Pakistan possesses about 60 to 100 nuclear bombs and has denied US access to A Q Khan despite billions of dollars in aid, a prominent American lawmaker has said, insisting that any further aid should be linked to non-proliferation and action against the nuclear scientist.
"Pakistan has 60 to 100 nukes. It also harbours A Q Khan, a Pakistani hero but an international outlaw, who, at least according to the Dutch stole European technology to give Pakistan the bomb... And created a network which supplied — we know this — Iran, North Korea and was going to supply Libya," Congresswoman Jane Harman said.
A Democratic lawmaker from California, Harman along with Howard Berman, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, authored the bill that imposes strict restrictions on Pakistan in lieu of US aid. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives last week.
"As for my bill... It says that in order for Pakistan to get non-military aid and military aid in 2010, our President has to certify that efforts are being taken by the Pakistani government to stop proliferation," Harman told MSNBC.
It is therefore very important that Pakistan cracks down on Khan and makes sure its nuclear arsenal is safe "if we're going to give them additional billions," she said.
"And the House agrees with me. Senate so far does not. But I want to insist on non-proliferation as one of the goals of our continued aid to Pakistan," she said.
Observing that Al Qaeda has been a threat to the world and to US interests, Harman said, its command structure is located in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
"I want to commend the Pakistani government for now figuring out that they have an internal threat and for targeting Taliban leadership," she said noting that the millions of people displaced by the military offensive in the country need aid from the international community.
In the House of Representatives, Harman had alleged that Pakistan's history of nuclear weapon development has contributed to instability in South Asia and paved the way for A Q Khan's insidious and highly-profitable proliferation ring.
"Should we provide substantial non-military support, we must assure ourselves that this key security threat to the US is minimised. For at least a decade, A Q Khan's illicit network was the most attractive shortcut for nations and rogue organisations interested in acquiring the materials and know-how to build a nuclear device," she said.
Harman said that to date, Pakistan has not had much motivation to provide information to support the prosecution of or even allow the US to question Khan and his compatriots.
"We are still denied access to him. Despite billions of US dollars in aid, former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf pardoned Khan - and earlier this year, the Islamabad High Court released him from house arrest," she said.
"Despite the 'break up' of his multinational ring in 2003, Khan and many of his colleagues escaped punishment and details about his network remain murky. In my years and many briefings on the Intelligence Committee, I was never persuaded that the network was or is completely dismantled," she said.
The bill passed by the House last week declares that the US will work with Pakistan to ensure that its investigators have access to suspected proliferators, and to restrict them from travel or other activity that could result in further proliferation.
It triples US assistance to Pakistan to a whopping $1.5 billion while imposing strict conditions of accountability on the country in the war against terror.
"It incorporates much of the language in a bill that I co-authored with Representatives Tauscher, Connolly and Royce conditioning military aid after 2010 on an assessment by the President that Pakistan is continuing to cooperate with us in efforts to dismantle nuclear weapons supplier networks," she said.
