The matter is closed, Pakistani officials say, hoping that the world may one day slowly forget about the man the government in Islamabad once feted as a national hero.
Meanwhile, the US has been quietly but consistently pressing for greater access to Dr Khan.
Evidence of nuclear arms transfers to Iran would damage Musharraf
The CIA would like to talk to him direct but Pakistan has resisted, saying instead that questions have to be passed through Pakistani intelligence officers who will then return with the answers.
The official line is that Pakistan should be trusted with the investigation and anything else would be a violation of national sovereignty.
But the suspicion has always been that the authorities are resistant to direct questioning for fear that Dr Khan might suggest Pakistani government or military officials knew of his transfers of nuclear technology to North Korea, Iran or Libya.
The US wants to talk to Dr Khan not primarily to answer the question of Pakistani government involvement but rather to see if the scientist could reveal more about his support for Iran’s nuclear programme.
The US particularly wants to know whether Iran is peaceful in intent, as Tehran claims, or geared towards making nuclear weapons, as Washington argues.
In the case of Libya, Dr Khan supplied a nuclear weapons design and investigators wonder whether he could have done the same with Iran.
Confirmation of any such transfer would be highly useful for the US but would also cause embarrassment for President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan.
But the mystery remains as to why security would be tightened at the house and visits restricted at this time.
Dr Khan himself remains isolated, his health reportedly deteriorating.
Trapped with him are the secrets regarding what exactly he did, why he did it and precisely who helped him.
Its people like Musharaf, fearing some unimaginable threat to Pakistan and its sovereignty, pushed AQ Khan to say what he said on national media. Its a very common practice of Pakistani leadership, where they assume that the morale of the nation is less important that their own morale or the morale of the armed forces. Everyone knows why Pakistanis were sending this technology out, Its the 800 pound gorilla in the world "power" arena, and no one man can do it alone, even if he had a network.
One just has to remember that tyranny is worse than killing, and it can erode sovereignty of a nation faster than a foreign assault.
MiniMe, Well said.
AQKhan might be doing it for Pakistan, until the world found out the truth and so Musharraf found it best, for saving himself, to sacrifice AQ Khan.
I do not understand one thing though, Do US officials really believe that AQ Khan did it alone?
....pushed AQ Khan to say what he said on national media.
.....no one man can do it alone, even if he had a network.
.......
Funny how my Urdu People community members would rave and rant that AQK "single-handedly" made Pakistan a nukie power. These UPs then consider AQK a re-incarnation of lord Shiva the god of power (old Hindu influences die hard).
However the same UP community wants to tell the rest of the world that Nuke-peddling wasn't done by him alone.
We oh so conveniently forget that Iran and Libya both singled out AQK as an al-cheapo smuggler peddling Malaysian centrifuges and dutch technology acquired from the underworld.
The reason for AQK's nefarious acts was never in the benefit of Pakistan. My community is fully wedded to the idea of Islamic Ummah. Look at Gen. Aslam Beg and see how little he cares about the interests of Pakistan. They all want to start the ill-fated Tehrike-Khilafa-Lafafah again. This time from Pakistan.
I tell my fellow UPs, guys! we got kicked out of Bharat and Pakistan gave us refuge. We better quit talking about Islamo-Fascism as no Arab will ever give us any refuge.
If ever God forbid, something happens to Pakistan, we will be the one living in camps, just like Biharis in BDesh, and Muslims in Gujarat.
pathetic as it would be.
I still wonder if americans buy wat mushy tells them that it was Dr AQ khan alone who did it for his own interest.
I m sure only a fool will buy that.
for sooo long the whole project ws funded/nurtured/secured by Pak Army and now it ws AQ Khan on national media appologizing for wat he did not do.
can someone tell me whose words are these 'dont cry like women for something you couldnt defend like me'
i guess it was mother of last king of spain on his surrender to christian king.