The A Q Khan network may have been "rolled up" but elements of that outfit are still lying low waiting to strike and several individuals involved in the nuclear racketeering are yet to be imprisoned or detained in any fashion, a top non-proliferation specialist said.
Mark Fitzpatrick, Senior Fellow of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), kicked off the American presentation of the latest report of the organisation titled "Nuclear Black Markets: Pakistan, A Q Khan and the Rise of proliferation networks: A net assessment".
WASHINGTON: The A Q Khan network may have been "rolled up" but elements of that outfit are still lying low waiting to strike and several individuals involved in the nuclear racketeering are yet to be imprisoned or detained in any fashion, a top non-proliferation specialist said.
Mark Fitzpatrick, Senior Fellow of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), kicked off the American presentation of the latest report of the organisation 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-Qaida, but he is convinced of the sincerity of 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 said that, "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."
"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 illicit supply if the price is high enough," Fitzpatrick, a former senior State Department official, said.
