by Khan were replicated by a number of other countries.
"Pakistan has not been the only country to engage the private sector in nuclear technology to further a military programme. Others include Iraq, Iran, North Korea and to a lesser degree, India," the IISS has claimed.
© 2025