Dr A.Q. Khan in the picture

IT appears that Pakistan has not seen the last of the controversy surrounding its scientist Dr A.Q. Khan who in 2004 confessed to having run a nuclear proliferation ring that provided nuclear weapons technology to Libya, Iran and North Korea. Several US lawmakers from both sides of the party line introduced legislation in the House of Representatives on Thursday that would make American military aid to Pakistan conditional on Pakistan’s willingness to monitor Dr Khan’s activities and also make him available for US questioning. Since the government did not hand over the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb to American interrogators when the network had been unearthed in 2003 and the going was tough for Islamabad, one wonders what has prompted the US legislators to believe Washington can still have its way in the matter. The fact is that the shadow of those who earlier had serious reservations about allowing Dr Khan to speak to anyone outside the military’s inner ring on an issue that is no doubt highly secret and sensitive, continues to hover over Pakistan’s political landscape.