A Letter Written by A.Q. Khan to His Wife

The following is a letter from A.Q. Khan to his wife. 

Editor’s notes:
1) This is a transcription of a handwritten 2003 letter from A.Q. Khan to his wife.
2) Material in brackets [ ] are clarifications by editor.
3) Deleted: address, phone number & email for journalist Simon Henderson, referenced in original.10/12/2003 [10 December 2003]

Darling,

If the government plays any mischief with me take a tough stand:

(1)You know we had cooperation with China for 15 years. We put up a centrifuge plant at Hanzhong (km250 south-west of Xian). We sent 135 C-130 plane loads of machines, inverters, valves, flow meters, pressure gauges. Our teams stayed there for weeks to help and their teams stayed here for weeks at a time. Late minister Liu We, V. M. [vice minister] Li Chew, Vice Minister Jiang Shengjie used to visit us.

(2)The Chinese gave us drawings of the nuclear weapon, gave us kg50 enriched uranium, gave us 10 tons of UF6 (natural) and 5 tons of UF6 (3%).
Chinese helped PAEC [Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, the rival organisation to the Khan Research Laboratories] in setting up UF6 plant, production reactor for plutonium and reprocessing plant.

[Page 2]

(3) Probably with the blessings of BB [Benazir Bhutto] & Gen [Aslam] Beg , Gen Imtiaz asked Hashmi [a former colleague of AQK] & me to give a set of drawings and some components to the Iranians. We had no direct contact and we never sent anybody or received anybody. The names and addresses of suppliers were also given to the Iranians.

[Note in margin] Gave these things through Dr Niazi [Bhutto family dentist and confidant, now dead]. Must have got money for it ($1 million).

(4) Gen Jehangir Karamat [still alive, chief of army staff 1996-8, sent by Musharraf as ambassador to U.S. 2004-2006] took $3 million through me from the N Koreans and asked me to give them some drawings and machines.

(5) We sold [conventional] weapons to Libya, Sudan & Malaysia. And sent [conventional] weapons to Bosnia. [Khan’s KRL plant also made anti-tank missiles and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles.]

(6) There is proof of all this stashed somewhere safely which will be given to public and press.

[Page 3]

Use Major Islam or Hashmi [former colleagues of A Q Khan] and get S M Zafar [lawyer of AQK] to take up these matters in court/public.
Get in touch with Simon Henderson
[Address, phone numbers, email deleted]
And give him all the details.

Ask Henk [Slebos, part of Khan’s purchasing network in the Netherlands] to get a guy from Telegraaf and give him all the details.

Tell them the bastards first used us and now playing dirty games with us.

Love you
Khantje [diminutive name used between Khan and his wife]

Get out quickly to Dubai with Tanya [grand-daughter who lives with them] for a while or leave Tanya with Ayesha [daughter who lives in Islamabad].

[Page 4]

I believe they want to make me a scapegoat as Mr Wajid Shamsul Hassan (former HC [high commissioner] in London) had warned in an article (with Major Islam).

They might try to get rid of me to cover up all the things (dirty) they got done by me in connection with Iran, Libya & N. Korea.

This is just to forewarn you.

A Q Khan

Dr A Q Khan
NI & Bar, HI