Abdul Quadeer KhanBorn 1 Apr 1936.Pakistani nuclear engineer and metallurgist who led Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, leading to the country’s first nuclear tests on 28 May 1998. He was born in India, and was a child when that country became independent from Britain (1947) and Muslim areas were partitioned in the east and west to form Pakistan. From 1952, he lived in West Pakistan, where he earned a degree in metallurgy, studied abroad, and by 1972 had a job at a Dutch plant where he gained knowledge on uranium enrichment technology. On 17 Sep 1974, he offered Pakistan’s prime minister, his help to build an atomic bomb. He stole centrifuge plans, returned to Pakistan (15 Dec 1975), and by devious means enabled weapon development there.«[a.k.a Abdal Qadir Khan, A.Q. Khan.] |