ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Detained nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan Wednesday told a Pakistani high court that the media often misquoted him on proliferation issues and denied that he was harming the country's interests.
Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, has been effectively under house arrest in Islamabad since February 2004, when he confessed on television to transferring nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
The scientist's wife earlier this month lodged a court challenge against the restrictions on her husband, who had cancer surgery in 2006, encouraged by a brief relaxation in recent months which allowed him to meet family and friends.
Khan has angered the authorities with a series of recent media interviews, including several in which he alleged that President Pervez Musharraf knew he was taking centrifuges to North Korea in 2000.
"I beg to submit that the media has misquoted me on several occasions and my rebuttals/disclaimers were published," Khan said in a letter addressed to Islamabad High Court chief justice Sardar Muhammad Aslam.
"As I am confined to my house/subjail and have no direct interactional control or power to influence the media, the charade goes on."
Khan blamed "the vested interests" that continue "disseminating disinformation as well as malicious propaganda" against him and added that he would not countenance making comments that would hurt Pakistan.
"I cannot ever imagine making a statement detrimental to the interests of my beloved country for which I and my family made so much sacrifice."
The chief justice said that the court would announce a detailed judgement on Monday.
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